WikiLeaks Korea | Card Companies Go All-In on Design — From Art to Celebrities, ‘All Kinds of Styles’
An article on card companies' design competition introduced Woori Card's second wave of the 'Card Principle' series, produced in collaboration with Korean painter Kim Hyun Jung. It reported that 'Card Principle POINT,' featuring a peony motif, reflects Kim's work 'Gwayubulgeup' (Excess Is as Bad as Deficiency), capturing the beauty of Korean classical art.
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From plain single-color backgrounds to works of art, celebrities, popular characters and even a customer's own chosen photo — card designs are growing ever more diverse. The strategy and competition to win customers' hearts is showing up in card design as well.
According to the credit finance industry on the 19th, the design of the second installment of Woori Card's recently launched 'Card Principle' series was created in collaboration with Korean painter Kim Hyun Jung.
'Card Principle POINT,' featuring a peony motif, reflects artist Kim's work 'Gwayubulgeup' (Excess Is as Bad as Deficiency), capturing the beauty of Korean classical art.
Hyundai Card is built around simple designs on bright, single-color backgrounds. Its cards are notably vertical rather than the horizontal format typically used in the industry.
Lotte Card's 'LIKIT' series likewise features a simple, single-color vertical design.
Some cards offer customer-tailored designs. Shinhan Card offers its 'Gallery S' and 'Signature Card' design cards.
Gallery S lets customers create a card plate using an image they choose from a range of artists' works. The Signature Card is engraved with a signature or phrase the customer enters.
Samsung Card's 'Celldi-type gift card' lets customers set a personal photo they own as the card design.
There are also cards that use singers or celebrities popular with younger generations as designs.
Shinhan Card and KB Kookmin Card have each issued check cards featuring the boy group Wanna One and BTS respectively, while Samsung Card has released a limited-edition gift card featuring IU as its model.
Character-driven cards are also highly popular. Kakao Bank's Kakao Friends check card, which uses the 'Kakao Friends' characters, caused a stir last year with its enormous popularity.
Hana Card has likewise partnered with Kakao Pay to release a 'Kakao Pay Card' featuring Kakao Friends.
A card-company official said, "Card design is becoming increasingly important," adding, "The content of card services matters, but as customer interest in card design keeps growing, we're paying closer attention to it as well."
The official also explained, "Card design is strategically composed to match each card's function," noting, "It can also be tied to the company's overall image, so it matters more than people might think."
[WikiLeaks Korea = Reporter Hwang Yang-taek]