MK TV | The Oriental Painting in Woori Card’s ‘Card of the Essentials,’ to the Scratched, Worn-Looking Hyundai Card… Cards Enter the ‘Design Era’
MK TV reported that card design is emerging as a new trend, introducing Woori Card's 'Card of the Essentials' series. The card bears the phrase 'designed by Korean painter Kim Hyun Jung' on its back, and its design featuring an ink-wash-style painting won favorable reviews from consumers, surpassing 5 million cards issued just 1 year and 8 months after launch.
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【 Anchor 】
Even in this mobile era, most citizens still carry at least one card in their wallet.
What if the single card you pull out to pay could give you an 'edgy' identity?
To meet such consumer expectations, cards are evolving to be prettier, cooler, and more special.
Design, it seems, is becoming the trend in cards these days.
Reporter Lee Ye-rin has the story.
【 Reporter 】
In April 2018, a card appeared that immediately turned the industry upside down.
It was 'Card of the Essentials,' named after 'The Essentials of Mathematics,' the must-have study guide for middle and high school students.
Woori Card, better known by this more familiar name, surpassed 5 million cards issued in late November last year, 1 year and 8 months after launch.
This set the record for the shortest time for a single card product to reach 5 million issuances.
Featuring what looks like a piece of ink-wash painting, the Card of the Essentials caught consumers' eyes as a design card.
Looking closely at the upper back of the card, you'll find the phrase 'designed by Korean painter Kim Hyun Jung' engraved on it.
Korean painter Kim Hyun Jung is a young talent regarded as promising in the art world for her classical calligraphy and Korean painting.
The harmony of Artist Kim's youthful sensibility and soft Oriental painting style made Woori Card feel like an essential card for modern people.
From the naming to the young Korean painter's Oriental art, design has, quite literally, filled Woori Card, a product smaller than the palm of your hand.
It is the consensus in the card industry that Woori Card President Jeong Won-jae was behind the success story that opened this 'card design era.'
This is because the Woori Card series 'Card of the Essentials' was a bold product for which President Jeong personally devised even the naming, just three months into his tenure.
This is why Woori Card is called the 'Jeong Won-jae Card.'
▶ Interview: Park Hee-young / Deputy Director, Woori Card Public Relations Office
- "We were the first in the industry to demonstrate that Korean beauty could serve as a design standard... We are applying post-processing effects that create a visual sense of being set within a picture frame, raising the quality of the card plate to the level of a work of art."
Unlike Woori Card's cards featuring artwork, there is also a design that looks scratched and worn.
But it is a brand-new card, never used even once.
Its surface isn't smooth either — it's rough to the touch.
▶ Interview: Park Chul-hee / Jung-gu, Seoul (30)
- "These days retro and newtro styles are trending too... Even though it looks worn and heavily used, that somehow makes it look more precious, more rare, I guess. There's a certain feel to using a card that has to look pretty."
Though its appearance looks worn and vintage, it stimulates the sensibilities of the so-called "current generation" who use streaming services like YouTube and Netflix.
▶ Interview: Kim Moon-hwa / Head, Communication Design Team, Hyundai Card
- "For those in their 20s and 30s these days, I think design plays a significant role as an important means of showing off their individuality... We're focused on design to provide experiential satisfaction in visual life."
Even without a particularly special concept, cards that come in a single, clean color are also popular.
"Now let's cut this up on the black card. I'll pay in one lump sum." (From the drama 'Crash Landing on You')
From premium lines distinguished by a single color, to Aurora cards whose color changes with the light.
▶ Interview: Kim Min-jung / Seongdong-gu, Seoul (34)
- "Cards these days are often designed with a fashion feel, and people even add stickers to them."
If there were a card that made not just payment but you yourself into something special, beyond being a simple means of payment, which card would you choose?
This is Lee Ye-rin, MK TV.
[Reporter Lee Ye-rin / yrl@mk.co.kr]