16 comments

  • Noah C, 7 years ago

    Seems to be a very single/narrow-minded point of view.

    "A lot of what you’ve heard about it is true. Food is great, spicy and jammed with MSG. People are obsessed with beauty. Samsung does make cars. Some do still eat dog stew.

    But here is the one I want you to pay attention to:"

    Lots of back-handed compliments/comments towards a culture that are irrelevant to writing this POV of working in Korea and setting up a proper discussion that is informative.

    1 point
    • Angel Seong, 7 years ago

      Thank you for this. The "design in Korea" was just a guise to complain about how shitty he thinks Korea is. It was so distasteful.

      0 points
    • Dani SanchezDani Sanchez, 7 years ago

      Hey Noah,

      Thanks for your comment.

      That's the thing with expression, isn't it? The ones who have the courage to write are exposed to both love and hate. I am sorry that you an Angel found my post distasteful. I tend to introduce my post with a bit of satire and a relaxed tone. As I am about to elaborate on points (some which could be considered stereotypes or misconceptions by some) opening with some light random facts is just my way to welcome to the reader. This post is indeed based on MY experience, which I believe I am utterly allowed to write. Unfortunately, most would agree that you can't talk positively or negatively about Korean work culture, without first talking culture. I love the country, but many things need to change.

      0 points
  • Angel Seong, 7 years ago

    of course, another heavy handed and one-dimensional review of asian culture with no hint of nuance. not to mention that he clearly does not actually know what "chaebol" really means—if he did, he'd actually use the word correctly. Really, six years in Korea, and the ONE Korean word you use, you use incorrectly?

    1 point
    • Art VandelayArt Vandelay, 7 years ago

      Sounds like rather than bitching you should write your own piece on this? Might be more productive.

      0 points
      • Angel Seong, 7 years ago (edited 7 years ago )

        Since when did someone have to write articles to express their opinions on this site? The author, as someone else pointed out, put his pen to paper with his nose already wrinkled in disdain at his notion of a culture that he barely has a grasp of.

        So I am merely expressing my own disdain at his disdain and pointing out the fact that his words are glib and shallow, in a thread where there were nothing but positive comments previously. I don't see how that is so unproductive.

        0 points
        • Art VandelayArt Vandelay, 7 years ago

          of course, another heavy handed and one-dimensional review of asian culture with no hint of nuance

          not to mention that he clearly does not actually know what "chaebol" really means—if he did, he'd actually use the word correctly.

          And lastly, one that I'll include for "inspiration"

          "The best way to complain is to make things"

          Hence the reason I told you to quite bitching and write your own version, filled with your opinions

          0 points
        • Dani SanchezDani Sanchez, 7 years ago

          Since when is there anything wrong with approaching the writing of an article with disdain? I did intentionally approach the post with disdain. Insofar as you are free to chose the tone of your expression, I chose mine to be precisely that.

          0 points
          • Art VandelayArt Vandelay, 7 years ago

            Disdain and criticizing someone for doing something you haven't (write an article based on their/your experiences) are different.

            To not like something is fine, to criticize in a way that could feel insulting, well, is insulting.

            Here's a nice little book to help you with that: http://www.discussingdesign.com/

            0 points
      • Dani SanchezDani Sanchez, 7 years ago

        Thanks, Art. That's a rather blunt way to put it, but it's true.

        It's always easier to complain and comments like this is what those of us who write expose to.

        Plus, I don't know what Angel is talking about. Unless he is smarter than Google, which I highly doubt. And, it is one dimensional because it is based on MY experience in the country, that was clear in the introduction, dear reader.

        https://www.google.nl/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=chaebol

        암튼, 댓글 고마워요.

        0 points
        • Art VandelayArt Vandelay, 7 years ago (edited 7 years ago )

          To be totally fair to Angel, Google (maybe Google translator) is sometimes wrong as sentiment and cultural relevancy around words can change.

          An example - in the US the term "fuck boy" now means (I think) a dude that has a lot of sex. Where as where I grew up, it was an insulting term meant to start a fight with someone else.

          Angel is totally allowed and inclined to have his/her own opinions, and definitely doesn't need my approval for them. However, it just irked me to see something that felt so destructive in writing. And unfortunately, tone and intention are hard to translate from spoken word to writing.

          0 points
  • Joann Weitervoh, 7 years ago

    I love Korean designs. Thanks for this.

    1 point
  • Jeff ShinJeff Shin, 7 years ago

    Fascinating read. As a Korean-born Canadian, design culture in Korea is something that I've been curious about for a while. Thanks for writing this!

    1 point
  • Antoine BlancherAntoine Blancher, 7 years ago

    As a foreign designer working for almost 6 years in Korea I'm agree with your analysis. Korea is definetely a high tech country, they can make a lot of great things, but when it comes to make websites it's a disaster... for a foreign point of view.

    Man, just try to open a bank account or make a money transfer on a korean banking website... it's just the worst painful ux experience you will have in your whole life.

    I'm a senior UX designer in a web agency and I received a lot of resume for web designer position. On 100 resume you'll have maybe around 5 designers to actually have a decent website portfolio. I have a team of 7 designers, and none of them knew what is a webfont. The technical knowledge is the web industry here is very low among designers.

    One of the biggest problem for me is korean people are snarred in the korean web ecosystem because of naver and daum which are the biggest search portal of the country.

    Koreans are much better in video production, graphics and animations. The web industry is maybe too young here.

    I'm not saying that all korean websites or korean designer sucks, there is a lot of talented people here but usually those kind of people studied design abroad.

    0 points