Page 7 - 인성여고 2024 영자신문

Insung Times

About Soohorang’ s design
About Soohorang’ s design

I am

a transfer Do you remember the Winter Olympics held 20618 Lee yul Ha

-student in Pyeongchang six years ago? The mascot of
the Pyeongchang Olympics was Suho Rang, a
white tiger.Here, the meaning of Suho-rang is a
combination of “Suho,” which means protecting emoticons that can be used in online and mobile
environments for a certain period of time along
world peace, participants, and spectators, and with the mascot announcement. While Hodori
Jeongseon Arirang’s “Rang,” which represents served as a mascot for the 1988 Seoul Olympics,
Gangwon-do. Through what process did Soohorang Soohorang tried to add value to the role of
go through to become what he is today? Did communication on various media platforms. Making
you know that free emoticons distributed on video content with stories using mascots is part
KakaoTalk at the time of the mascot character’s of such efforts. It also reflects the technological
announcement were also part of the design? Then, environment that has changed from analog to
let’s take a look at the behind-the-scenes design digital over the past 30 years.
story of the PyeongChang Olympics mascot,
Soohorang, which was loved by the world. At Thanks to the designer’s efforts, Soohorang has
first, cranes, magpies, bears, and flying squirrels not only become a sensational popular mascot
were among the candidates, but the designers in Korea but also an Olympic mascot loved by
concluded that the white tiger was the most people all over the world. According to [Empathy
appropriate after intense discussion. When asked Newspaper Culture Empathy, Mascot Characters
by a reporter why he chose the tiger, designer Lee from 90s Memories], the organizing committee
Hee-gon replied, “Tiger is good at expressing the for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics realized
Korean Wave and Korean emotions of our people.” the hot popularity of Soohorang and Bandabi
in Pyeongchang last winter and expressed its
Soohorang was also heavily inspired by the opinion, “We learned how much power one well-
magpie tiger in folk paintings. (You can see the made mascot exerts in the Olympics through the
draft version of Soohorang in the video on YouTube Pyeongchang Olympics.” According to the news
- [2018 Pyeongchang Olympics] Soohorang [“Cute National Team” Soohorang’s daily sales of
Bandabi.) Changing it to fit the current era led souvenirs worth 1 billion won], the average number
to its current form. Lee Hee-gon, the designer, of visitors to Soohorang and Bandabi stores
explained, “The magpie tiger in folk paintings may reaches 50,000 to 60,000 per day, and the average
be unfamiliar to foreigners, but Koreans accept it daily sales reach 7-800 million. About 30% of
without obstacles. I thought that if I could show it consumers who visit the superstore are foreigners.
in a more minimal and modernized form, a design
that would sympathize with the whole world would
come out.”
Even after the design was completed, the
designers aimed at and tried to realize the
“communicative mascot Soohorang” according to
the three principles of communication, empathy
and participation. It allowed the public to function
as a link to express their feelings in an expanded
media environment beyond consuming mascots as
simple forms of products such as souvenirs. When
announcing the mascot, the advisory committee
suggested that the organization provide free

7