Typography Ideas

For my typography ideas, I'm thinking of combining the English alphabet and Korean alphabet by incorporating how Korean through syllables instead of single letters. So for example instead of just 'B' it's written and spoken as 'Be' in syllable form. I also thought that because I'm doing it based on Korean syllable block writing system, writing the syllables based on h ow they sound in Korean would be best fit.

I listed both alphabets so I could get an idea of how I could combine them together but quickly found that because the Korean alphabet heavily relies on syllables and sounds they have a lot more vowel sound than English, so i thought it would be easier to use the basic A,E,I,O,U to not make myself confused.

English and Korean Alphabet

I started doing it here by just trying to create combinations of both languages, using the Korean vowel system to work out syllable sounds that would be understandable in English as well.

Incorporating the (are,i,o,u) of Korean Alphabet to English alphabet

 I also tried putting together the consonants of both language and working out how they could be combined together. Putting them together like this could also work as an indication of what syllable it is and how it could be read.

Putting together Korean consonant equivalent with English Alphabet 

I started experimenting with combining the actual types together from both languages. I used Helvetica as the type starting pit because I thought it would be much easier to work with a stable sans-serif font and it would be easier to manipulate it as well. As I was doing the combinations, I didn't particularly like it, because I just think it looks really awkward and the english 'A' dominate the type the most, where ti just looks like an 'A' with weird serifs going off at random curved stems of the letter. Although, it probably is legible because you can tell it is an 'A' I just think it's not very effective visual wise and doesn't really scream 'Hip-hop' or put much Korean feel to it.

English 'A' and Korean 'A' vowel combination experiments

Experiment with 'B' and Korean 'A' vowel

Because I didn't quite like it with both vowels, I thought using a consonant would give it a different feel. However, for me it still looks quite weird and awkward and just dint work with both are overlaid or combined together. I did notice that just having them next to each other is looks more effective and readable as well.

Because  fundamentally, I'm basing the typography on the Korean way of writing (syllable rather than linear), I thought maybe just replacing the Korean consonant in the syllable with the English consonant would be effective enough for it to be readable both ways, though, I know I would probably need to give indications of what the Korean part is but because English consonants are mixed in it would give indications to non-koran readers what and how the syllable can be read. 

I started experiment with it here by jut writing it roughly, but I found that writing the consonant first would be best because it can give indication how the whole syllable can sound making it already half effective, I thought it also resembles the Korean syllable block writing so it's very much effective legibility wise and visually.

I also thought, maybe hand written typography might be appropriate. There's a lot of Korean calligraphy and I thought maybe calligraphy-like typography mixed with the English Alphabet could successfully mix both culture together, as well as appropriately showcase the aesthetic of Korean Hiphop through it. 

example of Korean Calligraphy

I may try doing this by hand using inks swell and scan them in to get better textures and thicker more authentic lines closer to calligraph, but I do also like this idea because it gives off a more traditional feel and can add to the aesthetic of my design as well if I were to apply this.