A powerful, personal and unique handwriting, derived from the CJ trademark, and accompanied by a clear, unambiguous design system for applying it.

Background
The origins of CheilJedang (CJ) go back to 1953, when the company started as a sugar producer. During the 1970s, the public’s desire for a healthy and convenient diet grew, and CJ started its food company empire. In the 1980s, CJ also started marketing its food products abroad, and later entered the pharmaceutical and bio- and chemicals industries. This was the start of one of the largest conglomerates (Chaebol) in Korea, which split off from the Samsung Group in 1995, changing its name to Corporation CheilJedang Group in 1996. The organisation currently has more than 15 subsidiaries in various market segments, and, with its major international ambitions, will continue to grow. In order to further reinforce its company name and all of its subsidiaries as a monolithic organisation on the global map, it asked Total Identity to develop the new corporate typeface. The next assignment was to develop a system for the brand architecture which enables the easy application of company names.

Design strategy
Total Identity started by initiating a major design strategy phase. Using visual analysis, the most prominent international players were studied and evaluated in terms of the style and personality of their logos and typography. The following market segments were examined, among others:

–   Food & food services
–   Home-shopping & Logistics
–   Media & Entertainment
–   ICT
–   Bio & Pharma
–   Construction & Engineering

The conclusions drawn from this visual study were used as the creative point of departure for developing the concept for the new typeface. In order to allow the company to compete with the prominent international competitors while still remaining loyal to its own identity, the interaction between classical and modern served as the starting point for the style. The former was given the upper hand in this process: traditional with a modern touch. A pre-condition for the style was a premium, top brand look.

We defined a different interactive effect for the personality trait. Since 1953, CJ has been a source of life and culture for the Korean people; in short, CJ takes people to heart. This is evident in its slogan: ‘CJ for better life’. It should however not be forgotten that CJ is a large corporate organisation with enormous business interests. The challenge facing the creative team was to find the right balance in a typography that is business-like on the one hand, yet remains personal, open and friendly on the other.

Result
The result is a powerful, personal and unique handwriting, derived from the CJ trademark, and accompanied by a clear, unambiguous design system for applying it.





For more information, please contact Bob van der Lee:


Bob van der Lee
bvdlee@totalidentity.nl