(kan-dis) sujin myoung
Plastic Facade
Editorial Design
Background
How do you define beauty? Beauty lives within the eyes of the beholder, and there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution to such standards. However, that is not the case in Korean culture. Plastic Facade shows a glimpse of what it means to live in a conformist society where the pursuit of unrealistic beauty standards is the norm in Korea.
Overview
“보기 좋은 떡이 먹기도 좋다,” which directly translates to “a good looking rice cake is also delicious to eat,” is an old Korean proverb that means if one puts in effort to make the outside look good, the inside is also good. As this proverb suggests, the Korean culture is built around an image, a facade people put up to look a certain way. The desire to be seen as someone of value is translated into drastic measures—most commonly plastic surgery—people take to fit into such standards.
Cover
The open spine exposes the inside of the book, juxstaposing the refined quality of foil stamped fabric versus the ruggedness of the spine with threads sticking out.
The word “plastic,” which is something that is easily malleable and susceptible to change also can be seen as a form that is destructible and fake. “Plastic Facade” is a title that summarizes the ugly truth of putting up a front and changing oneself to fit into the status quo.
Design Choices
Large, distorted question marks resemble organic features of the human face, also raises big questions. The pages are “stained” by a reddish pink blush to symbolize how Koreans are in a way, slowly tainted by unrealistic ideals.