The Dynamism of Hangeul's Vertical Strokes and the Flow of Its Lines of Writing

Abstract

The Korean script, Hangeul, did not have its starting point as a written script: it was created based on simple geometric design principles and was first introduced through a publication as printed type. Since this publication focused on educating people how to combine letters and read them, not on demonstrating the writing in practice, this first edition of Hangeul did not reveal how the writing instrument involves building a letter or making the vertical lines of writing. The purpose of this study is to investigate the design properties of Hangeul that appear in the process of practical writing, which stands in contrast to the printed version. Simple writing experiments and the analysis of their outcome were performed to find answers to the following questions: What formal properties do Hangeul strokes have, and what role do they play in connecting letters to form a fluid vertical line of text? What formal correlations exist between the form of Hangeul characters and the vertical writing culture?