Does a Book Cover Need a Title? Questioning Design

Kim Hyung-jin, the CEO of Workroom, a design studio marking its 20th anniversary, is a role model for many young designers due to his distinctive and experimental approach. His career path is as unconventional as his work; after excelling in judo until his third year of middle school, he shifted to academics, eventually earning a master's degree in archaeology and art history from Seoul National University. He began his design career at a publishing company but left after a year due to the challenges of balancing demanding work hours with raising a newborn child. He then co-founded Workroom with colleagues, a studio that has since gained recognition for its innovative work across various design fields.

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The more familiar the task, the easier it is to repeat it conventionally.

Workroom has carved a unique niche in the design industry. Since its inception in 2006, the studio has garnered attention for its original and experimental posters, exhibition planning, and branding. Unusually for a design studio, Workroom established its own publishing arm, Workroom Press, and later expanded into literature. Its "Proposals" series of literary collections received acclaim for its bold design, winning the graphic design category at the Korea Design Awards. Further accolades followed, including the Paju Book Award for Publishing Art for the "Samuel Beckett Collection."

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I like working on designs while asking fundamentally, what is a cover, and why is it necessary?

The studio's experimental spirit extends to its work practices. Workroom has maintained a five-day work week since its founding, and three years ago, it transitioned to a four-day week. Remarkably, this shift resulted in a slight increase in revenue. The studio has grown from three founders to a team of eight, including four designers and four editors, and has established a notable office in Seoul's Seochon district.

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Designer means realizing what you like, so you must constantly train yourself to extract your own preferences clearly.

Kim believes that the best design arises from a conscious understanding of the process: "design that I know what I'm doing." He advocates for questioning ingrained practices, stating, "The more familiar the task, the easier it is to repeat it conventionally." For book covers, he questions the necessity of repeating information like the title and author, which is already available online. This questioning led to the creation of book covers without titles. He stresses the importance for aspiring designers to cultivate a distinct personal taste, explaining, "Designer means realizing what you like, so you must constantly train yourself to extract your own preferences clearly."

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A book is a product of pure creative labor, but the remaining nine-tenths is repetitive work.