Angelus Novus – The New Angel

Kwon Myung-kwang, often described as “the Little Prince full of curiosity and adventurous spirit,” is a designer who diligently avoided the trap of personal achievement gained by mere chance. Instead, he devoted himself to nonlinear and experimental works that brought fragments of Korea’s collective unconscious to the surface, coating them with the veneer of modernity.

Every time he unveiled new works, countless designers found themselves captivated by the illusion that he had stolen their long-held dreams and desires, just one step ahead of them. Reiterating what has often been said, he was always a “Little Prince full of curiosity and adventurous spirit” in the Korean design world—a star in his own right. Today, when design has largely been reduced to a tool for the desires of crass capitalism, his works can be seen as a subtle guide to redemption for the design community.

Kwon Myung-kwang made significant contributions to the discovery of Korean visual motifs and their application in design. His efforts spanned across visual and environmental design, advertising, fashion, and countless other fields, where his influence drove remarkable progress. During the late 1970s, his poetic sensibility, perceptive thinking, and imaginative interpretation of Korean imagery marked a turning point in his design journey.

Furthermore, he emphasized the importance of “a designer’s healthy mindset and active social awareness,” which became central to his life as an educator. From the 1990s onward, he embodied this philosophy through his graduate-level teaching, inspiring a new generation of designers.