Hi, High!

Overview

Hi, High! is an onboarding kit built around cheering new Air Force recruits on toward higher places. The aim was to move away from the usual image of a military institution, create one consistent brand experience, and strengthen members' sense of identity.

Notes on the work

A project from my service as a content producer in the Air Force HQ Media Content Division. Being the in-house designer for an organisation of about 60,000 people was both precious and heavy. Making physical products – cutting down trial and error, checking every piece – taught me first-hand that a designer's job doesn't end at the monitor.

Instead of the usual practice of printing a logo on stock items, I went to Namdaemun market and to Monami's headquarters to check each material's feel and real use myself. When outside factors threatened to cancel distribution of the whole package, I switched to distributing items individually – possible because each piece had been given its own use from the start. After a bulk order and coordination with other departments, the kit was delivered in full.

Where it was made

The posting was the Media Content Division of Air Force Headquarters. The official YouTube channel it runs, "Republic of Korea Air Force", passed 100 million views in December 2023 – Kookbang Ilbo, 27 Dec 2023. In an organisation whose live-fire TAURUS footage has 15.1 million views and whose "Les Militaribles" has 6.62 million, printed things and goods had to speak in the same voice. That channel set the tone the onboarding kit was measured against.

The Republic of Korea Air Force has been a core of national defence since it was founded in 1949. The kit was an attempt to present that organisation to new recruits in a way that feels closer to them, and of today.