Everybody who follows my walk blogs knows how much I love Danger Guy, the hilarious cartoon character who appears in many forms on various cautionary signs in this country. Sometimes, like below, Danger Guy takes the form of a mostly featureless abstract icon. Occasionally, he takes the form of a more detailed image of a comically drowning kid. Danger Guy is pretty much always a guy, too: I've never seen a sign showing a Danger Gal unless we count those signs showing a family of illegals rushing across a road—and that sort of sign is found only in the States as far as I know. South Korea is surrounded by ocean, with its northern border defined by North Korea, where people only rarely escape (those who do usually come by sea or some other route, not directly across the DMZ). If Korea gets whole families fleeing oppression, that's news to me. Defectors usually regret leaving family behind.
Anyway, Danger Guy is now displayed on a sign in the park next to my building. After finishing my 9K walk last night, I went to the park to reconnoiter potential picnic spaces for this Saturday's lunch. While Danger Guy seems to be acting out the same hazardous situation in the two images below, the first image is a warning about falling (as in falling from a high place) while the second is about slipping (as when things are rainy or icy). I love the little, expressive motion lines that depict falling versus slipping. Next to the sign, on the fence, is a sun-mountain-river logo for the Seoul Football Club (Seoul FC) that looks like someone high-kicking a soccer ball. It's a clever design, serious where Danger Guy is humorous.
ADDENDUM: in the comments, Paul corrected me about Seoul FC. Don't trust Wikipedia.
The one behind is Seoul's official emblem representing Namsan, Hangang and the sun stylised as happy person to indicate that Seoul is a highly livable city. The only thing it has to do with defunct football team Seoul FC is that that team used to be funded by Seoul City Hall (as the current ladies' team is). The city's football team, the not-confusingly named FC Seoul (ex if Anyang) has the Haechi on their badge.
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear: are you saying the Wikipedia entry is wrong? I see that the article is flagged as having many "issues."
ReplyDeleteI'm saying the emblem is the official Seoul City one as used by the city government. If it was used in the past by that amateur football team, it was because they were funded by Seoul City Hall. That fence was installed and maintained by Seoul City Hall, and that emblem can be seen all over the city on City Hall buildings and facilities. You can see the history of the emblem on the Seoul City Hall website at https://english.seoul.go.kr/seoul-views/seoul-symbols/1-emblem/
ReplyDeleteThanks for the clarification. The link to Seoul FC does also say "not to be confused with FC Seoul," whose Wikipedia entry does indeed show the haechi.
ReplyDeleteThe emblem features the Korean letters for “Seoul” in the shape of a mountain, the Sun, and the Hangang (River), with the general design depicting the figure of a joyful human being, thus representing Seoul as a human-oriented city.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to visit a city that's not human-oriented. DC, maybe? Nothing but swamp creatures there. I should know: I was one of them for four years.