Jikji ritual book page 

This is a page of the Jikji ritual books by Choe Yun-ui. The innovation that Johannes Gutenberg is said to have created was small metal pieces with raised backward letters, arranged in a frame, coated with ink, and pressed onto a piece of paper, which allowed books to be printed more quickly. But Choe Yun-ui did that — and he did it 150 years before Gutenberg was even born. However, Korea's printed books did not spread at as rapid pace, as Gutenberg's books would 200 years later.

This piece is important to the history of graphic design because this was the platform and blueprint for what Gutenberg made for moveable type. The print was also used for the purpose of spiritual and religious practices. It was made for the people in Korea. Since the idea of printed books and print wasn't caught on until later. The typography of Korea is unique because of the form of the letters and words. Combining words and letters can add new meaning to words which play into the practice of story telling which was used in Korean culture through the type and watercolor paintings in books. This piece taught me a lot more about the history of moveable type and that this is the blueprint for graphic designers cause this is the very beginning of customizable types and designs that we still use today but we edit words in Illustrator and personalize type digitally.