15 Poster and Editorial Design Studios, from Workroom to Pentagram

Summary: 15 poster and editorial studios, and what each makes

• 15 Korean and international poster and editorial design studios that have lasted more than ten years, with founding context, signature work and recent projects.
• Korean film posters run through three studios: Propaganda, Bitnaneun and Pygmalion.
• Korean book, editorial and cultural graphics: Ahn Graphics, Workroom, studio fnt, Sulki and Min, Ordinary People, Everyday Practice.
• International film posters and key art: BLT Communications (US), Empire Design (UK/US).
• International book, editorial and art graphics: M/M (Paris), Irma Boom Office, 2x4, Pentagram.

There have been many times when you saw a poster in the lobby of a movie theater and felt good about it. But have I ever looked up who made it?

Graphic design is a field where credits are rare. A movie has the director's name on it, and an album has the artist's name on it, but the name of the person who created that face is not written anywhere. So, from the perspective of the aspirant, there is a clear texture that they like, but they do not know whose hand it came from, so the references are piled up scattered.

Fortunately, the style of this floor has been established quite clearly in the studio units. If you memorize the names and characteristics of about 15 places, you will suddenly start to read about half of the printed material you see on the street. There comes a moment when you think, “Ah, this is that studio’s grammar.” From then on, the speed of reference organization changes.

Among domestic and foreign studios that design film, performance, exhibition posters, books, and editorials, we selected 15 that have been around for more than 10 years. The background of establishment, members, and representative works are basic, as well as TMI and recent works that can be used in conversation if you know them. We've also included the official website addresses for each studio, so open them right away.

Why more than 10 years

Most design studios close after three years. Feeling alone is not enough; making estimates, receiving orders, manpower, and paying taxes are much more important.

Being over 10 years means having a system, not a style. And realistically, it's a place where aspirants can actually get their foot in the door. Because one-year studios don’t hire.

Domestic studio/movie poster

1. Propaganda

• Website: propa-ganda.co.kr
• Established: 2008 / Korea
• Composition: Choi Ji-woong, Park Dong-woo, Lee Dong-hyung, etc.
• Main fields: movie posters, performance/festival main graphics, album art
• Representative works: 《New World》 《Train to Busan》 《The Handmaiden》 《Crime City》 《Decision to Break Up》, Seoul Independent Film Festival
• TMI: You received industry attention with the poster for 《Bimong》 and established yourself with 《Wonnansori》. Director Choi Ji-woong is also famous as a designer and collector of Korean movie posters, and his passion for collecting has continued into the studio business. We planned and published the 『Movie Card Collection』, and when hand-painted theater signs were disappearing, we collected the pictures and created the 『Movie Signboard Encyclopedia』. We also operate a cinema store selling our own publications, collectibles and vintage posters.
• Remember: We don't just create a single poster, we oversee the entire visual image of the film, from script books to flyers, magazine ads, bus advertisements, and national theater banners. Any aspiring movie poster designer should first understand this scope.

2. Shining (Bitnaneun)

• Website: bitnaneun.com
• Established: 2006 / Korea
• Composition: CEO Park Si-young
• Main fields: Commercial and independent film posters
• Representative works: 《Mother》 《The Wailing》 《Burning》 《Emissary》 《The Handmaiden》 《Along with the Gods》 《Battle of Bongo-dong》
• TMI: The name of the studio was taken from the movie Shining Lies, in which CEO Park Si-young participated, and it is said that the name was decided while drinking. This is an example of a studio that has survived for nearly 20 years.
• Know this: In an age saturated with images, the essence of a poster is ultimately to stand out. So this studio work has one element stuck somewhere on the screen that isn't necessarily explained. To see how to plant a device that makes you curious, just look at the “Gakseong” poster. The site's Projects page organizes not only domestic films but also Korean versions of foreign films such as Dogville, Lost in Translation, and Parthenope, making it easy to browse.

3. Pygmalion

• Website: pygmn.com
• Established: July 2011 / Korea
• Composition: Co-founded by a couple, with 4 designers.
• Main fields: Movie, performance, exhibition posters, lettering and calligraphy
• Representative works: 《La La Land》 《Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind》 《Begin Again》 《Carol》 《Your Name》 Korean version key visual
• TMI: The name was given to mean that if you wish for it earnestly, it will come true. The founder originally worked at a movie poster company, but became independent because he wanted to create posters with a more personal touch.
• Good to know: The studio's core position is redesigning Korean versions of foreign films. We rework the original key art to fit the domestic sentiment, and write all title lettering and calligraphy in-house. The identity of this studio is that we do not outsource. When searching, don't be confused with e-pygmalion.com, a video production company of the same name.

Domestic studio, book, editing & cultural graphics

4. Ahn Graphics (Ahn Graphics / AG)

• Website: ag.co.kr / Publication agbook.co.kr
• Established: February 8, 1985 / Korea
• Composition: Founded by Sangsu Ahn. Current AG (company) and publishing brand Ahn Graphics system
• Main fields: design and art publishing, typography, cultural event graphics
• Representative works: Many books specializing in Korean design and art, Hangul typography project, cultural foundation catalog
• TMI: Ahn Sang-soo created the Ahn Sang-soo font in 1985 to open the Korean Talnemotl trend, and in 1988, he founded the experimental magazine 『Report/Report』, pushing avant-garde typography. He received the Gutenberg Prize from the City of Leipzig in 2007 and the DFA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.
• Good to know: After finishing his professorship in 2012, he founded an independent design school called Typography Baegot (PaTI) in Paju in 2013. This school cannot be missed if you want to understand the genealogy of graphic design education in Korea. Within the company, there is a separate AG Typography Research Institute, established in 2012.

5. Workroom (Workroom / Workroom Press)

• Website: workroompress.kr
• Established: December 2006 / Korea
• Composition: Co-CEOs Hyeong-jin Kim, Hyeong-hwa Park, and Kyung-soo Lee
• Main fields: Book design, humanities and arts publishing, museum catalog and exhibition graphics
• Representative works: Workroom Press book series, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul Museum of Art exhibition catalog and poster
• TMI: This is a place founded by designers and editors from Ahn Graphics and Minumsa Semicolon. Starting in 2011, publishing began in earnest under the leadership of Hyeong-jin Kim and Hyeong-hwa Park, and now the design studio and publishing company operate as one body.
• Recent work: The 2025 National Museum of Korea catalogue, 『Encyclopedia Agamemnon』, and a research book discussing Seulgi and Min's work by 16 people were published by Workroom Press.
• What you need to know: This is a structure where you decide what to make rather than just receiving a design. For those who want to start a studio, it is worth seeing as an example of a methodology that breaks away from E.

6. studio fnt

• Website: studiofnt.com
• Established: 2006 / Korea
• Composition: Jae-min Lee, Hee-seon Kim, co-representative system
• Main fields: cultural and artistic event posters, exhibition catalogue, identity, interactive
• Representative works: National Asia Culture Center, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Megabox, Hyundai Department Store, JTBC, Sulwhasoo
• TMI: The studio name fnt is an abbreviation for form and thing, meaning that we will not define a specific meaning or value. Jaemin Lee served as the general director of the 2021 International Typography Biennale Typojanchi 《Turtle and Crane》, and participated in 《Korea: Design + Poster》 (Munich, 2017) and 《Korea Now!》 (Paris, 2015). He has been a member of the Association of Graphics International (AGI) since 2016, and teaches visual design at the University of Seoul.
• Good to know: We're one of the few studios whose tone doesn't waver between print and digital. In particular, there is a lot of work related to music and festivals, and this is a good textbook to see how to organize lineup posters with a lot of information.

7. Sulki and Min

• Website: sulki-min.com
• Established: Started activities in 2005 / Korea
• Composition: Seulgi Choi, Seongmin Choi
• Main fields: art books, exhibition catalogs, print media, cultural graphics
• Representative works: Specter Press publications, Hermes Foundation Art Award visuals, major museum posters and catalogs
• TMI: The two met while receiving master's degrees in visual design at Yale University's Graduate School of Art. After working as researchers at the Jan Van Eyck Institute of Art in Maastricht, the Netherlands, they returned to Korea in 2005 and began their careers. A retrospective exhibition was held at Kyoto DDD Gallery in 2021 and Hangzhou Transstage in 2024.
• Recent work: In 2025, the first typeface 『Prototype』 was released. In the same year, a research paper discussing their work by 16 people from home and abroad was published by Workroom Press.
• What you need to know: This is a team at the center of the trend in Korea that deals with graphic design along with theory. You have to read their writings instead of just looking at their work to understand at least half of them.

8. Ordinary People

• Website: ordinarypeople.info / Store ordinarypeople.co.kr
• Established: 2006 / Korea. Offices in Seoul and New York
• Composition: Founded by five people: Jin Kang, Jeong-min Seo, Se-yong Ahn, Jae-ha Lee, and In-ji Jeong
• Main fields: brand strategy, art direction, book design, graphic poster
• Representative work: 『Daily Graphic Diary』, exhibition publications and posters at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and the Seoul Museum of Art
• TMI: The fact that five people started together and maintained it for nearly 20 years is almost an event in this industry. Our representative in-house project, ‘Daily Graphic Calendar’, has been exhibited overseas, including at the Enoko Center in Osaka and The Factory Contemporary Art Center in Ho Chi Minh City.
• What to know: This is a representative domestic example of a model that combines client work with own projects. The daily calendar consists of one graphic experiment per day, making it a great way to learn how to design personal projects in a sustainable way.

9. Everyday Practice

• Website: everyday-practice.com
• Established: 2013 / Korea
• Composition: Jun-ho Kwon, Kyeong-cheol Kim, Eo-jin Kim
• Main fields: Graphics of social and cultural messages, books and reports, exhibition graphics
• Representative works: campaigns for civic groups and cultural foundations, museum exhibition identities, design essays and catalogs
• TMI: We started with the attitude of keeping graphic design as a foundation, but not being confined to a flat surface. In 2023, the 10th anniversary exhibition 《This is how we practiced everyday life》 was held, and 『Designer's daily life and practice』 was published by Ahn Graphics.
• Recent work: I was in charge of the graphics for the 2025 Buk Seoul Museum of Art’s “Electric Shock” exhibition, turning the exhibition socket into a 3D asset and even creating a GPT-based mobile docent that learned from the exhibition content. In the same year, we also carried out an archiving project of designers' declarations of current affairs.
• Know this: This is a team that continually asks what design should do. For those who want to deal with social messages, it is virtually the only domestic reference.

Overseas studio/movie poster & key art

10. BLT Communications (USA)

• Website: bltcommunications.com
• Established: 1992 / West Hollywood, USA
• Main fields: Hollywood blockbuster posters, entertainment key art
• Representative works: 《Avatar》 《Avengers》 series 《La La Land》 《Barbie》 《Spider-Man: Across the Universe》
• TMI: The “Barbie” poster is famous for its minimalist case with only Pantone 219C pink. Spider-Verse Key Art crammed dozens of Spider-Man from comics, animations, and games onto one screen, again referencing the upside-down composition of the first poster.
• Good to know: Received Gold multiple times at the Ki-Art Awards (now the Clio Ki-Art Awards) for Zero Dark Thirty and The Wolverine teasers. The archive alone contains over 1,500 pieces. Click here to see how standard Hollywood poster grammar is created.

11. Empire Design (UK/USA)

• Website: empiredesign.com
• Established: 1996 / London, New York
• Composition: Founded by Stephen Burdge
• Key areas: Movie Posters, Global Marketing Graphics, Trailers and AV
• Representative works: “Trainspotting,” “Kill Bill,” “Bourne,” “007 Casino Royale,” “Inception,” “Les Miserables.”
• TMI: The first works you worked on were “Toy Story,” “Trainspotting,” and “12 Monkeys.” In 2001, it moved to Queen Anne Street, London, and in 2002, it opened an AV division that handles trailers, TV spots, and even radio. We also opened an office in New York in 2006.
• Recent work: Trailers and teasers for Ripley (2024), The Grand Tour: Sand Job (2024), Berlin (2023), and The Snow Society (2023).
• Points to note: The structure starts from print and expands to video. This is an example of how far a poster designer can expand their career.

Overseas studios, books, editing & art graphics

12. M/M (Paris) (France)

• Website: mmparis.com
• Established: 1992 / Paris
• Composition: Matthias Augustignac (born 1967), Michael Amzalag (born 1968)
• Main fields: art books, exhibition posters, fashion visuals, album art
• Representative works: Vieux artist book and album art, Balenciaga, Vogue, Center Pompidou exhibition graphics
• TMI: In 2013, you received a Grammy for your work on Buyoc's album Biophilia. He has worked with Yohji Yamamoto, Nicolas Ghesquière, Jil Sander, Calvin Klein, and Stella McCartney, and has also collaborated with Kanye West and Madonna. In 2023, a research book titled 『Letters from M/M (Paris)』, which covered only the typefaces they created, was published, and the preface was written by Vyoc.
• Recent work: Appointed creative director of Harper's Bazaar Italia in April 2025, and has been in charge of the magazine since the September issue of that year.
• Good to know: This is the team that has the longest track record of how graphic designers can act as co-authors of brands, not subcontractors.

13. Irma Boom Office (Netherlands)

• Website: irmaboom.nl
• Established: 1991 / Amsterdam
• Composition: Irma Boom
• Key areas: high-end book design, publishing arts
• Representative works: 『SHV Think Book』, Rijksmuseum publication, Chanel art book
• TMI: She is called the queen of books. 『SHV Think Book』 (1996) is a 2,136-page, 3.5-kilogram object that took five years to create together with art historian Johan Peinapel, and is in the MoMA collection. This one book made him an international star. Created for Chanel in 2013, 『No. 5 Culture Chanel’ expressed the invisible presence of the fragrance by only embossing the letters without using any ink, and received the Dutch Design Award that year.
• Note: The book is treated as architecture, not as a plan. The number of pages, weight, thickness, and paper texture are all used as design variables. If you want to do editorial design, you must see it in real life.

14. 2x4 (USA)

• Website: 2x4.org
• Established: 1994 / New York
• Formation: Co-founded by Michael Rock, Susan Sellers, and Georgiana Stout
• Main fields: architecture and art publications, brand strategy, exhibitions and spatial graphics
• Representative works: Prada art book and Epicenter graphics, OMA and Rem Koolhaas related publications, Guggenheim publications
• TMI: Your client list includes Apple, Nike, Prada, Chanel, Target, Vitra, Harvard Art Museum, and CCTV. In December 2023, the Shanghai Start Museum presented Pradasphere II, a traveling exhibition covering Prada's history since 1913.
• Recent work: Designed construction barriers for Prada's Fifth Avenue store in New York. Two layers of architectural fabric in Prada green are overlapped to create a moiré effect, and the interior is illuminated at night with internal LEDs. This is an example of turning a construction barrier into a brand asset.
• What you need to know: This studio started from graphics and moved on to space and brand strategy. It's a good career model for people who don't want to stay in 2D.

15. Pentagram (UK/USA)

• Website: pentagram.com
• Established: 1972 / London
• Composition: Founded by five people: Alan Fletcher, Colin Forbes, Kenneth Grange, Mervyn Klansky, and Theo Crosby.
• Main fields: Book and magazine design, cultural and political posters, branding
• Representative works: Phaidon art book, Whitney Museum of American Art identity, many major brand identities
• TMI: The five founding members all had different majors: graphics, architecture, and product design. The key is a structure without hierarchy, where partners share the company's shares equally and equally share the profits. This is a method in which each partner independently selects a project with his or her own team.
• Recent work: A new edition of 『Marks』 was published in 2025. This book is a collection of 1,000 logos created by partners since its founding in 1972, and the first edition in 2010 had 400 logos.
• Good to know: The partnership model, which has been around for over 50 years, is itself a subject of study. If you are thinking of setting up a studio with several people, it is a good idea to study this structure first.

Summary comparison table

How can I use these fifteen?

Since the goal is not to memorize, I write down how to use it.

1. View divided into two axes. The movie poster side (Propaganda, Shining, Pygmalion, BLT, Empire) is about selling the image chosen by the client as attractively as possible, and the editing/exhibition side (Workroom, Seulgi and Min, Irma Bom, 2x4) is about deciding together what to show. The first thing to do is decide which one you want.
2. Look at your own projects, not masterpieces. Propaganda's 『Movie Signboard Guide』, Ordinary People's history, Seulgi and Min's typeface, and Pentagram's 『Marks』. The studio's true inclinations are revealed in the work no one asked it to do.
3. Domestic studios should see job postings in person. Most of them only post on Instagram and their own website. It does not appear on Job Korea. Bookmark the address written above.
4. Pick a studio and view three years' worth of work in chronological order. Once you can see what elements were discarded and what was left behind, you can read the studio's grammar from then on.

What I noticed while organizing the 15 places was that the longer they had been there, the more they had their own publications or projects. Propaganda book, Workroom publisher, Ordinary People's history, Pentagram's 『Marks』. This means that you can't last 10 years by only taking on client work, and it also means that that ultimately creates the studio's name.