To view the full project book (pdf), click here.
MOIDA Project Overview
MOIDA (모이다) is a Korean verb meaning to converge or come together. The logotype color palette is adapted from Korean national colors.
MOIDA Color Study
MOIDA (모이다) is the coming together of groups from different parts. To generate a color palette, I conducted a visual ethnography of unifying characteristics of the North and South Korean traditional landscapes–from architecture and patterns to clothing and symbols. I used some of my photos from South Korea, and I referenced North Korean imagery from the few Instagram accounts of photographers, such as David Guttenfelder and Jaka Parker, who have had access to take photos in North Korea in recent years.
Motivations
On my third and fourth visits to South Korea in 2016 and 2017, I partnered with PSCORE, a North Korean human rights NGO in Seoul, to volunteer English tutoring with Native North Koreans. Meeting these beautiful people and learning about some of the ways they have struggled to integrate into South Korea prompted the MOIDA project.
The direction of this project was inspired by many places and games from the Games for Change movement; and notably by the model of Mad Priest Coffee, a café in my hometown of Chattanooga that employs refugees. MOIDA was also largely informed by Korean cultural heritage, as well as Korea’s modern coffee and gaming cultures. The placemaking that MOIDA strives to achieve capitalizes on these existing strengths to build community.
To view the full project book (pdf), click here.