Hello, Wearingeul fans,
We are thrilled to share that Wearingeul has been featured in Pen World, a premium magazine dedicated to fine writing instruments and handwriting culture. We sincerely thank everyone around the world who loves and supports Wearingeul.
For those interested in other articles or writing instruments, we encourage you to subscribe to Pen World. The special feature about Wearingeul is included in the December 2024 issue.
Thank you for your continued support!
▶ Subscribe to Pen World Magazine: penworld.com
Wearingeul: Inks that Make Sense
BY SUZANNE C. LEE
The South Korean brand crafts inks inspired by world literature
and, in so doing, offers a new, synesthetic ink experience.
Wearingeul began as a small brand in South Korea in 2018, offering only 10 colored inks initially, but it wasn’t long before word of mouth pushed Wearingeul toward even greater success. Customers began to request Wearingeul’s products at South Korean retailers and then beyond, eventually propelling them onto the international stage where they have continued to prosper, garnering a reputation for quality and a unique approach. This popularity led to expansion and a great ease of communication with their clientele; the latter of whom, by exchanging their ideas and clarifying their desires, help to foster the intimate engagement between Wearingeul and its patrons.
Ahn Dong Hyuk is Wearingeul’s CEO and founder. He says, “Wearingeul’s core philosophy centers around offering unique interpretations of literary works, especially through synesthetic expressions using colors, scents, tastes, and more. For instance, we’ve crafted perfumes inspired by literature, and even teas. Among these projects, our Literary Ink project—focusing on colors since 2019—has garnered much attention and love, enabling the brand’s growth and transcending merely reading text. One such approach is our Colors of Literature project, which translates the imagery and characters of stories into colors.”
Using story, especially in its written incarnation, is Wearingeul’s starting point. With an emphasis on literature, Wearingeul attempts to move beyond the simple ingestion of a tale and into the terrain of the senses visàvis that tale. For example, the many inks that harken to Korean literature, generally citing content from each piece, endeavor to transmute the emotional reaction of reading these texts into a sensory experience.
Translation from Korean into English is notoriously difficult, and much of the original subtleties and context can be lost when a piece is interpreted thusly. Wearingeul extracts the meaning from these stories and “translates” them into color, smell, and even taste, such as with Wearingeul’s teas. A business built on synesthesia, deep emotion, and the stories that compose our lives and identities must produce a quality, desirable product to attain and maintain success. Wearingeul pulls off this feat magnificently— offering fountain pen inks with genuine meaning and pristine effects.
The Night Colored in Grape ink alludes to Jung Ji Yong, a Korean poet whose luminous work should be known more widely internationally. This particular ink refers to his piece “The Dream of Wind and Waves” and is a pastel violet color with silver glitter, nodding to the grapecolored night sky. The Autumn Night After a Thousand Years Wearingeul ink, harkening to the author Lee Yuk Sa “Musa,” is a golden glitter on olive, meant to mimic starlight leaking through the leaves of a tree. The images conjured in our minds are far more complex than a simple “sky at night” hue. In a single ink, poetry blooms. One can almost feel the intricate metaphors or taste each word in the play of color, light, shadow, shimmer, and sheen present in Wearingeul inks.
An inclusion of Korean literature does not equal the erasure of our more familiar Western canon (although I would argue the true literary junkie would rather slog through difficult translations for a good story than reread known classics). If a customer wishes to memorialize a certain work that drew them, somehow shaped them, the offerings seem endless: from Shakespeare classics to Stoker’s Dracula, from children’s literature like The Secret Garden to the very adult The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, it appears that there’s something for everyone. If one removes the allusions to literature and mythos, one is still left with a magical product capable of communicating emotion through color.
Children’s literature is an oftneglected genre, despite it being part of the fabric of our own personalities. Of what are we composed if not the stories we learned at our parents’ knees? Wearingeul insists upon respecting the tales that built our characters, the fairy vignettes we all loved, just as much as the company respects adult literature. The products based upon Pinocchio are a perfect example of this: the Pinocchio ink is a vibrant, verdant green—both emerald and mint tones—to convey the lively and even troublemaking puppetchild, with Geppetto (his ostensible father/creator) illustrated in warm and gentle colors—a clear blush red ink with startling yellow undertones to evoke his soft, loving character.
As a Kafka devotee, I’m drawn to Metamorphosis, a crimsoncolored ink with copper undertones that comments upon the main character’s sudden transformation into a beetle, and indeed, when written on Tomoe River paper, a violet shade emerges. The Great Gatsby ink nods to the decadence in the novel with a navyviolet base and golden sheen depicting the royal pretension and failing morality of the debauched 1920s. One might think a Great Gatsby ink would automatically harken to the famed green light in the book, but Wearingeul is never so obvious, preferring instead to precisely quantify the emotional heft of the novel, at the heart of which lies a dissection of moral decay and dissolution rather than a tragic love story.
Neither has Wearingeul neglected to release fabulous collections: the whimsical Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Collection includes multiple inks representing the various characters. The Queen of Hearts ink is a redblack base with golden glitter and a deep brown sheen, symbolizing her powerful charisma and sparkling madness. The Cheshire Cat is a purplemagenta ink with incredible shading, indicating his mischievous and backwards manner, and The White Rabbit is an ivorybased ink with subtle shading of orangepink. Alice herself is reincarnated as a sky blue color with yellow shading and shiny gold glitter, representing her lively intellect and curiosity.
Wearingeul’s Wonderful Wizard of Oz Collection, in addition to inks inspired by many of the main characters, also includes the brand’s unique Glitter Potion collection. It’s an epic product line. You can actually alchemize your own ink with glitter, deciding for yourself whether or not your ink potion should lightly shimmer or generously sparkle. Perhaps glitter ink often chokes your fountain pen; with this kit, you can use a light touch and guard your instruments zealously. Merely add the glitter potion to your favorite Wearingeul ink in your preferred amount, and mix it up.
Ahn says, “Our goal was to empower users to overcome these limitations by giving them the freedom to customize and transform their inks according to their preferences. We focused on the wellknown story of Oz—representing Dorothy’s silver shoes, the Tin Woodman’s heart, the Cowardly Lion’s bravery, and the Scarecrow’s brain. Adding glitter transformed these inks into expressions of characters achieving their dreams upon meeting the Wizard. As new projects arise, Glitter Potion options may expand, but only when a literary genre or story resonates strongly.”
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the gorgeous World Myth collection, inks that take us on a tour of world mythology and legend. Anubis ink is based upon the guardian of the dead in Egypt, who had a jackyl’s head and a human body. A warm brownblack color with fantastic shading, the ink also contains a shiny gold and red copper glitter meant to signify the aesthetics of Egyptian accessories at that time. Heimdall is the god of light in Norse mythology and is captured in an ink that transitions organically from a bright yellow (like the sun itself ) to orange, and when applied heavily, it can even turn into a red. It has a wide color range.
Lest you think inks are the entirety of the business, Wearingeul has a massive collection of paper products, accessories, ink swatches, washi tape, and more. Ink might be the focus, but it is not exclusive. Every item sold through Wearingeul has been given the same minute attention to detail and quality.
Wearingeul features the best in stationery: from ink and color swatches to impression paper and notes, from square manuscript paper to a day planner. A Phantom of the Opera journal made of leather is perfect for everyday introspection, and bookmarks abound. Specialty items are always available, like a threehole leather pen pouch offered in various themes (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Faust, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz). Postcard collections, washi tape, stickers—it’s easy to get lost (in a good way!) in the fantastic world that Wearingeul has created.
Like the lingering taste of chocolate or the ineffable smell of springtime, the literary inks and related products offer the user an ephemeral but very real feeling: the enjoyment of a rich experience that leaves a distinct impression. The use of Wearingeul ink is a sensory experience that goes far beyond the typical, and it’s deeply satisfying.
Hello, Wearingeul fans,
We are thrilled to share that Wearingeul has been featured in Pen World, a premium magazine dedicated to fine writing instruments and handwriting culture. We sincerely thank everyone around the world who loves and supports Wearingeul.
For those interested in other articles or writing instruments, we encourage you to subscribe to Pen World. The special feature about Wearingeul is included in the December 2024 issue.
Thank you for your continued support!
▶ Subscribe to Pen World Magazine: penworld.com
Wearingeul: Inks that Make Sense
BY SUZANNE C. LEE
The South Korean brand crafts inks inspired by world literature
and, in so doing, offers a new, synesthetic ink experience.
Wearingeul began as a small brand in South Korea in 2018, offering only 10 colored inks initially, but it wasn’t long before word of mouth pushed Wearingeul toward even greater success. Customers began to request Wearingeul’s products at South Korean retailers and then beyond, eventually propelling them onto the international stage where they have continued to prosper, garnering a reputation for quality and a unique approach. This popularity led to expansion and a great ease of communication with their clientele; the latter of whom, by exchanging their ideas and clarifying their desires, help to foster the intimate engagement between Wearingeul and its patrons.
Ahn Dong Hyuk is Wearingeul’s CEO and founder. He says, “Wearingeul’s core philosophy centers around offering unique interpretations of literary works, especially through synesthetic expressions using colors, scents, tastes, and more. For instance, we’ve crafted perfumes inspired by literature, and even teas. Among these projects, our Literary Ink project—focusing on colors since 2019—has garnered much attention and love, enabling the brand’s growth and transcending merely reading text. One such approach is our Colors of Literature project, which translates the imagery and characters of stories into colors.”
Using story, especially in its written incarnation, is Wearingeul’s starting point. With an emphasis on literature, Wearingeul attempts to move beyond the simple ingestion of a tale and into the terrain of the senses visàvis that tale. For example, the many inks that harken to Korean literature, generally citing content from each piece, endeavor to transmute the emotional reaction of reading these texts into a sensory experience.
Translation from Korean into English is notoriously difficult, and much of the original subtleties and context can be lost when a piece is interpreted thusly. Wearingeul extracts the meaning from these stories and “translates” them into color, smell, and even taste, such as with Wearingeul’s teas. A business built on synesthesia, deep emotion, and the stories that compose our lives and identities must produce a quality, desirable product to attain and maintain success. Wearingeul pulls off this feat magnificently— offering fountain pen inks with genuine meaning and pristine effects.
The Night Colored in Grape ink alludes to Jung Ji Yong, a Korean poet whose luminous work should be known more widely internationally. This particular ink refers to his piece “The Dream of Wind and Waves” and is a pastel violet color with silver glitter, nodding to the grapecolored night sky. The Autumn Night After a Thousand Years Wearingeul ink, harkening to the author Lee Yuk Sa “Musa,” is a golden glitter on olive, meant to mimic starlight leaking through the leaves of a tree. The images conjured in our minds are far more complex than a simple “sky at night” hue. In a single ink, poetry blooms. One can almost feel the intricate metaphors or taste each word in the play of color, light, shadow, shimmer, and sheen present in Wearingeul inks.
An inclusion of Korean literature does not equal the erasure of our more familiar Western canon (although I would argue the true literary junkie would rather slog through difficult translations for a good story than reread known classics). If a customer wishes to memorialize a certain work that drew them, somehow shaped them, the offerings seem endless: from Shakespeare classics to Stoker’s Dracula, from children’s literature like The Secret Garden to the very adult The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, it appears that there’s something for everyone. If one removes the allusions to literature and mythos, one is still left with a magical product capable of communicating emotion through color.
Children’s literature is an oftneglected genre, despite it being part of the fabric of our own personalities. Of what are we composed if not the stories we learned at our parents’ knees? Wearingeul insists upon respecting the tales that built our characters, the fairy vignettes we all loved, just as much as the company respects adult literature. The products based upon Pinocchio are a perfect example of this: the Pinocchio ink is a vibrant, verdant green—both emerald and mint tones—to convey the lively and even troublemaking puppetchild, with Geppetto (his ostensible father/creator) illustrated in warm and gentle colors—a clear blush red ink with startling yellow undertones to evoke his soft, loving character.
As a Kafka devotee, I’m drawn to Metamorphosis, a crimsoncolored ink with copper undertones that comments upon the main character’s sudden transformation into a beetle, and indeed, when written on Tomoe River paper, a violet shade emerges. The Great Gatsby ink nods to the decadence in the novel with a navyviolet base and golden sheen depicting the royal pretension and failing morality of the debauched 1920s. One might think a Great Gatsby ink would automatically harken to the famed green light in the book, but Wearingeul is never so obvious, preferring instead to precisely quantify the emotional heft of the novel, at the heart of which lies a dissection of moral decay and dissolution rather than a tragic love story.
Neither has Wearingeul neglected to release fabulous collections: the whimsical Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Collection includes multiple inks representing the various characters. The Queen of Hearts ink is a redblack base with golden glitter and a deep brown sheen, symbolizing her powerful charisma and sparkling madness. The Cheshire Cat is a purplemagenta ink with incredible shading, indicating his mischievous and backwards manner, and The White Rabbit is an ivorybased ink with subtle shading of orangepink. Alice herself is reincarnated as a sky blue color with yellow shading and shiny gold glitter, representing her lively intellect and curiosity.
Wearingeul’s Wonderful Wizard of Oz Collection, in addition to inks inspired by many of the main characters, also includes the brand’s unique Glitter Potion collection. It’s an epic product line. You can actually alchemize your own ink with glitter, deciding for yourself whether or not your ink potion should lightly shimmer or generously sparkle. Perhaps glitter ink often chokes your fountain pen; with this kit, you can use a light touch and guard your instruments zealously. Merely add the glitter potion to your favorite Wearingeul ink in your preferred amount, and mix it up.
Ahn says, “Our goal was to empower users to overcome these limitations by giving them the freedom to customize and transform their inks according to their preferences. We focused on the wellknown story of Oz—representing Dorothy’s silver shoes, the Tin Woodman’s heart, the Cowardly Lion’s bravery, and the Scarecrow’s brain. Adding glitter transformed these inks into expressions of characters achieving their dreams upon meeting the Wizard. As new projects arise, Glitter Potion options may expand, but only when a literary genre or story resonates strongly.”
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the gorgeous World Myth collection, inks that take us on a tour of world mythology and legend. Anubis ink is based upon the guardian of the dead in Egypt, who had a jackyl’s head and a human body. A warm brownblack color with fantastic shading, the ink also contains a shiny gold and red copper glitter meant to signify the aesthetics of Egyptian accessories at that time. Heimdall is the god of light in Norse mythology and is captured in an ink that transitions organically from a bright yellow (like the sun itself ) to orange, and when applied heavily, it can even turn into a red. It has a wide color range.
Lest you think inks are the entirety of the business, Wearingeul has a massive collection of paper products, accessories, ink swatches, washi tape, and more. Ink might be the focus, but it is not exclusive. Every item sold through Wearingeul has been given the same minute attention to detail and quality.
Wearingeul features the best in stationery: from ink and color swatches to impression paper and notes, from square manuscript paper to a day planner. A Phantom of the Opera journal made of leather is perfect for everyday introspection, and bookmarks abound. Specialty items are always available, like a threehole leather pen pouch offered in various themes (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Faust, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz). Postcard collections, washi tape, stickers—it’s easy to get lost (in a good way!) in the fantastic world that Wearingeul has created.
Like the lingering taste of chocolate or the ineffable smell of springtime, the literary inks and related products offer the user an ephemeral but very real feeling: the enjoyment of a rich experience that leaves a distinct impression. The use of Wearingeul ink is a sensory experience that goes far beyond the typical, and it’s deeply satisfying.