PORTFOLIO — WEB LOCALIZATION FOR KOREA

Translation isn’t localization.

A site can be flawlessly translated into Korean and still read as foreign — quietly costing trust and conversion. Below is the same skincare page in three states. The content never changes; only the design does.

The localized version isn’t guesswork: it’s built by studying the proven, top-performing Korean sites and rebuilding to those conventions.

“A Korean font that’s just inherited from your English one isn’t a small thing — it’s a signature. It means no one who reads your customers’ language ever touched your site. And if the type is foreign, the design is too — they come from the same knowledge.”
01

Original (English)

The English site — clean, considered, built for a Western audience.

View the live page →
Original (English)
02

Just translated

Korean text poured into the same design. The type is inherited (not set for Korean) and the layout offers none of the trust cues Korean buyers expect. This is what “just translate it” actually ships.

View the live page →
Just translated
03

Localized

Rebuilt to Korean conventions — same content, native structure: trust up front, a denser rhythm, decisive calls to action.

View the live page →
Localized

화면을 스크롤해 전체를 보거나, 클릭하면 원본 크기로 열립니다 / Scroll each panel, or click to open full size.

THE SIGNATURE MOST BUYERS CAN’T READ

You can’t judge Korean type — but you can run one test.

Is your Korean text designed, or just your English font with Korean characters dropped in? It isn’t about an ugly font — it’s the tell of whether anyone who knows Korea ever set it.

Inherited Korean type

Inherited

Latin metrics, cramped lines, and a synthetic slant no Korean typeface uses. Technically readable — but no one set it for Korean.

Korean type, set with intent

Set for Korean

Proper weight and spacing, emphasis carried by color — not a fake italic. The type was chosen, not inherited.

Fix the type and you’ve passed the test most foreign designers fail — the same knowledge that sets Korean type correctly is what localizes the whole design.