Morning Glory (모닝글로리)

Founded in 1981, Morning Glory built its name on a segment Korean stationery ignored: the illustrated, colourful, character-covered school notebook, sold at the price of a plain one. The brand preceded the Japanese-imported kawaii wave by several years, with a graphic vocabulary of its own.

Its writing range follows the same logic of accessibility: the Mach, a ballpoint with a translucent barrel, is the first pen of several generations of South Korean pupils. The firm now exports to around a hundred countries, often without the buyer knowing they are holding a Korean product.