Wadizhas a friend named “Jinguk.” He’s the mascot character representing Wadiz. It’s been three years since Jinguk first came into the world. Over the years, we’ve received many questions asking how Jinguk came to be and what his prototype looked like. To be honest, Jinguk wasn’t originally created with the intention of developing a character.
“The peopleWadiz are the real deal.”
In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that Jin-gook was born from this single sentence. It was something the CEO said to me when I first joined as a brand manager, as he was enthusiastically describing the Wadizteam. I was deeply moved by the affection and confidence he expressed toward our members.(I’m the type who gets easily moved...) Above all, the expression “Jinguk” seemed to connect perfectly with the impressions I gained while meeting and talking with various team members during my early days at the company.
I jotted this sentence down and sketched a quick portrait of Jin-gook to include in the materials for our next meeting. It was part of the process of defining “who we are,” and I intended to place it in the corner of a slide to help convey the message. I just imagined what kind of expression Jin-gook would have and sketched it out casually, so it probably took less than a minute to draw.
The part of the script from three years ago where Jin-gook was born
But as we were leaving the meeting, one person said, “We have our own character now!” and seemed really happy about it. We unveiled Jin-gook internally Wadiz as an experiment, and the response was great. I heard so many people say, “Thank you for creating Jin-gook.” Since he was such a simple character to draw, watching Jin-gook start to pop up everywhere made my inner conflict grow. Is this really okay…?
Regardless of how I felt, before I knew it, I had become Jin-gook’s mom. Whenever I met new hires, I was invariably introduced as “the one who made Jin-gook.” Anyway, since Jin-gook was born three years ago, anyone who joined the company after that must assume, after much speculation, that Jin-gook was born. I’d been thinking that someday I’d like to share this story with everyone and clear up the misunderstanding… and finally, that day has come.
You can’t really say that Jinguk was a character “developed” for internal branding. After all, he wasn’t created through any specific process or testing. Jinguk wasn’t a character forced into existence. He came about so naturally. If we had started with a project aimed at developing a character, do you think the Jinguk we know today would ever have emerged?
I think the reason so many people resonated with and welcomed the name “Jinguk” is that it defines and visually represents Wadizexisting identity (setting aside the character’s polish or level of detail for a moment 😉). This just goes to show that there are many people Wadizwho genuinely love and care deeply about what Wadizdo.
Inspired Wadiz, Jin-guki was born and has thrived over the past three years thanks to Wadizlove and support. Originally created as a welcome kit to greet new Wadiz members, Jin-guki has become an integral part of our office, embodying Wadizfive principles. Last year, Jin-guki even made its way Wadizspace and was turned into a crowdfunding merchandise item.
In the first half of this year, the Jin-guk Task Force was active with the goal of “creating Jin-guk culture.” Through a period of intense self-reflection on our identity, we’re working hard to clarify exactly whoWadizis and how we should move forward.
The Wadiz team members are working tirelessly in their respective roles to connect with creators and supporters, develop policies and review processes, and build a fair and transparent platform and ecosystem. While we may not be perfect yet, our mission is to create a world where “the right ideas grow on the foundation of trust,” and we will continue to strive toward this goal so that more innovative projects can see the light of day.
