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 becoming 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 at the time because I could feel his affection and confidence in the team.(I’m the type who gets easily moved...) Above all, the expression “Jinguk” seemed to connect perfectly with the impressions I’d formed while meeting and talking with various team members during my early days at the company.
I jotted down this sentence and sketched a quick portrait of Jin-guk to include in the materials for our next meeting. We were in the process of defining “who we are,” and I intended to place the sketch in the corner of a slide to help convey the message. I drew it quickly, imagining what expression Jin-guk might have, so it probably took less than a minute to complete.
The part of the presentation from three years ago where Jin-gook was born
But wouldn’t you know it—as we were leaving the meeting, one of the attendees was all smiles, saying, “We’ve got our own character now!” We first 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, my inner conflict grew as I watched Jin-gook start to be used all over the place. 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 already, anyone who joined the company after that must have assumed, after much speculation, that Jin-gook had been 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 into being so naturally. If we had started with a project aimed at developing a character, do you think the Jinguk we have 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, helping to convey 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 "Let’s Create Jinguk Culture" task force was active. Through a period of intense self-reflection and discussion about our identity, we’re working to clarify exactly whoWadizis and how we should move forward.
The Wadiz team is 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 team’s commitment to our mission—“Good ideas create a world built on trust”—will continue so that even more innovative projects can see the light of day.
