Busan signage expo to showcase evolving face of the city

Busan Metropolitan City announced Friday that it will hold the 2026 Sign Expo Busan for five days, from Sept. 16 to Sept. 20, at the Dasom Hall in Busan Citizens Park.

Now in its 24th year, the expo is co-hosted by the city and the Busan Metropolitan Outdoor Advertising Association as a platform for residents to reflect on and share the value of the outdoor advertising they encounter in everyday life. About 100 people, including outdoor advertising industry figures, students from related academic programs and award winners, will attend the opening ceremony on the morning of Sept. 16. The 2026 Busan Outdoor Advertising Grand Prize competition winners and model businesses recognized for their attractive signage will be honored there.

This year's grand prize in the "creative model advertisement" category went to "Eolssu" by Park Myeong-sik, which captures the traditional Korean sensibility of the National Gugak Center through the calligraphy and visual form of the word "eolssu," blending tradition with the function of outdoor advertising. The grand prize in the "creative design" category went to "Onsaemiro" by Hong Ga-hee and Jang Ye-dam, which draws on the pure Korean word meaning "as nature is" to depict a nature-friendly brand image through traditional motifs such as lotus flowers, stone walls, curves and branding marks.

In the "Draw Your Neighborhood's Pretty Sign" category, the grand prize went to "Wootuk Chicken" by Choi Ye-seong, which vividly captures a neighborhood scene from a child's perspective, complete with cars running along a winding road and airplanes and hot air balloons floating in the sky. The grand prize in the "beautiful signage" category went to "NYU.MI" by Heo Tae-seon, which expresses the regional character of Busan's Mipo area through the imagery of "waves" and "travel," conveying both the area's sense of place and the store's individuality.

The award-winning entries will be on display at the Dasom Gallery in Busan Citizens Park throughout the expo.

This year's expo will also feature a special themed exhibition tracing the history of signage, allowing visitors to see how signs and urban design have evolved over time.