Seoul Character & Licensing Fair 2013: Characters From Around the World All in One Place!

Published on 2013/08/17 | Source

The Seoul Character & Licensing Fair 2013, held at Seoul's COEX 17–21 July and sponsored by KOCCA (Korea Creative Contents Agency) and COEX, featured 170 local and overseas businesses in the character and licensing industry.

Starting in 2008 with the aim of becoming Asia's largest international content fair and promoting the export of Korean characters, today the event is the region's premier cultural content licensing exhibition.

As well as Korean content exhibitors, the fair featured a wide range of events including a business matching program, a content industry job fair, animation screenings, and a modeling contest and fashion show for kids.

You can find more information about the fair at http://www.characterfair.kr/en/index.htm.

Here we take a look at some of the characters and products featured at the even

1. Book & Bakery – Kol and Sunny

The result of collaboration between a felt craft artist and a book artist, Book & Bakery creates unique felt artwork including delightful felt books and appetizing bakery items such as macaroons, ice cream cones, candies, cakes, lollipops, and cookies.

The charming and colorful pieces are all handmade - a close look quickly reveals their high-quality stitching and finishing - and proved a big hit with visitors to the fair.

Items such as the appealing cell phone accessories, key rings, brooches, and ornaments, were popular purchases among the visitors.

(Source: http://blog.naver.com/i_applegirl?Redirect=Log&logNo=60196358257)

2. Sakun – Designer Kun

The offspring of a traditional Korean totem and a goblin, Sakun stares out at the world through beady eyes and can transform his shape at will.

Sakun is in fact best known for the fashion brand launched by the character's designer, Kun.

A wide range of Sakun fashion items were showcased at the fair, including bags, t-shirts, pants and caps, all featuring the Sakun character. Unique and distinctive, Sakun is a fast-rising star in the character fashion market.

Further boosting Sakun's popularity, Sakun was named a Good Design brand in 2012, and the character's fashion products have been endorsed by a number of celebrities.

3. Tayo the Little Bus

Tayo the Little Bus Logo

Tayo the Little Bus is a popular children's TV edutainment animation about vehicles.

(source: http://blog.naver.com/ssambak0125?Redirect=Log&logNo=130144641666)

The main characters in Tayo the Little Bus are four Seoul buses. Their friends include other vehicles such as a truck, a crane, and a fire engine.

In addition to the animated series, Tayo the Little Bus is also a range of character products that includes children's books and toys. Young visitors to the fair were able to purchase items and even take rides on a Tayo bus.

Set in Seoul, Tayo the Little Bus features actual city landmarks such as the Han River, Seoul N Tower, Teheran Avenue, the Han River Bridge, and City Hall, making it easy for children to relate to the show. With sales to overseas market planned, Tayo the Little Bus is expected to promote the city of Seoul and contribute to raising its brand value.

The Seoul Character & Licensing Fair is successfully helping Korea's character and animation industry gain a wider global audience. Join us next time to discover some more of the characters and companies at the fair.