Stream K-Dramas at OnDemandKorea

The Trend of Korean Design in One Glance! - Stop and look at the Expression of Sensible Design

A good design never goes unnoticed. They let out exclamations as if they've seen an excellent piece of art. Also, design is very closely connected to our daily lives. Design is not just a simple visual pleasure, but moves people's minds and makes them act. If they can purchase the products with top designs, consumers will open their wallets to buy them without hesitation.

Finished with titanium is a charming design building, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Design breathes in vitality to a stagnated city and gives life force. Bilbao was the best city in the Basque Country, Spain. Prospered through shipbuilding and the steel industry, Bilbao began to decline in 1980. It lost its power as its competitive shipbuilding and steel industry fell behind those of newly developing countries like Korea. However, it got rid of the tag as an industrial city and was reborn as a city of art in 1992.

It hosted America's The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, which is famous in worldwide. Centering on the museum, it made a public design plan and created the city's facilities newly according to the museum. As a result, the museum itself became more famous than the art works it possessed, and Bilbao attracted more tourists who came to see the museum with the unique design. At the same time, many people remembered the city, Bilbao, and visited it. Like this, design plays a role that satisfies function, sensibility, culture, and business. This time, I will take a look at what is the design trend in Korea, what kind of exhibitions show the world's design at one glance, and what preparations are made for becoming a design power country.

Watch, and enjoy sensibility. The 2011 Design Trend Festival

When you go to an exhibition that is well expressed artistically, sometimes, you would get a feeling that artistic sensibility wells up in you just by walking around the exhibition.

First, I will introduce you the 2011 Design Trend Festival, hosted by Seoul City and Seoul Design Foundation, which is Seoul City's specialized institution in promoting and supporting the design industry. Connected to Seoul Design Fair, the representative design festival for citizens in 2010, this festival was held from Oct. 1st to 8th, centering on Garosu-gil, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam, which is the pioneering region of design in Seoul. The Design Trend Festival was held centering around the design support centers of each district. Seoul Design Support Center held exhibitions and seminars that showed the trend of design at one glance, and Gangnam Design Support Center held workshops that looked into markets where people could buy various design products and applied the trend in design after learning.

The 2011 Design Trend Festival centering on each district's design support center

Among them, there were eco-friendly experience exhibition and people experience workshop under the title of 'Green & Sharing'. Also, reform design workshop and children's green design experience class were successfully conducted at Mapo Design Support Center. Especially, unusual and various experiences for children were prepared. They had instructive time by making pouches in shapes of endangered animals, making badges with recycled paper, and making writing paper with used film.

Especially, upcycle reform experience workshop that enabled the reuse of old clothes, fashion goods, and furniture by reforming them with designers received great response from adults. It was a time to arouse the sense of design and the preciousness of nature to the children, and it was a time for adults to feel small fun of daily life.

Design experience village that was conduced at Gyeonggi-do Design Festival

Gyeonggi-do Design Festival 2011 was conducted in last September to establish futuristic design infra, the development of the future design industry, and the vitalization of the regional economy. The exhibition that Gyeonggi-do hosted was used as a place for exchanging information and the flow of the recent trend of companies in each Gyeonggi-do cities and districts. It was a place for communication where citizens could experience and emphasize with the design.

Especially, the experience programs for Gyeonggi citizens were diverse. At the design theme exhibition, people were able to see the examples of public design and think of design to enrich people's life at 'Sharing Design Experience Village'. At 'G-GREEN' workshop, a design experience workshop was conducted by making tissue case with old shirts and making a bracelet with leftover leather while thinking of 'sharking nature' and understanding green design. Like thus, diverse exhibitions and experience events gives children to newly perceive objects or arouse our hidden sensibility.

Gather all ye of people who dream of design! Seoul Design Festival

There were exhibitions that focused on professionalism. Seoul Design Festival that celebrates its tenth anniversary this year is the professional design exhibition hosted by Design House. The exhibition first started to strengthen design marketing expertise, to discover competent designers based on designer network, and to become a driving force of Korean design industry's development. You could visit it for 18 days starting from Dec. 14th.

This exhibition conducts 'Trend Now' that people can enjoy brilliant products of brands and designers' collaboration, demonstration of hardware and software from professional design company, and 'design solution' that will become a place of introducing design educational institutions. And there are 'Young Designer' that will be debut of newly discovered designers, and 'Global Designer' where people can see global products that were hard to see in Korea such as Javier Mariscal, the legendary person of Spain graphic, Bravos, Badaboom, and Vasava.

The festival of novice and current designers: Seoul Design Festival

Also, people can see art objet with themes on books as the 35th anniversary of Design House, and at the exhibition that is composed of Korean contents, people can have precious time of looking at design and cultural characteristics by comparing three countries' design factors at the 'Korean, Chinese, Japanese Hankandasil', which is the special exhibition of Asian culture centered city.

A design seminar for introducing useful information to those who dream to be designers will be held as well. If you participate in the seminars like "Infinite changes of graphic with story", led by Graphic designer Javier Mariscal, and "Beyond the boundary line between art and design" by Ryuji Nakamura, an architect and space designer, on the 14th, you'd have a chance to broaden your perspectives as a designer.

If you are a future designer, you must not miss "The designs that my seniors taught me and the designs that they did not", and "3 Know-how's to become a global designer", on the 15th. I hope that many people would discover true values of design that satisfies function, sensibility, and business, find successful designers and continue to nurture them in future.


We will support design: Seoul Design Center

The movement to design culture and develop it into industry continues. Seoul Design Center was established in order to secure development system and continuing support for fundamental institutions related to design in Seoul. It was established in purpose of creating high value in design industry of Seoul city and strengthening small and medium companies' competitiveness. It is planning to provide future goal in various design fields and to play role of a leader of Korean design cultural industry.

The child who made face food at 'Design sharing creative class'

Seoul Design Center is conducting diverse businesses; it gives overall supports to the design industry and gives effort in research development, education culture, and global collaboration. Among them, let's look at its design education culture business. Seoul Design Center opens seminar and forums related to customized design education for actual designers and unemployed professionals among its diverse design education course.

Especially, it operates people design academy for citizens, children, and public design education to strengthen the design service capability of the public organization, receiving many responses from the citizens. It also conducts a business that supports the underprivileged from the aspect of design ability donation and social contribution of various designers in order to share the culture that can be shared with the underprivileged. They visit welfare facilities and newly design the environment of the facility, support design to social company, and conduct design sharing creative class for the underprivileged children, continuing the effort to establish healthy society.

Global collaborative business in design is Seoul Design Center's crucial responsibility, as well. It promoted exchanges with the related organizations in overseas for the global business, and it started a forum to promote the exchange and collaboration between Korea and Germany. Like this, design is an important factor that is crucial in establishing national competitiveness and in developing culture. I hope to see amazing results of various businesses that Seoul Design Center would show.

Today, we looked at the exhibitions that shows Korean design trend at a glance and Seoul Design Center. Why don't we draw the future of Korea where new design that shows small idea springs? In order to have that, many people must have the habit of watching with interest and broadening the general cultural awareness. It would be good to write down what one felt as one look around art exhibitions that is not too difficult. I hope for Korea that grows as design powerhouse.

*NOTE: This blog post is from The Presidential Council on Nation Branding's Official blog 'Korea brand blog', on December 12, 2011. If you have any further information about this blog post please contact us.(AdvancedTechKR@gmail.com) We will be happy to help you to get the related information. Thank you.

About the authorby Official Korea Brand blog

Advertisement

Official Korea Brand blog was launched by The Presidential Council on Nation Branding (PCNB) on August 24, 2009. The most important mission of the PCNB is to inform the world about Korea. The PCNB is dedicated to promoting Korea's image as a country that contributes to international society, a country that produces world-class products and services, and a country that respects other cultures.
- Follow @korea_brand Twitter
- http://blog.naver.com/korea_brand

❎ Try Ad-free