The festival, which runs from Wednesday December
14, to Sunday, December 18 in Hall B of COEX Convention and Exhibition
Center, is a venue for young and established designers from Korea and
abroad to express their creativity through experimental design ideas and
expand their territory. Started in 2002, it has provided opportunities
for designers, encouraged cultural exchange, and facilitated design
communication, networking, and business opportunities.
The poster for the event was designed by acclaimed Spanish designer Javier Mariscal. |
Korea’s most influential design event, the Seoul
Design Festival has grown as a global event attended by 50,000 guests
annually. It is hosted by Design Magazine, which celebrates its 35th
anniversary this year, and sponsored by Naver. The goals of the event
are to promote brands and designers, share information on marketing and
business models based on an analysis of international design trends,
investigate the needs and reactions to designs by the public, and form
global networking connections.
For its tenth anniversary, the Seoul Design
Festival is spotlighting Spain as the guest country, with several
renowned Spanish design works featured.
The poster for the festival is designed by
multidisciplinary artist and designer Javier Mariscal, who is famous for
designing the mascot for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games and
co-directing the acclaimed 2010 animated film Chico and Rita.
He is joined by the Spanish design groups Vasava (www.vasava.es), Badabum (www.badabum.org)
and Bravos. Vavasa specializes in digital design, Badabum is an
illustrator project headed by three main designers backed up by many
guest designers, and Bravos is a group of 21 young furniture and product
designers curated by Spain’s most renowned design expert Juli Capella.
Mariscal, Capella, and members of Vasava will hold a seminar on
co-marketing between designer and brand, design auctions, and the
success story of design. The Designer’s Party will also be hosted by
Spain, with a speech by Spain’s ambassador to Korea as well as various
live performances.
Designers from China, Japan, and Germany will
also participate in the festival. The exhibit Hankandasil: Tea House of
Asian Design is a collaboration between Korean designers, Japanese
designer Nakamura Ryuji, and Chinese designer Wang Fung intended to bare
the soul of Asia which is connected to culture and tradition.
A visitor looks at wooden furniture and household wares at the 2008 Seoul Design Festival (photo: Yonhap News). |
The International Design Festival Berlin, organized by the international design network DMY (Design-Mai Youngsters, http://dmy-berlin.com/),
is conducting its fourth exhibition tour of Europe, stopping in Seoul
as well as Taiwan, Beijing, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. The DMY Asia
Exhibition, will feature innovative designs not yet available in the
Asian market focusing on light, mobile, and adaptable design. The Seoul
Design Festival had previously participated in design festivals with DMY
in 2007 and 2009.
Also, the iF International Forum Design (http://www.ifdesign.de/index_e)
from Hanover, Germany, will showcase the winning entries of this year’s
iF concept design awards. The company held its first exhibition in
1953, and began handing out awards for product design annually in 1954,
including the iF gold award, also known as the “Design Oscar.”
To learn more about the festival, visit http://www.designfestival.co.kr (Korean and English).
By Jon Dunbar
Korea.net Editor
[Source: Korea.net]