ddp design fair

On July 5, the DDP Design Fair Launch “Young Designer + Corporate Brand Exhibition” held an interim sharing session. Each team presented their product development process, followed by an educational program on design trends and current insights. The goal of the “Young Designer + Corporate Brand Exhibition” is to develop corporate brands and products through collaborative industrial project workshops between young designers from domestic and overseas companies and design universities, and to hold the results as a corporate brand exhibition. At the interim sharing session, young designers were matched with companies and these young designers presented the current state of their product development under the guidance of expert mentors using the keywords of 'AI, ESG, IMAGINATION, and FUTURE'. After each team's presentation, the interim sharing session was followed by two special design training sessions: 1.        Collaborative design insights training on 'Generation AI: Designer's Mindset' by Sung Chan Koh of Samsung Electronics 2.        'The significance of design awards and effective panel design strategies' by Yoon Jin-young, CEO of Mini-college Mentor Group. In his lecture on 'Generation AI: Designer's Mindset,' Sung Chan Koh, a designer at Samsung Electronics, explained the entire design process in the use of generative AI, from cases of using ‘mid-journeys’ to using AI in product design. He emphasized that the scope of generative AI has recently expanded, allowing designers to understand coding, research, trends, and more, which is a great opportunity for designers. In response to the participants' questions about the development and possibilities of AI technology, Mr. Koh admitted that generative AI can help designers create new designs and stands as an alternative to a new convergence process in product design development. Meanwhile, Yoon Jin-young, CEO of Mini-college Mentor Group, presented "The Significance of Design Awards and Effective Panel Design Strategies," which advised young designers participating in the DDP Design Fair Launch’s “Young Designers + Corporate Brands Exhibition” to properly establish the main focus of their projects and the direction of the judging process by providing ideas for submitting to the competition. In order to ensure that the design products and concepts that young designers work on with corporate brands can lead to fruitful outcomes after the exhibition, Ms. Yoon explained the guidelines and focus of the competition and shared her expertise as a design panelist. When asked about the difference between a portfolio and a contest panel, Yoon said that the most important aspect of a portfolio is the prototyping process, which is different from a contest, and the understanding of the work process. In response to a question about how to approach a project that is not solely aimed at solving a problem, she said that you should have your own approach to show and explain the process rather than the result. 

On May 23, the “Young Designer + Corporate Brand Exhibition Orientation” of the DDP Design Fair Launch was held in the Design Hall on the 3rd floor of the DDP Design Lab. A total of 18 teams attended the orientation, which began with an introduction to the vision and different steps in industrial design support, followed by an introduction to exhibition projects, Q&A, and a presentation of last year's best practices by University of Seoul student Kim Se-jin. She was part of the “Amerodo” team (composed of Amore Pacific, young designers from the University of Seoul, and mentor Lee Kwang-hoo from HusDesign), selected as the best team last year. Kim Se-jin said that collaborating with Amore Pacific gave her valuable experience and it publicizing the team's achievements through the press and media was an invaluable achievement. The event concluded with a group photo of all the participants, followed by sharing anecdotes about the matching sessions.In his welcoming remarks, Mr. Park Jin-bae, Head of Design Promotion, Seoul Design Foundation, said that he hopes that the exhibition will help the discovery of talented designers, enable these designers find employment and start their own businesses, and that the collaboration between young designers and companies will lead to the creation of innovative brand products that are trend-setting. The “Young Designer + Corporate Brand Exhibition” is composed and led by young designers, companies, and expert mentors. Young designer groups are composed of four to six domestic and foreign design-related undergraduate and graduate students. Through industry-academia collaboration, companies interested in new product development and branding will team up with young designers and expert mentors such as design experts or university professors in the field of product development and branding to showcase their results at the DDP Design Launching Fair (October 17~27), Korea's leading design business launching platform. The “Young Designer + Corporate Brand Exhibition” will host workshops, mentoring sessions, and training courses, and 14 teams will be selected through the first round of evaluations on July 19. On August 20, the final sharing sessions will be held where each team will make their final presentations on product development and the direction of their exhibitions. On September 6, the three best teams will be selected after the second round of evaluation to receive the Seoul Mayor's Award and scholarships. In addition, during the project development period, insights from experts in the field, as well as education on becoming a start-up, exhibitions and employment will be provided. Professional coordination to ensure smooth communication will also be supported.  The matching results and participant list of " Young Designer + Corporate Brand Exhibition" can be found here: (https://ddp.or.kr/?menuno=245&bbsno=1847&boardno=22&siteno=2&act=view&cates=11)

The first mentoring of collaborating teams took place over two days on June 20 and 21, at the Design Hall of DDP’s Design Lab. 32 teams on June 20 and 34 teams on June 21 attended the relay mentoring taking place in each area such as furniture, lighting, household goods, beauty, and so on. The general consensus is that compared to last year, the expanded mentoring sessions provided a high density of support. On June 20 and 21, Jung Mi(CEO, EONSLD), Lee Jeong-eun (CEO, Contributors), Shin Tae-ho (CEO, Maezm), Ahn Kang-eun (CEO, Inne Art Management), Son Dong-hoon (CEO, Atelier SOHN), Ha Ji-hoon (Professor, Kaywon University of Art and Design), and Oh Oh-hwan (CEO, 4Work) participated in the relay mentoring, Soi Jeong (CEO, Vomus Design), and Lee Ki-Oh (CEO, Intensive) were selected as mentors, and through one-on-one consultations with the participants, supported the work of the collaborating teams, sharing do’s and don’ts, and discussed the direction of collaborations together. The Fair is in its 6th year and the number of designers and manufacturers who have participated for two or three consecutive years and new participants is increasing. Furthermore, the participation rate is continuously rising. This is because manufacturers and designers from various fields can collaborate to create unique, previously unseen, products. From this year, support for outstanding products has been expanded, further increasing the interest of designers and manufacturers who attended the mentoring sessions.​Mentoring Week will be held twice, and on July 18-19, mentoring tailored to the needs of the collaborating teams will also be held.

On May 29, the Collaboration & Orientation of the DDP Design Fair Launch was held at the Design Hall of the DDP Design Lab. 114 people, mostly manufacturers and designers, attended the orientation, which first introduced the collaboration in the business of product development between manufacturers and designers, and was followed by a Q&A session, then a presentation by Kyung-hyun, Yoon, the winner of last year’s best design award. The orientation was rounded off with time for free networking, where participants shared their thoughts and information.In particular, the presentation of the previous year's best practices was greatly appreciated for providing newly-participating designers and manufacturers valuable directions and information.​Now in its 6th year, DDP Design Fair Launch, is an initiative that matches designers with manufacturers to support the development of various products in the field of design. This project aims to revitalize the design manufacturing industry by simultaneously providing opportunities to start and further develop businesses through developing the competitiveness of manufacturers in the business of design and supporting designers with promotions and the development of new products.​To provide manufacturers and designers who applied for the DDP Design Launching Fair with the opportunity to expand their design business through mutual matching services, manufacturers and designers will be provided with customized expert mentoring aimed at improving product quality and comprehensive services such as product development, product trends, product branding, and legal/patenting services and so on.​Last year, 182 new products were developed through the matching of manufacturers and designers at the DDP Design Fair Launch, and 60 products, selected as best, were presented to the 110,000 people who visited online and in person.  

Global buyers, including those from Korea, showed their special 'touch' bigger and wider at the DDP Design Launching Fair. With sharp eyes and amplified interest in pre-empting products that increase the value of their products as you want to have them for a long time, the conference center was filled with silent enthusiasm during the three days of the buyer’s day.   The DDP Design Launching Fair, Asia's leading design launching fair, was held for three days from October 24th to 26th, 2023 at DDP Art Hall Conference Center, a venue for buyers and design companies who have been waiting for one-of-a-kind products for a year. On the 24th and 25th, the first and day of the Buyer's Day, which consisted of pre-matching and on-site 1:1 meetings with the teams they wanted to meet through pre-portfolios, Lotte Home Shopping, GS Retail, Post Office Shopping, Walmart, Timon, 11th Avenue, Today's House, KakaoTalk Gift, Cashwork, Eland Retail, Wadiz, and others participated in the event. On the 25th and 26th, famous international online and offline buyers such as SSENSE from the United States and MERCI and GALERIES LAFAYETTE from France attended the event, and the three-day buyer's day ended with the same enthusiasm.    We look forward to the solidified vision of Korean designers and makers, as buyers consistently praised the designs that resonated with their different senses and emotions, and the practical products that encompassed their daily lives. 

The art hall where the DDP Design Launching Fair was held, was filled with a lively and colorful atmosphere. This is because a live commerce studio had been set up where you could purchase the launching products presented at the DDP Design Launching Fair in real-time. The live commerce, which was broadcast by NAVER Shopping Live on On Air, was held four times for three days on October 25, 27, and 28, for 90 minutes each. The live commerce was filled with anticipation even before it started, as the show hosts wittily explained how the products were made and what they could be used for.   On the first day of the event, Eternal Pencils by one+design, a natural companion for the earth, environment, and people, LOWLIT COLLECTIVE's Tikke Pickers, and UnrollSurface's Bio Reet Cup tumblers featured in the event, which drew up to 220,000 live views. Afterward, we were inundated with questions about one+design's long-lasting Zai Carbon Pencil with a silver point that doesn’t need sharpening.   On October 27, excitement about the products was even higher with 220,000 viewers tuning in to see Anylock's Milda push-pull door knob for a clean and hygienic way to open and close doors, Chigong's eco-friendly oral hygiene gift set, and mo-on's Obicuum Air Home Detailing cordless vacuum cleaner, which won the Best Launch award, received tons of likes and hearts.     On Saturday, the 28th, the last day of the live commerce, the studio booths were moved into the exhibition hall to tell the stories of the products more vividly right in front of them. Unique chairs from k.j design and Seungtae Jang were offered at special discounted prices during the fair, while recycled marble tables, benches, and lamps from SITELESS GROUP and Viacollective were applauded for their offer of free shipping. The coffee table and stool by outro and Viacollective, whose color can be customized according to the mood of the day, received a lot of questions.    The next hosts then introduced products such as Company J (ZOO Keeper Design) and DesignMob's illustration wrap, Remake_Lab and Chilhan79’s recycled fabric, Hana Do Bag with design motifs from masks, and Ago Studio and Beenzeenee's Shang Shang Mirror, which was viewed by about 450,000 people and proved popular with live comments. 

October 24 marked the start of Seoul Design 2023 and a huge number of visitors were brought to DDP. As a design festival hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and organized by the Seoul Design Foundation, it was in the spotlight even before it began. Among the festival's many events, the DDP Design Launching Fair, an industrial business launch show, showed its strength despite being only in its fifth year and received a lot of attention and focus not only in Korea but also overseas. Since 2019, the DDP Design Launching Fair has lived up to its reputation as a business launching show that has created synergy between small makers and designers to improve the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry and promote the design industry, showcasing new collaborative products every year in the fields of household goods, lighting, furniture, beauty, and fashion.   This year's fair featured products that fit the theme of "Valuable Partnership," a more realistic and serious theme for the environment and people. Following the cheers and admiration on the first day of the fair, which showcased 60 products selected as outstanding among collaborative products developed through collaboration between makers and designers, as well as newly launched products from 12 domestic and international design studios, the awards and opening ceremony on October 25 brought even more applause. First, Mayor Oh Se-hoon attended the awards ceremony at Art Hall 1, where he viewed the main contents of the design exhibition, including the theme exhibition "Wise Cohabitation," the overseas trend exhibition, and the corporate + young designer brand exhibition, and then attended the DDP Design Launching Fair Awards Ceremony. A total of seven teams were awarded, including three for Best Design, one for Best Design (Citizen Award), two for Best Activities, and one for Best Launch. The opening ceremony began with an opening speech by Rhee Kyung-don, CEO of the Seoul Design Foundation, and unlike last year, this year's ceremony was held at Ouillim Square instead of indoors, so both VIPs and visitors to DDP participated in the opening ceremony, marking the beginning of a more meaningful design festival. We are looking forward to next year's DDP Design Launching Fair already as it contains the future of sensory design and the wise will of Korean makers and designers for sustainable living while allowing people to enjoy a rich design festival.

The products created by the 182 teams of matched makers and designers have been completed, and the countdown to the judging has begun, and the products have arrived at DDP one by one. The judging to select the 60 best teams was held on August 21 in the grassy love room on the fourth floor of DDP Design Lab. The products, which were divided into categories such as lighting, beauty, fashion, household goods, and furniture, showed off their own charm and energy, amplifying the anticipation of the viewers. The judging process was divided into launching curator and collaboration curator judging, and there were three criteria: marketability, which evaluates mass production potential through product competitiveness; productivity, which focuses on eye-catching and professional design; and creativity, which determines how original and innovative the product is in a world full of copies.  The judging process, accompanied by the curator`s sharp evaluations, was as serious as ever, with moments of disagreement, but by the time the 60 teams were finally selected, it was a pleasant conclusion. The 60 selected products will be exhibited at DDP alongside Seoul Design 2023 from October 24 to November 2, 2023.