ddp design fair

You have participated in various collaborations besides the DDP Design Fair. What are the distinctive characteristics of the DDP Design Fair, in terms of collaboration?When I first participated in “Euljiro Lightway”, I thought it was created for a good cause, but I wondered, “Would it be able to get good results?” Six years later, I am amazed to see all the participants actively participating in the fair, brimming with confidence. It seems like they are creating their own collaboration style, taking a much more mature attitude towards collaboration. It has grown in scale, too. I think it has been possible to proceed and move forward on a large scale based on thorough preparation because people had high confidence and trust in the DDP Design Fair. The scale has grown from the outside. What changes have been made in terms of content?Rather than following existing trends, the fact that the thoughts and concerns of young designers and makers are reflected in the outcomes seems to be a positive change. A trend is a pattern that a designer must read, not a direction to follow. The interpretation of a new trend includes reading the trend of the times, making something that reflects it, enabling a lot of people to use it and building a bond of sympathy. Preparations for the DDP Design Fair are well on track, but is there anything that can be improved?The preparation period is too short. I think it should be at least a year. It is because trial and error is an inevitable part of the process of creating something new. If there is no time for trial and error, we have no choice but to come up with safe, fail-proof ideas, which makes it more difficult to expect original and imaginative products. I am afraid that a lack of time can be an obstacle to pushing for bold and new ideas. We’ve heard that you are living and working in Sweden right now. Can you feel the popularity of K-content, even in Sweden?These days, when I go abroad and meet people who work in the same field, I get a lot of questions about Korean designers, Korea's most iconic design events and when they are held. Such great attention and curiosity about Korean designs could translate into significant advantages for Korean designers. I think it's a very good time to explore overseas expansion. What are your advices to designers who are actively working in the industry at a fortuitous time?Renowned designers we all know come across as snobbish and overly confident, but once they start a project together, they show an attitude of accepting and respecting the opinions of others and try to work things out together. When working on a collaboration, it's important to know what you want to pursue, but what is more important is knowing what your partner wants. Although this may be a straightforward expression, designers are not artists who create works that reveal their inner selves. They need to have an open mind to get a result that satisfies the needs of their client or partner. Could you briefly introduce the brand (studio) you had recommended for the Launching Pavilion?There are many design studios, but I tried to find a brand that knows how to explore things based on its own philosophy and values. In this respect, I think Bacci For Dwelling (BFD) is the brand that best suits the Launching Pavilion since it has a clear and compelling vision and pursues sustainable designs based on simple formative beauty. This year’s theme for the DDP Design Fair is “Beautiful Life”. What is a beautiful life to you?I think I use the word “beautiful” when I find something touching or relatable, not when I see and say about something on the outside. However, this kind of moment never comes when I am busy working and leading a hectic life. Even if I am not doing anything, I can have this moment only when I feel completely comfortable focusing on myself. I get inspiration for my work when I take time to focus on myself and communicate with objects and life forms around me.

You gave a lecture at last year's DDP Design Fair, and this time you participated as a curator.I have done a lot of collaboration projects as an in-house design expert, but I feel nervous and excited from the start of this journey to work with a variety of people, including individuals, studios, makers and companies. When we discussed on how to highlight the strengths of each product, we had a clash of opinions stemming from a difference in views, but this inspired me to pursue further opportunities. This process is a series of interesting decisions, such as focusing on each and every product that is completely different from home appliances while figuring out how to balance it with other products as a curator. Which item did you find most intriguing, especially products that are completely different from the products you have worked with?When I look at a product, I instantly take on the mindset of a consumer. I can’t help but find myself attracted to practical products that I need. There was a product that made me gasp. It was a partition that boasts exceptional formative beauty and is transformable according to the buyer’s lifestyle and tastes and preferences that are segmented from the micro- to the nano-scale. I was just amazed at the clever sense of design of young Korean designers. Please tell us about a studio you would like to recommend as an expert of home appliance design.I would like to recommend a couple of studios. My first recommendation is Youm Design Studio, a small studio run by a professor at Baekseok University, which commercializes the works of students with a sense of purpose and passion. Face masks designed and produced by Youm Design Studio are comfortable to wear and stylish enough to be worn like a fashion item. As someone who tried it on myself, this is the product I have recommended to others after listening to the feedback of people around me. The second one is Intops, a company specializing in color, material and finishing (CMF). It is a manufacturer of a variety of products that help save the environment using eco-friendly composite materials. One of its products, Tower Blocks, combines a game with environmental issues, so it is easily approachable by anyone. It is expected to see high sales and create a lot of attention when displayed. In addition, I would like to recommend some companies that design and manufacture products and materials representing their brand’s unique characteristics. What are the ongoing trends in home appliance to watch in 2022?Maybe the butterfly effects that come from the recovery to normal life? Emotions that have been suppressed for a long time are expressed through design, a sense of liberation and a pleasant deviation, and bold lines and colors that have never been tried are also applied to home appliances. It seems that home appliances, which used to bring together unusual mix of elements, will be more entertaining with eye-catching visual elements. What are your advices to those who aspire to be home appliance designers?As someone who has worked as a designer for 22 years, looking back on my career, the most difficult part was the process of constantly creating designs different from my previous ones. When I felt the pressure of creating something different, it was difficult for me to focus on the essence of the product, which made me neglect the basic values of a home appliance. The most important thing is to think about the essence and keep the middle ground. It is because if you only put value on the form, the product is highly likely to have a short life cycle. What does the fair’s theme, “Beautiful Life”, mean to you as a curator?When I heard that the theme of this year’s fair is “Beautiful Life”, as an extension of last year’s theme, “Wonderful Life”, I thought, ‘Ah, I will finally have some time to enjoy a beautiful life every day that I had not known before.’ As I see things slowly returning to normal, which is very different from when I felt anxious wherever I went, I think our return to normal represents true beauty. We still need to remain cautious, but I am really looking forward to the DDP Design Fair, which will be also held in person. I hope we can live a more relaxing life next year than we did this year.

It is great to see you again as a director of the Seoul Design Festival and a launching curator of the DDP Design Fair.Yes, this time as a launching curator, I am not only facilitating collaborations in various ways to develop good products, but also playing the role of introducing brands, which are diamonds in the rough, to the public. As individuals, makers as well as companies participate in the DDP Design Fair, which has distinctive characteristics differentiated from other design-related events, I was so excited to see a variety of products more than I had imagined. Of course, regardless of the scale, we are trying to evaluate and advise designs and products with absolute transparency to live up to its title as a fair. Please tell us more about the distinctive characteristics of the DDP Design Fair.Being held for the fourth time, we already know that the DDP Design Fair is a new form of matching platform that connects designers and makers, so I will not mention more about this part. In my opinion, what sets it apart from other events is that participants and curators share the journey of creating new products, instead of exhibiting and promoting products that are already made. Also, you will find it interesting when you see the age bracket of who participates and visits the DDP Design Fair. Most people are in their 10s and 20s at the Seoul Design Festival while there are a relatively large number of people in their 40s and 60s compared to those in their 20s and 30s at the Living Fair. Meanwhile, the DDP Design Fair encompasses all ages, which indicates that many people feel more comfortable with the fair itself. What are your standards for the curation of the DDP Design Fair, which is full of charm and amusement?Since our goal is to create products that can be sold and purchased, in some respects, it is important to select products that will be in high demand and are likely turn the business into a success, but instead we focused on their potential of growth through this fair. Even if it is difficult to create great results right now, we are trying to put more value on how much are you willing to commit and your. You are currently working in so many different fields. Is there any reason behind this?I never hesitated in rushing to any place that needed design, just as I do now, so I had more opportunities to work with more diverse people in various fields. Design should contain a meaning and message, which is more than making something visually attractive. Making a profit is important, but we need to believe in the power of design to do good. I think a designer has a responsibility and mission to find disadvantaged areas where design is needed and put it into practice. I am curious about the brand you had recommended for the Launching Pavilion.I recommended BE FORMATIVE, a creative brand that designs and manufactures products including tableware, rugs, chairs, lighting, etc. When the results of our efforts to promote design are placed in a space, it makes me feel that humans are communicating with the space. A space is created based on humans and objects. People use objects to share and cherish their experience in a space. The more I looked at and experienced the products of BE FORMATIVE, which fulfill their responsibilities and add more flavor and vibe to the space, the more I was amazed by their uses. I hope the brands or studios recommended by the curators including me steal the spotlight at the Launching Pavilion. To make this happen, I am thinking about setting specific standards for the benefits we should provide. We are now living in a world filled with designs. What is a beautiful life to you?It is very touching to see a design that has a playful yet clear message. It is not be an exaggeration to say that I became a designer because I wanted to deliver that kind of emotion. A moment of being touched leads to a heart-warming experience. Perhaps, a beautiful life is a life filled with these moments.

To make a long story short, with so many exceptional products to choose from, tension filled the air throughout the evaluation process. Juries deliberated over entries and went into a heated debate to select excellent teams. They made brief comments on the evaluation process, saying that it was a difficult time which had left them with lingering feelings even after the evaluation process was over. On August 18, full-scale products, which were created based on great planning skills, ideas and product quality and submitted by 166 teams out of more than 180 teams paired through the online matching platform, arrived one after another, revealing themselves on the table for evaluation. Since the products were completed in a very short period of time, it seems all teams have focused all their energy on their product. As a result, each and every product had an irresistible charm of its own that is downright impossible to miss out on. Each team received support through mentorship with collaboration curators as well as legal advice on contracts for production and professional training while creating products that make our lives beautiful in line with the 2022 DDP Design Fair’s theme, “Beautiful Life”, based on the coexistence of humans and the environment. The evaluation to select the 2022 DDP Design Fair’s excellent teams for collaborative product development was divided into the categories of furniture, lighting, home décor and fashion & beauty. The evaluation was carried by juries of experts representing each field, including collaboration curators and launching curators, taking opinions from experts of various viewpoints into consideration. The key criteria for evaluation include “commercial value” combined with future potential of mass production, marketability and practicality; “suitability for exhibition”; and “creativity”, which represents innovativeness, new technology and convergence of materials. Excellent teams were selected based on the total and average scores of each jury. The top 120 teams will have the opportunity of participating in online and offline exhibitions of the DDP Design Fair to be held in October and receiving grants for product development. Three teams will receive the “Seoul Mayor's Award” while four teams will receive the “Seoul Design Foundation CEO Award”. The awarded teams will receive various kinds of support for mass production.

Thisis your first time participating in the DDP Design Fair as a curator. By participating inthe DDP Design Fair, I found out that there are so many designers and makers,more than I could imagine. Seeing people in different fields made me feel likeI was reading an interesting book that I had never read before. I had many“eureka” moments when I was reading through the descriptions and proposals theyhad submitted, but they also made me tilt my head in confusion since I had somequestion marks about their way of communication, which was slightly differentfrom how I communicate with others. Whatdo you mean by “slightly different from how you communicate with others”?Not everyone, but most of the young participantsare only communicating online. Due to the current situation of COVID-19 and themethodological trend, online communication became a natural thing. Perhaps holdingonto old-fashioned ways and methods makes me a stick in the mud, but from myexperience, I think the best way to communicate is to meet in person and givedetails on the intention of the design, its meaning and the production process.It is because talking in person and receiving some unexpected feedback can takeyour work in a new direction, especially in a positive way. After all, it isthe humans who make what people use, so I think there is a huge differencebetween having people around and not having people around. In that regard, Ihave high expectations for the DDP Design Fair, which will be held in person,since we can get more synergy in communication just by bringing peopletogether. Communication is expected to play a vital role forthe new Launching Pavilion. What branddid you recommend for the Launching Pavilion?It is a lighting design studio calledMorphere that captures the bond created between space, light and people. Ithink the brand really knows how to express the atmosphere created by light andthe emotions of how each individual sees and feels it with its own style. Anotheradvantage of Morphere’s lighting is that it can fit into any space and can beexpanded in a variety of ways thanks to its modular design. It seems thedesigner has put a lot of thoughts into each and every step, from productdesign to manufacturing, assembly and boxing, to create high-quality products. What advice would you giveto those who want to become the next Baek Jong-hwan?Our motto, “tryto look at things with different angles”, has not changed since the day thecompany was established, but I recently added one more sentence. “Easy yet depth-seeking,and fun yet serious.” It is a little bit of homage to an old Korean saying thatmeans, “Simple yet not humble, and splendid yet not extravagant.” To others, itmay look easy and fun, but it also has the depth and seriousness without losingbalance. It is important to keep that attitude. We created that phrase, but itis also the message we want to say to those who work in the design industry. Anotherthing I posted on my social media was the true importance of good physicalstrength as well as emotional health. You cannot come up with great ideas anddesigns if you get sick or you are under a lot of stress. Based on acombination of great physical strength and mental health, plus a goodpersonality, I am sure that you will become a good designer. Thisyear’s theme for the DDP Design Fair is “Beautiful Life”. What is a beautifullife to you?When I use thesubway, I always walk along the Gyeongui Line Forest Park. Even it is a busymorning, I see people taking pictures of “things” that look beautiful to them,such as flowers, facades of buildings and shadows. It was really touching. Thisis what makes a beautiful life. Even if you do not go somewhere special, you canfind beauty in everyday life. What makes a beautiful life is ultimately up toyou. I hope the products to be revealed at the design fair are recognized asbeautiful objects, giving some visitors time to appreciate the beauty.

Everyoneis busy preparing for the DDP Design Fair. What were your top priorities forthis year’s fair as a curator?Since I am now running a store thatsells lifestyle products, I could not help but focus on product marketability. Thisis because when you create something new, the top priorities would be the valueof the product as a commodity and the number of units to be sold. One of thenotable features of this year’s fair are eco-friendly products based on avariety of recycling and upcycling ideas. In the past, the quality of productsmade of recycled and upcycled materials was not as good as we had hoped for. However,nowadays, if you don't mention it, they look like brand new products with highquality finish and design, which makes me feel proud. What is a marketable product? Abest-selling product is not always a good product.It is something that can be evaluateddifferently by each person, but for me, product marketability is all about thefit and finish, seeing how neatly and perfectly it is finished. It is alsoimportant to keep a good balance for the entire design, not having too much ortoo less of something. As a living stylist, I have been keeping a hawkish eyeon countless products, including objects, accessories, furniture pieces, etc.for a long time, which naturally helped me have a keen eye for design. Wasthere any fair product that has captured your heart?Since we are still in the phase ofpreparation, a vast majority of products were not yet completed, but there werea few that caught my attention. Among them, when I first saw recycled fabric, Ihad the feeling that this kind of product could be on the market right away. Iwill be more assured of the success of other products after I see the finaloutcome, however, there are quite a few teams I am looking forward to duringthe development process, so if I have the opportunity, I would like to sell thoseproducts at my store in the future. Could you briefly introduce the brand you had recommended for the LaunchingPavilion?After realizing thepreciousness of everyday life and having more affection for home, a little bitof joy would be the cherry on the top for our space at home. mohs is a designerbrand that makes witty and unique products that bring us such joy. It is abrand that I really treasure in my heart, so personally I am very pleased to showcasethe brand at the Launching Pavilion during this year’s DDP Design Fair. Iam curious about the living trends suggested by rooming, which is the firstgeneration of home design shops.When I meet people in the home andliving industry, this is what they say. The preferences and tastes of eachindividual have become more diverse and broader since the COVID-19 pandemic, soit is difficult to pinpoint “what is trendy right now”. When we had little timeto stay at home before the COVID-19 outbreak, we brought things into our homeeven if we felt 60 percent satisfied. However, now we carefully select thingsbased on high standards until we feel 100 percent satisfied and then make apurchase. It seems that people have developed a keen eye for good products asthey started to know themselves better. They naturally start purchasingpractical products first. Once they have an eye for choosing good products, itnever goes backwards. The trend is not led by a certain product or design. Thetrend these days is to create a variety of trends according to each person'staste. These trends could be a piece ofadvice to those who make products.Designers and makers have to make high-qualityproducts in order to satisfy consumers who say they would choose to buy built-to-lastproducts, even if they can buy only one item because of its high price. Thisnew consumer behavior is setting strict and demanding standards for those whomake products. There are some companies that try to stay in the competition byoffering products at low price, however, such products are not likely tosurvive in the market in the long run. In fact, once you buy something, it isnot easy to throw it away. However, it is also true that many of them end up inthe dumpster. I think creating high-quality, durable products is a smart way thathelps our environment and gives buyers an opportunity to save some money.

Please share your own standards of selecting products, especially as CEO of Innometsa, a brand that excites many people.  We are living in a world full of designs, but it is very unfortunate that designs have a short life span. I am trying to avoid products with a short life cycle, from creation to extinction, which come and go easily. Innometsa import built-to-last products with high satisfaction levels for material and design. Also, for this year’s DDP Design Fair, I tried to select and evaluate products based on my personal preference because products to be launched at the DDP Design Fair have a short timeline, not long enough to show the participants’ great passion and enthusiasm.   What would be a great example of products that strike a perfect balance between material, design and practicality? One great example is Rosendahl’s wooden monkey, a Danish classic, which was first produced in 1951 and is still loved by many people across the globe. In Denmark, this monkey doll is traditionally given as a gift for newborns. This small children's toy, which not only contains materials but also an identity in terms of value and a story handed down from generation to generation, has been loved as a lifestyle object not just in Denmark but also around the world. It is certain that the wooden monkey will also be loved by generations to come.   What makes Denmark special among many European countries? While doing business with various countries in northern Europe, I started to open my eyes to their sensible practicality and was pretty sure that their products would be a big hit. Among them, Danish products were the most attractive to me. Of course, when I first started my business, the reaction of people around me was tepid, even downright skeptical. However, it turned out just as I expected, and design and lifestyle products with practicality started to gain huge popularity. Our products continue to draw great interest and attention from the public. As consumers have a wider range of choices, one major characteristic of recent consumption trends is that consumers are not biased toward one designer or brand.   Do you have any plans to export Korean products to customers overseas besides importing goods from overseas? We are probably not at the stage yet to start exporting goods, but we are in the midst of preparation to make that happen. That is why participating in the DDP Design Fair as a curator is also a great opportunity for me. As the fair progresses, I would be able to see which products both have marketability and influence. I do not expect getting a huge response from the beginning as I did when I introduced European products, but I would like to steadily introduce Korean design products bit by bit, even if the results are small.   I know this is your first time, but how would you evaluate the DDP Design Fair so far? I want designers and makers to think more broadly before they design and make products. After seeing some of the products, I had an impression that they were made to be marketed only in Korea. I hope designers and makers can bring up ideas that would also appeal to customers abroad, and I know that they already have the skills they need. In addition, they need to streamline the design for products with excessive frills since those products could be only appealing to a small audience and create difficulty in global expansion. Even though more and more people are starting to recognize the DDP Design Fair, it would be also great if experts could find designers or makers who would participate in the fair to drive further growth of the fair, other than receiving applications from candidates.   The Launching Pavilion is moving toward that direction at this year’s fair. What brand did you recommend for the Launching Pavilion? Fl.art Object. It is a brand that aims to create a variety of works based on ceramics. I recommended the brand based on its potential growth, which extend to both domestic and global expansion opportunities. The brand’s new approach to ceramics, transforming ceramics into two dimensional images, was particularly impressive. I am looking forward to what kind of products Fl.art Object will showcase at the Launching Pavilion.   What kind of platform do you expect the DDP Design Fair to be in the coming future? Whenever I go to similar fairs held overseas every year and talk with designers, I hear how much support they receive from their home country. I always get envious of them since I still do not think Korean designers and makers are getting enough support from the government. The small size of the domestic market itself might be one factor, however, I still feel that designers and makers are not provided with sufficient support from the government. Even though the DDP Design Fair, which marks its fourth anniversary this year, continues to grow amid high expectations, I hope the scale of the fair gets bigger than it is now with more active support.

The matching process has recently ended, and this is your third time being a curator for the DDP Design Fair. I feel more responsibility since I need to devote enough time and energy, but being a curator for the same event three times ensures the continuity of the process, which is a great advantage for me. It helps me grasp the overall context of the fair, such as the difference between this year, last year and the year before and what needs to be improved. This allows me to give more realistic advice to the participants, which helps them create better products that satisfy consumers. It is not an easy job, however, every time I participate in the fair, I feel more excited and more rewarded for my efforts.   Did you find any difficulty in matching designers with makers? I did not find it difficult. Instead, I have higher expectations for the potential outcomes that could turn out be pleasant surprises. Different ways of matching designers with makers based on the strengths and characteristics of each maker, as well as various personalities of designers, may deliver results beyond expectations. That’s why we are doing our best to develop unique but practical products, not just ordinary products. These processes, in my opinion, are very important. They are all about working together to get the best results, not the results we already have. Despite the sharp criticism, worries and pains, I think this will be a bitter but valuable lesson that cannot be taught anywhere else in the world.  You have directed a lot of design projects. How would you define the DDP Design Fair? Back in the ‘70s, the concept of design did not exist. At that time, there was an organization called the Korea Design & Packaging Center (KDPC), whose name literally meant “making things look pretty”. However, the decline in manufacturing and the rise of service-oriented industries have resulted a large number of makers and independent designers, instead of in-house designers, in line with the paradigm shift in the design industry. As a sole owner of a business or a small-scale business owner, they have been at the forefront of everything, from start to finish, including concept definition, planning, design and manufacturing. Nevertheless, there are some things that are difficult or even impossible to manage all alone, such as advice from various experts, product promotions, showrooms, etc. I think the DDP Design Fair is a great problem-solver which understands exactly what designers and makers are struggling with and comes up with solutions to the difficulties that they are facing. It strikes a perfect between designers and makers in order to satisfy the needs of both sides, without being biased toward one side. It is an epitome of level playing field.   You seem to have great affection for this fair. Nonetheless, do you think there is something that could be improved? Many people should benefit from the fair as much as possible since the funding comes from taxes paid by citizens. I wish there were a training program that would allow designers and makers to make a quantum leap and develop products with great potential. It may be difficult to create a new program right away, but hopefully someday, we will get the chance to create such program as each edition of the fair improves with time.   K-content is all the rage at the moment. Please give some advice on how to grow as a global designer. I totally agree with film director Martin Scorsese’s quote, “the most personal is the most creative”, which was mentioned by Bong Joon-ho during his speech. I think his quote is a true principle that could be applied to any field or industry. To make a high-quality product, designers must think like an artist and create work that represents their own identity. In doing so, they would be able to come up with a creative design differentiated from others. In that sense, it is important for designers and makers participating in this year’s DDP Design Fair to have their own identity. I think this is the key factor for globalization. No need to concern ourselves with what others are doing, or what is fashionable in countries around the world. As South Korea attracts attention worldwide, if you take great pride in what you do and focus on your work, your work will win applause not only at home but also abroad at some point.