ddp design fair

You have started your journey with the fair as a Launching Curator!  

Having worked with DDP on several projects, I have always agreed with their multifaceted approach to design, so I was happy to participate this time. Last year, I enjoyed watching as a spectator, but this year, participating as a curator gave me a lot to seriously consider and think about.

Firstly, what was your role in the fair?

It`s my job to bring studios or brands that are like hidden gems and that I`m personally interested in and have my eye on, to the surface so that more people know about them. I don`t want them to be forgotten just because they don`t have a place to showcase them as they have already made such good products. 

As you go through the curation process, do you have any advice about the system?

In Asia, South Korea is the only country that offers such a large amount of support for design. This is something I've learned from interacting with designers from various countries in Asia. However, I wonder if it`s better to focus on quality rather than quantity, i.e., to support the most promising studios or brands rather than supporting a lot of them. It`s true that more studios are supported through the fair, as it is funded by taxes, but that`s both an advantage and a disadvantage.  

How do you see the current status of Korean design, where design-related support is high?

There`s no doubt that interest in Korean design has increased, and as Korea`s soft power has grown, so has the curiosity about K-design, and my studio has been receiving more inquiries about collaborations and requests for studio tours. However, there is a lack of iconic star designs and designers that come to people’s mind when you think of Korea, so we’re not at the level where it would make you jump on a plane and fly to Korea for design.

What do you think the fair should be doing going forward?

Right now, DDP selects designers and makers based on the application requirements, but in the future, I think it should be such an attractive fair that designers and makers choose the DDP Design Launching Fair among many fairs. For that, the fair itself should be based on diversity and expand the door of opportunity wider and wider. In terms of fairness and equity, it is true that we need to create a framework of application requirements or eligibility requirements, but if we are too confined to that framework, we will encounter limitations.

If you have any personal suggestions, we’d love to hear them.

Along with a festival concept that everyone can enjoy, why not utilize this wonderful space called DDP as a sustainable exhibition space? Create a small space to introduce products or designs and give one new designer per month a chance to promote themselves for a total of 12 new designers per year. Along with sustainable design, I am sure that a sustainable promotion platform would be a good tool to raise the capacity of Korean design.