ddp design fair

At the previous fair, 106 maker-designer teams showcased 106 new products that had been developed through collaboration over five months. We were able to see a variety of products reflecting our changed lifestyle, such as a one-person chair made with 3D printing technology, corrugated cardboard furniture that can reduce waste and a home décor item featuring design elements from hanok. Among them, the seven winners of the 2021 DDP Best Design Award were selected by design experts and a public vote.

Among them, we would like to introduce the three winners of the Seoul Mayor’s Award.

<Best Design Award>

- The Three Winners of Seoul Mayor’s Award

The Butterfly

Team | Studio Plastic (Designer) x Jh Studio (Maker)

Category | Furniture

It is a one-person chair made based on 3D technology and designed with a motif based on the movement of a butterfly, dynamically fluttering its wings.

Studio Plastic is a design studio established in 2020 by two designers, Kim Sido and Lee Taeyeon, who both majored in spatial design. They have been designing spaces such as “Flat”, a café in Changjeon-dong, Mapo-gu. Based on their experience, they thought that the furniture and objects that fill the space should be designed together in order to create a high-quality space. One of their first efforts is the 3D-printed butterfly chair produced together with JH Studio.

Light Now No.1

Team | Makemake (Designer) x Hwangduck Engineering (Maker)

Category | Lighting

It is a piece of lighting using the characteristics of pipe materials to be adjusted in height, reach or angle. It can be transformed into a stand, wall-mount or floor type depending on the space.

Since its establishment in 2016, MakeMake, led by designer Shin Bong-geon, has been a design company giving aesthetic value to everyday items that did not get a lot of attention. Hwangduck Engineering, which has imported lighting for large buildings, has turned its eye to making and selling its own products in collaboration with local designers over the last few years. After finding a way to make a win-win out of the collaboration, they won the Seoul Mayor’s Award in the lighting category two years in row with a more advanced lighting following last year. 

Bincense

Team | DSLSM (Designer) x likethix (Maker)

Category | Lifestyle & Living

It is an incense holder that burns an incense stick. Wave-shaped details were added to the metal to make the product stand out in the space as an object.

DSLSM, which was established in 2015 by designer Lim Sungmook, is a design studio that pursues sustainability. It has mainly provided design services, such as supplying paper net bags to Twosome Place, and this time teamed up with likethix, a design manufacturer that has often collaborated with designers. While most incense holders consist of two parts, a holder and an ash catcher, Bincense is made of one-piece metal for better durability.

The winners of the Best Design Award last year said that they made many meaningful achievements by participating in the DDP Design Fair besides the award. They also said that they had the opportunity for growth and development based on the close relationship with the partners they were paired with by working together or sharing feedback with the fair participants even after the fair was over. The DDP Design Fair served as an opportunity for them to promote themselves to the public as well as those in the industry; a venue to discover the possibilities for brand/product development; and an event that provided practical help in increasing sales. In addition, last year's award-winning teams said they hoped that the DDP Design Fair could also provide this year's participants the opportunity to grow and develop themselves.