Design Korea 2017, an annual design expo held since 2003, took place at Kintex, Seoul, from Nov. 8-12, with the main theme being “New Normal Design Economy.”
Deputy Minister Park Kun-soo of the Industrial Policy Office of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, in his opening speech, said design should lead the growth of all industries in the age of the 4th Industrial Revolution, with a hope that the expo will help spread design-like thinking and design culture around the country.
Some 200 dignitaries including government officials, diplomats and the representatives from related industries opened the international design expo, led by Deputy Minister Park Kun-soo of the Industrial Policy Office of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Swedish Amb. Ann Hoglund. The main theme was to light up the role of design in the 4th Industrial Revolution. Content included the Enterprise Hall to support business firms and export counseling, a design forum, and award presentation and other events.
The theme halls showed the future residential environment from the standpoint of design, mixed with new technologies. Exhibition halls included Thinkers (Designer+ Consumers), Makers (Designer +Engineers) and Runners (Designer+ Marketer).
Also on display were the residential spaces envisioned under the 4th Industrial Revolution with sections for Big Data, AI, Sensor, LoT and Cloud to show the current and future Smart Homes by themes of clothes, foods and living style with the related technologies.
The Thinkers Hall displayed mainly art products, those related to Smart Home and New Ageing Life.
At the Design Makers Hall were design products dedicated to solving social problems. The Business by Design Section had businesses dedicated to supplying talent for design, regionalized design specialty products, and fusion design development businesses. At the Runners Hall (Design-Marketers) were design products made to connect to the markets with special expo rooms to exhibit products jointly with leading design businesses.
They not only launched new design products, but also spread design trends across the country and overseas. The Design Lounge was a space where design product buyers, including foreigners, were invited for consultations. They went over the latest design products. Tourists were also invited to view the design products on display.
The Design Enterprise Hall involved some 521 companies from 16 countries show off designer products (2,808 items in all).
Many firms from China, North America, Europe and other regions were represented in the Seoul event. Huawei, one of the largest retail chains in China, was present. Other notable firms included Magma Design Ltd of Britain, Mega Investment Inc. of Taiwan and In & Ex Holdings from Malaysia.
Over $100 million worth of contracts were expected to be signed at the hall this year.
The sideline events at the expo included a forum on design and a presentation of awards for notable achievements by famous designers. They included Jaime Hayon of Spain, Kim So-hyun, a designer for Volkswagen Group, and former chairman Robin Edman of the Associations of European Designers Federation.
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