A Design Festival Within A Design Festival? Why not!

Seoul Design Festival's integration into London Design Fair (formerly known as Tent London) might look odd to visitors, but this symbiosis between design festival/fair was not unprecedented: for example, the first of its kind would probably be Tokyo Design Week during Salone del Mobile.Milano, and then there was 100% Shanghai in 100% Design in London. Now, setting up the Korean Pavilion at London Design Fair - although, in a much, much smaller (featuring 14 Korean design brands instead of the full 200) show -  SDF still packs a punch in terms of creativity and uniqueness.

But first, for those who might not be aware of SDF, the upcoming event in December has been supporting young designers and design brands for the past 16 years! And with the support of monthly magazine DESIGN, it has become the quintessential design event in Korea promoting design brands and young designers annually.

For its debut, the Korean Pavillion will be curated by Dal Woo Lee, art director of the 2016 Seoul Design Festival under the title of 'Designers' Table'. 'We wanted to present delicate yet practical objects which you can possibly find on the table of designers,' said Lee. Hence, from witty stationery to unique table lights, each designer(s) will present their items on the table of their own at the exhibition.

And what's so special about these particular designers is that they have, one way or another,  successfully created their design brand radiating a delicate sense of design and craft and Lee believe it's worth looking at. 'We thought it's quite important for designers to be presented in a proper commercial show like London Design Fair instead of independent spaces.'

Since the participating designers of Korean pavilion have been running their brand for some years in Korea and SDF also believes global media exposure and chances to meet business partners at London Design Fair would be helpful to develop their brands. Among the featured designs, we definitely wouldn't mind having the following on (or under) our table:

 

1. Craft Combine Mirror ver.2
by Craft Combine (Giyong Lee / Junik Jo / Yejin Kim / Yoon Park)

Craft Combine Mirror is an object which aesthetically reflects the transmission and reflection of light. It is designed by three different materials: brass, acrylic and stainless mirror. Craft Combine is a multidisciplinary design group that tries to go over the boundaries between graphic, product, space, etc. to combine and integrate them.

2. Dokkaebi Stool
by Jiyoun Kim

The Dokkaebi stools are designed for the Hangang Art Park, a project intended to introduce artistic aspects into the ordinary parks nearby Han river. Dokkaerbi is an imaginary monster frequently mentioned in old Korean folk stories. Hence, the stools will be installed in the forest of pine trees, where many Korean folk tales also take place. They are cylindrical stainless steel, which is delicately mirror-polished. Eight different gradient colours, representing the colours of pine tree forest in different seasons, were painted on the upper part of each cylinder.

3. Life Clock   
by SWNA

Life Clock is the very first special product designed as disaster preparation kit developed by Gyeonggido Company which was established to support SMEs in Gyeonggi Province in South Korea. Life Clock is composed of five selected basic relief goods. It is a wall clock with added functionality and design, so you can keep life clock in the living space and enjoy a steady and safe everyday life.

 

The Korean Pavillion will be on show starting 21 until 24 September at London Design Fair, located at Old Truman Brewery, London.

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