This Year's Theme: "Wayfinding"
The design culture content exhibition, the '2025 Seoul Design Festival,' will be held from November 12 to 16 at Hall C of COEX in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
This event is hosted by Design House and organized by the monthly magazine 'Design.' Since 2002, more than 3,200 brands, over 5,600 designers, and approximately 1.41 million visitors have participated.
This year's theme is 'Wayfinding.' The festival will newly introduce five categories that reflect future changes in the design industry: ▲ 'New Atelier,' which focuses on 3D, AI, eco-friendly solutions, smart objects, and ESG design based on technology, sustainability, and experimental spirit; ▲ 'Design & Craft Movement,' centered on furniture, ceramics, fabrics, and objects that emphasize emotion, craftsmanship, and materials; ▲ 'Brand Universe,' which features branding, campaigns, and storytelling content that reveal philosophy, worldview, and identity; ▲ 'Poster Culture,' which showcases 2D illustration, typography, goods, and characters that express images and visual language; and ▲ 'Design Engine,' which provides support-type content to assist designers in creation, distribution, and growth.
The creative group 'Reble9,' composed of planners, designers, and archive researchers, has taken on the role of art director for this exhibition. By focusing on attitudes toward changes in the design industry, the group has infused the purpose of the event into the exhibition space. Visitors will encounter designers throughout the venue who, like the Polynesians who learned their own navigation methods by traveling among thousands of islands, each seek out their own design in their own way.
The special zone 'Design Specialist' will feature exhibitions from 20 teams selected by the monthly magazine 'Design,' including Poststandards, Seo Jeonghwa, Nonspace, Laboratory, and Needs Design Lab. In addition, the global designer development platform 'Young Designer Promotion' will support the discovery and branding of emerging designers, offering various networking events, design mentors, open studios, support for feature articles in 'Design,' and free access to online conference lectures. Seo Jeonghwa from Studio Seo Jeonghwa, Seok Yooni, CEO of design studio Mosgraphic, Song Bonggyu, Design Director and Founder of BKID, and Choi Myunghwan, Editor-in-Chief of 'Design,' will serve as mentors to support the exchange and growth of young designers.
The 'Design Korea X Seoul Design Festival International Conference' will take place on November 13 in Grand Conference Room 401 on the 4th floor, where speakers from Korea and abroad will share global insights. This event will provide an opportunity to discover industry secrets and explore new possibilities across the design industry.
As a side event, the 'Biz Matching Consultation' will invite domestic and international buyers for one-on-one business meetings with participating brands, promoting active business expansion and networking.
'2025 SEOUL DESIGN SPOT,' an event that introduces various design spaces in Seoul, is an off-site exhibition format of design culture content presented by the Seoul Design Festival. As a special project in collaboration with Seoul Design Week and the Seoul Design Festival, visitors can explore inspiration-filled locations and trend-leading SPOTs directly recommended by designers. It offers opportunities to discover hidden moments of design throughout Seoul. This year, in particular, the event will offer a richer experience in partnership with the location-based pop-up and space exploration platform heyPOP. First unveiled at Seoul Design Week in October, SEOUL DESIGN SPOT continues through the Seoul Design Festival in November, allowing visitors to walk the route and experience Seoul anew through the eyes of designers.
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