Busan City Hosts Youth Designer Collaborative Design Project Exhibition with Companies and University Students

Held at the Connecting Passage of City Hall Station on Busan Metro Line 1
Collaboration with Busan Design Promotion Agency and Local Businesses, Showcasing 15 Works

A comprehensive project showcasing the works of local design students addressing key issues in Busan is set to take place.

The city of Busan announced that it will hold a Youth Designer Collaborative Design Project Exhibition for six days, from December 1 to December 6, at the connecting passage of City Hall Station on Busan Metro Line 1.

This exhibition is a collaboration between the city of Busan, the Busan Design Promotion Agency, and local businesses, providing an opportunity for young designers to present their design outcomes to the public. Fifteen pieces interpreting a variety of Busan’s issues from creative and design perspectives will be on display.

Busan boasts a top-tier design education infrastructure in Korea, with 17 universities offering design majors, 121 related departments, and approximately 5,400 enrolled students. Since this year, the city has been actively collaborating with universities to foster young designers.

The Youth Designer Collaborative Design Project is an industry-academia partnership involving 48 university student designers organized into 10 teams, who worked together over seven months with the city, universities, local companies, and a panel of professional advisors. Students from various majors, including visual, industrial, and environmental design, as well as promotional video production, conducted data analysis, market research, company consultations, workshops, and mentoring to produce practical design results, which will be released at this exhibition.

The project was carried out with the participation of the city, universities, local businesses, and a professional advisory panel. The participating teams addressed a range of topics, from tackling corporate challenges and building brand identities to package design and improving spaces for the socially disadvantaged. Based on this, they proposed creative design solutions that companies can utilize.

Seven Busan-based companies, including Samjin Food, Taeseongdang, and Orenjibada, also took part in the project, incorporating university students’ ideas into their branding and product design. Through collaboration with students, the companies gained insights into the perspectives of younger consumers and market research data, and received a variety of proposals to inform product development and design innovation.

Ko Mijin, Director of the Future Design Division of Busan City, stated, "This exhibition is the result of a collaborative project between the city, universities, and local businesses, offering practical experience for young designers and creative ideas for companies." She added, "We hope the Youth Designer Collaborative Design Project will become a sustainable collaboration model where schools, businesses, and the local community grow together."

Samjin Fishcake Store, which established its identity through a collaboration between the Department of Visual Design at Dongseo University and Samjin Food.