Visions of a World of Tomorrow: Design Korea 2005 – International Conference on Design Innovation

What will it look like - the world of tomorrow? Will today’s ideas and concepts become the reality of the future? These were the questions dealt with at the conference “Design Korea 2005 – International Conference on Design Innovation” which took place on the occasion of the ten day “World Best Design Exchange” in Seoul, Korea, from 1 until 10 December 2005.

But what will the design of the future look like? Aldous Huxley and Stanley Kubrick have shown us:  The attempt to create future in the past is fundamental to our understanding of the presence. It sets a benchmark for the tangibility of a distant future.  Visions and concepts of the future do not only set standards, they also serve as a guideline for development. And design plays a leading role. Design serves the purpose of visualising visions of the future and of exploring possibilities which increasingly accentuate aesthetics and facilities in everyday life.

“Design Korea 2005 –International Conference on Design Innovation“ will build up on the results of the last Design Korea Conference in 2003, which highlighted an increasing standard of life as the main objective of future design. The desire of human beings for coexisting with artificial products in an artificially created surrounding has highest priority in the world of designers. This, however, is only possibly if design focuses on progress.

It is not only due to its geographical position that Asia is well on the way to becoming a future centre of design.
Concepts and developments of the past years paving new ways come from Asia. On the occasion of the conference numerous international personalities from the world of design met in the Korean metropolis Seoul to present their visions of a design of the future and to discuss new ideas.

Under the title „Return on Ideas –Better by Design“ Professor Dr. Peter Zec, President of the world design umbrella organisation ICISD and head of the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, gave a lecture on the role of design. For without design our modern world would no longer be conceivable. More than 80 per cent of the managers from design-oriented companies in Germany alone confirm that design is an important success factor of their companies. And they do not doubt in any way that by means of design a distinct increase in the creation of value can be achieved. On the one hand design creates ‘added value’ for the success of companies, whereas on the other hand many managers have difficulties in using creative service as a source of betterment for the company’s development. They do not include design in their calculations as an investment with best chances of success but they misunderstand it to be an additional expense factor without success guarantee. As expert for industry communication and design Peter Zec demonstrated on the basis of the results of the ‘red dot design award’ that the decision for design is indeed afflicted with uncertainties and risks, however it is exactly due to this fact that in case of success an extremely high added value may be obtained. The challenge for any enterprise consists in achieving the highest added value at the lowest possible risk. It is a question of combining creative design service with an intelligent company communication.  The focus lies in the calculation of the form and the ability to reach clear decisions.

The conference offered a platform for a creative exchange with international design experts; it emphasised the trend-setting impact of design, serving as a driving force for a development which aims ahead, and intended to smooth the way towards a higher standard of life.

For further information please look under www.designkorea.or.kl.