[Herald Design Forum 2021] ‘Ditch guidelines for sustainable, innovative design’

Three design experts shared their thoughts Thursday on how unique sustainable designs are created during the 11th edition of Herald Design Forum that was held on the floating island of Sevit on the Han River in Seoul.

Referring to projects carried out by the Madrid-based company, Jeffrey Ludlow, founder and creative director of Point of Reference Studio, said small sustainability solutions such as signage could have big effects in consuming advertisement media.

“Laws and norms are labeled where we advertise but little is mentioned about signage in relationship to sustainability. One of the most polluting aspects of signage is the out-of-home market,” he said, while suggesting people rethink their approach to outdoor advertising or outdoor media.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the global out-of-home market, which was estimated at $27 billion last year, is projected to reach $33 billion in five years, according to the expert. More taxation of advertising in new media formats is envisioned, as the pace of global warming also accelerates.

Another expert, Jeon Sang-hyun, Hermes’ art director for digital platforms, shared his values as a digital creator. He hoped designers can design their works based on sincerity and further find the true meaning of it to generate internal changes. He said the “biggest thrill” as an art director is moving people’s minds and evoking their emotion.

Born in 1984 in South Korea, the digital creator moved to Paris in 2007. In 2015, he joined Hermes as a digital graphic designer and has been creating digital content for the French fashion house’s menswear and womenswear since 2017.

DIA Studio co-founder and creative director Mitch Paone talked about how his studio, based in New York and Geneva, has developed a new approach to designing identity systems. Unlike the past trend following rigid branding guidelines, software tools are now alternative tools, especially in the fast-moving market, he said.

“Consider a design through a lens into moving or interactive world, not a fix-sized poster or book. We’re in the world that’s moving, and constantly evolving and changing,” said Paone, who is based in Geneva.

“I’m not being critical of existing brand guidelines and brand new projects, but I want to start to think about things. At least, have a question in mind to challenge some of these or behaviors of the existing formulas that have been going on in the past.”

He introduced his rebranding project called “Squarespace,” which sets out to define a system through generating flexibility movement. Space 10, the research lab based in Copenhagen that is run by Ikea, was another good example, the veteran creative director said. Citing the examples, he suggested designers be free from existing habits of the past and come up with rich expression brands.

By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)