Seoul Design
International Forum
서울디자인국제포럼

Seoul Design International Forum 2026

Seoul Design International Forum 2026 (SDIF2026) exploring the future of cities through design will take place in Seoul this September.

Fun Design Rest Area “Handeul Handeul” Wins at the Red Dot Design Award

- Seoul’s Fun Design rest area “Handeul Handeul” has been named a Winner at the Red Dot Design Award 2026. - First unveiled at Seoul Plaza in 2025, the project has gained international recognition for both its design excellence and public value. - The rest area will be permanently operated at the 2026 Seoul International Garden Show in Seoul Forest, becoming a signature everyday relaxation space for citizens. - Marking the third year of the project, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will continue to expand public rest areas so that more citizens can experience the benefits in their daily lives.

Seoul Launches Collaborative Products Featuring “Seoul Color,” Expanding Morning Yellow Across Living, Fashion Accessories, and Stationery

- 13 products launched in collaboration with 11 brands, including Noroo Paint, KCC, LG Chem, and Monami - Everyday items such as pens, caps, bags, and towels bring Seoul Color into citizens’ daily lives - Products to be released sequentially through online and offline channels, including the DDP Design Store and each brand’s official mall - Collaborations using eco-friendly materials to expand, with plans to extend the use of Seoul Color into the K-beauty sector in the future

Seoul Forest Welcome Garden Opens: Families, Couples, and Friends Gather for a Little “Sky Fun”

- Following last year’s installation at Boramae Park, the Seoul Forest Welcome Garden is set to become a new urban healing space for citizens. - Framed by overlapping layers, the garden opens up scenic views of the sky, offering a restful place in the city to pause and enjoy quiet “sky-gazing.” - With a flexible layout, including movable bench facilities, the space can also serve as a multipurpose cultural plaza for busking, workshops, and other programs. - Featuring Seoul’s 2026 Color, “Morning Yellow,” the garden creates a distinctive nighttime landscape through light and is expected to become a symbolic landmark of the fair.

Seoul’s Integrated Transportation Brand “GO SEOUL” Sweeps Design Awards, Emerging as a New Urban Icon

- “Go Seoul,” Seoul’s integrated transportation brand, has won three major design awards: Germany’s Red Dot Design Award, the U.S. Good Design Award, and the German Design Award. - The brand was highly recognized for its broad connectivity and scalability, linking Seoul’s city buses, subway, Hangang Bus, and Ttareungi public bikes under one unified identity. - Seoul will expand the application of the integrated brand, strengthen domestic and international promotion, and continue enhancing the brand by reflecting citizen feedback. - The city stated, “We will develop Go Seoul into an urban icon that represents Seoul’s world-class transportation system.”

Seoul’s Shoe Repair Booths and Street Kiosks Win iF Design Award After First Redesign in 16 Years

- The Seoul Metropolitan Government’s “Seoul Standard Design for Sidewalk Commercial Facilities,” developed last year, has received international recognition for its design excellence. - The new design improves both the urban streetscape and pedestrian convenience. Seoul replaced 70 facilities by February and plans to install around 60 additional facilities by the end of the year. - The city will continue collecting feedback from operators and conducting additional demand surveys, while replacing facilities in phases according to its annual plan. - Seoul said, “This award recognizes the competitiveness of K-public design. We will continue creating pedestrian environments that enhance both walking safety and the appeal of the city.”

“Design Seoul Walk” Lights Up the DDP Trail, Inviting Visitors to Experience Seoul Design on Foot

- The Seoul Metropolitan Government will host the “Design Seoul Walk” exhibition along the DDP Trail from Friday, June 5 to Thursday, June 25. - Designed as a “slow walk” along the 150-meter sloped DDP Trail, the exhibition uses a monochrome visual approach to focus on the meaning and essence of design. - From fonts and transit maps to fun design and Seoul Light, the exhibition presents urban and public design in everyday life in an accessible way. - Under the slogan “Design that Changes Everyday Life,” the city shares the direction and future vision of Seoul design.

[Panel Discussion] Discussion by Pre-submitted & On-site Question

[(Chair) Joo Yun KIM] My questions are finished, and we received many from the participants. We can’t take them all, so I’ll ask one per speaker. First, CEO Helle Søholt: Jan Gehl’s urban-design principles suggest ways to create cities that attract citizens. If Seoul’s public design is to become something that truly makes people say, “It’s livable and I’m proud of it,” what one thing should we especially prioritize?

[Panel Discussion] Discussion by Topic

[(Chair) Joo Yun KIM] We were able to hear talks that were truly fun, very engaging, and meaningful today with a remarkably wide spectrum. I imagine the citizens who joined us today also gained many insights relevant to their own fields of study and current work. We’ll now begin the plenary discussion. It will run for about an hour. I’ll start with a question; after our speakers share their views, I’ll take pre-submitted questions from citizens, one per speaker.

[Session2] Design with 10%

Hello. I’m Byungsu KIM from Missionit, giving the final presentation. When we say “design for the 10%,” you may wonder who that 10% is and what that number means. If you listen through to the end, I will explain it well.

[Session2] Design by Community: Advocating for Community Power in New York City Government

Hi everybody. Before I even begin, I just want to say it is an immense pleasure and privilege to be here. Thank you so much for having me. My name is Deana Yu, and I am the Assistant Director of the Service Design Studio. And for the next 20 minutes of my presentation, I want to invite everybody here to travel 7,000 miles away—to where I’m from.

[Session2] Design Connecting People, Cities, and the Future: Focusing on Seoul’s Design Policies

Hello. I am Inkyu Choi, Director-General of Design Policy Bureau of the Seoul Metropolitan Government. I am truly pleased to be here with so many of you at this major gathering today. I also feel very honored to have the opportunity to present. Today, under the theme “Design Connecting People, Cities and Future,” I will speak focusing on Seoul’s design policy. As Mayor Oh Se-hoon mentioned earlier with the theme of “sincerity in design,” I’d like to focus not on listing many cases, but on highlighting the key projects he truly valued. The presentation outline organizes the history and concept of Design Seoul, followed by design for citizens, city competitiveness, investment toward the future, and design and safety.

[Session1] L’Oréal: Collaborative Design for Sustainability

Hello, everyone. My name is Sharon So, and I’m the Director of Corporate Affairs, Engagement, and Sustainability at L’Oréal Korea. First of all, thank you so much for inviting me to the Seoul Design International Forum. As Mr. Uwe Cremering mentioned earlier, I’m neither a designer nor an architect, so when I first received the invitation, I honestly wondered what kind of story I could share with you today. However, through our ongoing conversations and collaboration with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and by listening to Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Ms. Helle Søholt earlier today, I’ve come to see more clearly the direction that design in Seoul should take moving forward. I believe it is a form of design that harmoniously embraces sustainability, inclusiveness for the vulnerable, and responsiveness to the climate crisis. And in that sense, I now understand a little better why I was invited to be here.

[Session1] Designing Trust: How the iF Design Award Shapes Global Design Culture

Hello everybody, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for the invitation again, and for having me here today. Many thanks to the previous speaker — Helle Søholt’s talk was truly inspiring, and I learned a lot about architecture and urban design.

[Keynote Session] Designing Cities for People & Planet: From Vision to Impact

Thank you very much for the opportunity to come and meet you all in Seoul. Today, I just managed to take a little walk around the area in the rain, and I’m happy that you made me feel so welcome — because it’s always raining in Copenhagen too. So thank you for that.

[The Design Manifesto for Citizen Aspirations] Citizen Representatives’ Remarks

Sukwoo LEE / Founder & Industrial Designer, SWNA For me, Design Seoul is a new standard that changes lives. Industrial design goes beyond aesthetics; it serves as a mirror reflecting the world we live in. From the width of a street to the brightness of a light, even the unseen elements of design shape the everyday life of citizens. As a designer, I believe that when these standards are set in a better direction, the city itself begins to change.

[The Design Manifesto for Citizen Aspirations] Introduction

Through the Seoul Design International Forum 2025, we are pleased to present for the first time the Design Manifesto for Citizen Aspirations. Before we begin the main program, I would like to briefly share the purpose, origins, and significance of this initiative.

[Special Interview] Deana YU

Q. In what areas does the NYC Service Design Studio work and which departments do you mainly collaborate with? Could you share one project that was most memorable for you? At the Service Design Studio, we kind of work like a city agency but we're a consultancy. So, we work with many different city agencies to improve their social services using service design. And as a consultancy, I get to work with a lot of different partners and one of those is the Department of Social Services, which is, I believe, one of the nation’s biggest social services departments. They administer so many social services like housing. And in particular, we partnered with them on the CityFHEPS Program, and we helped create flyers and sort of assets and tools that they can use to talk to people about programs. So we worked with them, and we conducted interviews to think about how can we make these fliers accessible to the people that are going to read them. Using pictures, icons, graphs, things to communicate really complicated New York City policy.