Seoul Design Awards 2023

The Seoul Design Awards, now in its fourth year, is an international design contest that awards design projects that solve everyday challenges with creative ideas. Under the theme of “a sustainable design that enables harmonies among people, society, and the environment,” designers and design teams around the world were invited to submit realized design projects or research projects from March 14 to June 28. A total of 23 winning submissions have been professionally reviewed for the past few months by judges around the world, and 10 of them have been shortlisted for the grand prize. Against this backdrop, the Seoul Design Foundation, which organized the Seoul Design Awards, is holding a citizens’ vote to promote the purpose of the contest and the role of design in leading the society in a better direction.

Citizens’ vote will take place both online and offline simultaneously, and online voting for those outside of Korea will be held from September 27 to October 15 on the website of the Seoul Design Awards 2023.

The Seoul Design Awards, in line with changing social trends, focuses on solving challenges of everyday life and sustainability from 2023, expanding its submission categories. A wider range of best practices were collected as design projects that have been realized within five years along with research that has led to plan for realization were eligible to apply. Open to designers and design teams from around the world, the Seoul Design Awards 2023 received a total of 356 submissions from 62 countries in three months. The increase in the number of submissions as well as the number of participating countries indicate that more designers share the values of the Seoul Design Awards, which is in pursuit of sustainable daily life.

Design projects executed and researched in various countries including Italy, Thailand, Mexico, Uganda, and Tunisia were selected as candidates for the Grand Prize.

The jury focused on creative ways of solving problems for public value and collaboration with different members of the society to spread the impact of design. Most of all, the jury looked for harmonious relationships between the people, society and environment for a sustainable society.

The “Jerrycan Bag,” which is a bag that allows children in Uganda to carry water safely, is one of the candidates. Ugandan children have to carry water from a place that is far away from their neighborhoods, which is not only inconvenient but also may lead to injury if they don’t have the right tools. Made from local materials, the Jerrycan Bag is designed to help children travel safely, while also supporting local economies by having women in Africa to participate in producing the bags.

Another candidate is a designed called “Craste” from India, which is paper made from agricultural waste. As an industry that relies on tress for its materials, the paper industry is causing indiscriminate deforestation and harming nature by using plastics and chemicals for durability. India also generates 500 million tons of crop waste annually, 16% of which is burned, causing air pollution. As part of an effort to solve this problem, Craste proposes to make paper from agricultural waste in India and utilize it as a packaging material. Also, by employing rural women to make paper, it also helps eradicate poverty in rural areas.

The 10 selected works will be announced at the awards ceremony in Seoul on October 25. The one team that receives the Grand Prize will receive a cash prize of KRW 50 million, while the three teams that win “Best of the Best” Prize will be granted with KRW 15 million each.

The award categories have also been expanded this year to include special awards such as the Digital Award and Research Award.

The Citizens’ Prize, which is voted by citizens, will also be included in the special awards. The Citizens’ Prize will be divided into Korea and overseas, and awarded to the two teams that won the most votes in each region, with a prize of KRW 5 million, respectively.

Accordingly, the Seoul Design Awards will hold the citizens’ vote online and offline from September 27 to October 15 to select the Citizens’ Prize. In Seoul, works subject to vote will be exhibited during this period at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza(DDP)’s D-Forest lobby and receive votes on-site. In line with the award’s value of sustainability, the installations and event souvenirs of this exhibition were made with eco-friendly and upcycled materials. Meanwhile, overseas visitors can vote via the Seoul Design Awards website. Those who vote will be eligible to win souvenirs from the Seoul Design Awards.