Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City Launches “Design is LOVE” Campaign: A Warm Perspective That Changes the World

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Busan Metropolitan City Mayor Park Heong-joon announced that the city will launch the citizen-participation campaign “Design is LOVE, World Design Capital Busan” to spread the values of Busan as the World Design Capital (WDC) in everyday life by expanding design into a practice of love and consideration, taking February—when Valentine’s Day and the Lunar New Year holiday fall together—as an opportunity.

This campaign was designed to help citizens recognize design not as an area reserved for experts, but as a process of looking at everyday life through a caring and affectionate perspective and improving small inconveniences.

During a season when the “love” of Valentine’s Day and the “family affection” of the Lunar New Year holiday come together, the campaign aims to convey that love and consideration are the starting point of design that transforms products and environments, and to spread citizen-centered design experiences that expand ideas into practice and participation.

The campaign will also introduce various everyday examples in which “design that began with love” has been applied.

For instance, the story of Sam Farber, founder of OXO, who developed a peeler that can be used safely and comfortably with little force for his wife, who had difficulty applying strength due to arthritis; and the story of a father who, after experiencing an accident with his daughter at a crosswalk, developed a traffic signal that displays the remaining time in numbers to help pedestrians make judgments—symbolically demonstrate that “love is the beginning of design.”

These examples show that design can start from a caring awareness of issues for individuals and families and expand into a public value that enhances safety and convenience across society.

The campaign will recruit participants through Busan Metropolitan City’s official social media channels (SNS) from today (Feb. 2) through Feb. 8. The city will conduct an awareness survey on World Design Capital Busan among citizens and also collect opinions on “design spots I love.”

Among participants, 200 people will be selected through a random draw and will receive commemorative chocolates (gift) for World Design Capital (WDC) in celebration of Valentine’s Day.

Selected participants will voluntarily help spread the campaign by posting verification photos on social media (SNS) after receiving the gift. Through this, awareness of World Design Capital Busan and public empathy among citizens are expected to increase further.

Through this campaign, Busan Metropolitan City plans to expand citizen participation and enable citizens to experience in their daily lives the core values of World Design Capital Busan—“an inclusive city” and “design that we build together.”

In addition, the city plans to continue expanding the World Design Capital Busan brand through a series of participatory programs linked with local universities, companies, and citizens.

Furthermore, to mark Busan’s selection as the World Design Capital, a special documentary program that takes an in-depth look at the relationship between the city and design—<City + Design>—is scheduled to be broadcast nationwide on KBS1TV at 1:05 p.m. on Feb. 7.

Seong Heui-yeob, Vice Mayor for Future Innovation of Busan Metropolitan City, said, “Design is not a grand end product, but a process that begins with caring for someone,” adding, “I hope this campaign will serve as an opportunity for each and every citizen to empathize with and spread the philosophy of World Design Capital Busan through their own experiences.”