Seung Pyo Hong in "And Fork: 100 Designers, 10 Curators, 10 Good Designs"

Check out And Fork: 100 Designers, 10 Curators, 10 Good Designs for fellow Cranbrook alum (3d, 2002) Seung Pyo Hong (3d, 2002). Furthermore, Seung's piece "Masked Citizen X prototype 02" is mentioned in Domus Magazine no. 902 (April issue).

Also see On the Cutting Edge of Design on & Fork at the BusinessWeek website..

At samsungexhibition.com Seung explains:
My name is Seung Pyo Hong, who is an Industrial Designer. I have designed for a car manufacturer, design consulting firms and an online game company. Nowadays I am maintaining my career as a freelance designer specializing in consumer products including electronics. I am also teaching product design at some universities in Seoul.

I would like to describe my characteristics. Basically, I am a very easy-going and laid back person. I love taking photos of people around me (but do not like to be pictured). Sometimes I feel I am a bit anti-social but I never hesitate when it comes to discussing about design issues. My favorite sketch tools are Post-it and Sharpie. At work I always wear indigo blue T-shirts which I refer to as a “school uniform.” I only drink Americano with one packet of Equal and a bit of half and half. I like three-door hatch typed cars, especially VW Golf. I am addicted to watching the movement of heavy equipments like an excavator in huge manufacturing facilities. And, I also like the actor Kevin Bacon.

One thing I have to mention is that I am running a design project group with my partner, Jackson Hong. We have been friends for a long time and studied design discipline together in Seoul and the US. People tell us we are very similar in many ways, but in terms of design perspective, we are the opposite. I mostly play the professional and academic role in the mainstream design industry, but Jackson works for the Korean contemporary art scene. While I work as an industrial designer who mainly thinks of consumer’s satisfaction through market research and design process, Jackson Hong explores unusual desires in the relationship between everyday objects and their users by inventing products with unusual functions ranging from electronic devices to furniture, which mainstream design industries have not given attention to.

Although the direction of our objectives is different, our partnership has always been successful. I guess our characteristic differences have actually made an interesting synergy. Recently, we had a group exhibition named “UPSET” last June at a venue called ONEANDJ Gallery in Seoul. We unveiled some experimental art pieces. Below is one show item called “Masked Citizen X,” an electronic facial prosthetic for anti-social people.


Masked Citizen X 02 Prototype 01 - An anti-communication device 2006 / ABS plastic, Aluminum, Stainless steel / 33 x 79 x 80 (H x W x D Cm)

Since I have a background in design, most of my writings on this blog will handle design issues. As a design commentator, I will analyze the electronic devices on the IFA show in Berlin and interpretate their design stories from a cultural perspective to a more detailed user perspective through my very personal point of view.