'Technology shapes the form; designers shape the life around it'

Seoul Design Foundation CEO Cha Kang-hee offered a vision of design's future at Herald Design Lounge 2026 on Friday, saying that "technology will take charge of form, and designers will become the people who design the life in which that form is placed." She also described Herald Design Lounge as a "partner" of the foundation.

Speaking at the event held under the theme "Beyond Visuals" at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul, Cha said AI can generate images in seconds, making the act of creating form no longer rare. "What becomes precious is the eye that sees beyond form," she said.

Cha said the Herald Design Forum had connected more than 100 world-class creators with audiences of around 10,000 over the past 15 years, and that this year the platform was relaunching under a new name. "Sustaining an event year after year is far harder than staging one grand occasion," she said. "I pay deep respect to those 15 years. As the head of the foundation that operates DDP, I am also especially pleased that this new beginning is taking place here."

Drawing on her long career as a designer, Cha said the value of design lies not in form itself but in the life in which that form is used. "I spent a long time agonizing over a single curve or a single button, but looking back, I realized people did not remember a product for its form," she said. "They remembered it for the role it played in their daily lives. I think today's theme, 'Beyond Visuals,' speaks to exactly that."

Cha also referenced remarks by keynote speaker Stefan Sagmeister, a graphic designer who said in a recent interview that "one of design's roles is to show people a future they would want to live in." Cha said the speakers at Herald Design Lounge were each people who had done exactly that kind of work in their own way.

"The foundation's goal points in the same direction — making Seoul not a city that follows global design trends, but one that proposes what comes next," Cha said. "On that path, Herald Design Lounge is a steadfast partner. I hope this becomes a time to think beyond what is visible."

Herald Design Lounge 2026 explores the role of design in connecting human experience and emotion, technology and society — moving beyond visual expression alone. Following Sagmeister's keynote, the program includes a talk session between Sagmeister and Yoo Ji-won, director of the Geul Culture Research Institute, as well as solo sessions by Kim Geu-ryun, a creative on Apple TV's content team, and artist Yoon Seok-gwan. Architect Yoon Gyeong-sik will also take the stage.