An International Design Exhibition
2007.12.11-30
Amman, Jordan
Zara Center & ASPU
Amman, Jordan
Design is closely related to society, culture, and people. We experience the power of design every day that it sends a message to us about the product and idea. Yes, design influences us. Therefore, a design must include psychology, anthropology, sociology, semiotics, and other disciplines in developing active aesthetics. So you can say that design is not just how we create visuals but how to get there. The designs in the 21st century are about “Analytical Aesthetics.” Analytical Aesthetic is about design based on analyzing the people and their culture and society. So design is neither an art nor science, it is art-science. A new generation of design educators and practitioners are trying very hard to position design as the center of the academy and business worlds. Designers are smarter and conscious now, and more people rely heavily on designs. Without the right design, there will be no success in sending a message to the public.
Most importantly, the design is about culture. What you see in this exhibition is cultures from around the world. All speak their visual language. But being designers, United Designers, we share our co-existence in this world through designs. So United Designs is considered to understand world culture, which does not prejudice color, language, religion, economy, and nationality. That is United Designs.
This year, we prepared our third significant biannual international design exhibition, United Designs. The participants are added each time from 6 nations to 19 nations. These participants practiced friendships, either visiting each other or sharing our design and cultural concerns via e-mail. I visited some of the participants to inform and share our concerns about design, culture, and society. I appreciate all of the participants for sharing the friendship. This kind of relationship leads to having the next exhibition outside of the original exhibition location, South Korea.
When I first organized this exhibition, my vision for the United Designs is to have exhibitions worldwide every two years sharing our concerns about humanity with a specific issue. And I am honored to share this idea with Dr. Arafat Al-Naim from Applied Science Private University, Amman, Jordan. His colleagues and officials were excellent at organizing the exhibition. This type of exhibition needs more attention than juried exhibitions because we share and care about each participant. As I observed, Jordan is a peaceful country, and Jordanians are friendly and energetic. They appreciate art and design from the traditional value and their hearts.
Yes, we gather here to discuss our concerns about the world. There are many issues we need to care about in this world as a responsible world citizen. We cannot think about all the matters regularly, but with this issue, environmental concerns are what we concern about most at this time. As a designer, what we do best to express our concerns, posters. These posters are personal expression about the environmental issue now. You see a variety of different visual messages. Some posters might disturb you, and some might move your heart. These outstanding posters influence your mind about our concerns. If just one of these posters influences your thoughts, I think we, as United Designers, have done an exceptional job, and this exhibition is successful.
Another category of this exhibition is a practical design. In this part of the exhibition, we can understand how we communicate the client’s message now. Each era has its visual language, and through these outstanding design examples, we surely learn the present trend in the participant’s country. We cannot judge its content and visible message because its audience has its convention. But interestingly, our design language becomes conversed. The only difference that we observe is the language we used in the design. Professionals and design students could learn from these practical design works to influence their skills.
The Jordanian Ministry of Culture sponsored this exhibition, Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT), Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), Korean Federation of Design Associations (KFDA), Design Research & Education Lab (DREL), and Zara Center (Jordan). I thank you for their support.
We thank Dr. Arafat Al-Naim and Jordan for sharing our concerns, knowledge, aesthetics, and friendship. And we successfully organized the 3rd United Designs supported by Dr. Al-Naim and his colleagues and officials. Many Jordanians visited the exhibition and talked about the environmental issue. This catalog held in 4 parts: Environmental awareness for Human, Nature, and Earth, and Practical Designs. Catalogs will be in your hand and others. When you see the exhibition contents in this catalog, you will be ready to share your creativity in the next United Designs exhibition. This event is history, and I hope you will join us next time.
Introduction by Albert Young Choi
Chief Director: Albert Young Choi
Director: Arafat Al-Naim
120 Participants from 15 Nations
Environmental Awareness Posters
Practical Designs
