Getting to Know Seungjoon Song

The young Korean designer may only be about to start his postgraduate studies at the Design Academy Eindhoven, but already we’re intrigued by his practice and interest in exploring monochromatic colours

Design Anthology: When did you realise you wanted to be a designer?

Seungjoon Song: I think design is an area of exploration for the ‘aesthetics of balance' — in other words, it involves studying the beauty that comes from the right balance. Our role as designers is to realise beauty based on our understanding of the current market and various existing issues and perspectives, and not to simply just make beautiful objects. That's why a deep understanding of and consideration for people always coexist as the foundation of good design. Since I was young, I’ve always dreamed of doing something for people — I used to want to be a volunteer — and I think I naturally became interested in the field of design, which is deeply related to people’s everyday lives.

What and where did you study?

For my undergrad, I majored in woodworking, furniture design and product design at Hongik University in Seoul. I’m actually about to begin my master’s in contextual design at the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands in September this year.

When did you establish your own design practice, and did you work elsewhere before?

In 2016, I partnered with a colleague from school to co-found an industrial design studio called Studio PESI, which I was involved in until 2019. Beyond the realm of industrial design, I went independent so that I could explore a broader design expression that embraces the fields of crafts and art, and I founded Studio Seungjoon Song in late 2019.

Can you describe your creative process and what influences your work?

I’ve recently started exploring the process of capturing and describing the interpretation of monochromatic colours as three-dimensional objects. When I ran Studio PESI, I tried to provide functional services to people through design, but after I went out on my own I became interested in conveying more essential human emotions through design. I think that healing through design can come from connecting an object with the user’s personal identity and their sensibilities or memories. I think monochromatic colours are an important clue to connecting these things.

Can you tell us about your Sienna series?

I tried to capture the colour of the natural earth, which has always surrounded all things. I partially lacquered metal blocks and oxidised the margins. Lacquer painting is done with a number of coats and oxidation comes from subjecting something to natural elements like humidity or wind over a long period of time. Through these two methods of surface finishing, I want to imply the life span of the land, which has been forming since the beginning of time. The combination of the polished lacquered surface (the human touch) and the raw, abstract surface of the naturally oxidised area forms a quiet change and contrast in the monochromatic red-brown colour.

And what about your most recent work, the Obsidian series?

Here a black sphere floats between the actual space and the reflected space, serving as a subtle medium for immersion and contemplation. The oxidised black metal of the hemisphere embraces dark shadows and creates a more perfect single reflection, and on a functional level the hemisphere can be used a knob to secure the mirror to the wall.

Images / Hyunsung Park