The iDEA Herald Design Forum will be kicking off Thursday for a two-day event to gather top industrial designers from both home and abroad.

Once here, they will suggest ideas for new designs and help cater to savvier customers who are now demanding more than just function from products.

The forum will be the first of its kind here, and hopes to give companies a better idea of how they may launch designs that are both consumer-friendly and create more revenue, all at the same time, according to the event organizers.

“Design can change the world,” the tagline for the forum, highlights what the event and the participants ― many of them high-profile designers who shape opinions and trends in the world of industrial design ― are seeking in order to embrace the rapidly changing dynamics of industrial design in modern society, the organizers said.

“It is going to be a one-of-a-kind event, especially since there had been no such forum that focused solely on design and its impact on society and the corporate sector,” said Cho Yong-woo, a director of Samsung Electronics.

Local companies including Samsung and LG have been in recent years working to upgrade their product designs, especially after Apple Inc. saw its value soar on indigenous designs that hugely appealed to the public.

Celebrity designers such as Karim Rashid, brand futurist Martin Lindstrom, along with former BMW chief of design Chris Bangle and Simon Anholt, a pioneer in the field of nation-branding, are among those to come to Seoul to share their knowledge and expertise.

Environmental activist and stylist Danny Seo also will be participating in the event, along with some of the leaders in the local design industry including Innodesign chief executive Kim Young-se and creator of the hit animation “Pororo the Little Penguin” Choi Sang-hyun.

The event will kick off with an opening address by Lindstrom, who is expected to focus on the importance of creative forces in the marketing world, followed by three main sessions; “National and City Design,” “Industrial and Corporate Design” and “Culture and Design.”

The first session will be led by Anholt, who has advised more than 26 governments as an external consultant. Anholt is the designer famous for coining the term “nation branding.” Since then, he has been encouraging governments to coordinate their macro- and microeconomic policies to build stronger brand identities.

Danny Seo and urban design planning expert Richard Register will join the discussion about ecological city planning.

The sessions on industrial design and incorporating cultural elements into branding will be joined by local experts, including Lee Bae-yong, chair of the Presidential Council on National Branding.

On the sidelines of the forum, The Korea Herald has held a design presentation competition for aspiring university students who will have a chance to show their work to the designers and other distinguished guests at the forum.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)