A small booth in the shape of a bus was packed with people browsing through purses and handbags made with old issues of The Korea Herald, used plastic plates, discarded parachutes and other recyclable materials at an exhibition hall in KINTEX, Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province.

The goods were a part of 2014 Design Korea, which kicked off Thursday for a five-day run.

“I don’t think many people could tell that the pieces used to be just trash,” 24-year-old design student Kim Sul-hee told The Korea Herald. “Now they have been given a new life. I really can see that upcycling has truly become a major trend,” she said, paying for a wallet on display.

This year’s Design Korea was held under the theme of “Design Flowers the Creative Economy.”

Notable upcycling brands such as Freitag from Switzerland and Globe Hope from Finland, as well as homegrown houses including Eco Party Mearry showed off the latest trend of upcycling alongside products that have been hailed at international award festivals including Japan’s Good Design, Germany’s Red Dot and Korea’s GD Award.

People were able to touch, draw and ride the products on display, and learn about various forms of services that have been upgraded in terms of value, thanks to design. Fashion design, kitchenware and 3-D printing were also exhibited at the event.

“The public notion for design is mainly about sketching and beautifying, but at this year’s Design Korea, they will be able to understand that design can apply to anything, even health care services and emergency rescue efforts,” said Lee Hyang-eun, a professor at Sungshin Women’s University who served as a docent for the VIP tour of the event.

“The concept of design is expanding and the public will be able to witness it here.”

Design Korea is housing exhibitions for more than 2,000 industrial design products from 180 companies, workshops and concerts. It is also holding other activities to draw the public closer to the concept of design and establish itself as a key design exhibition in Asia, the organizers said.

Apart from programs for the general public, forums on tips for doing business in China, establishing foreign retail networks and opening start-ups overseas will be held while trade shows with more than 150 overseas buyers will bridge small and mid-sized design firms with overseas markets.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)