There were many challenges for our designers, from balancing a wide range of objects to display varying in type, scale and materials to contextualising cultural content unfamiliar to local audiences, alongside shaping the visitor experience into a coherent whole. We were really delighted and honoured to collaborate with Studio MUTT and the Lead Creative Na Kim at Table Union and benefit from their respective experience in the field.

It was a pleasure to work with the V&A teams - we would relish the opportunity to do so again.įrom the curatorial perspective, the exhibition design is a crucial element of the exhibition experience, complementing and enhancing the curatorial narrative, whilst providing the exhibition with a clear identity and helping our visitors to navigate through the exhibition. As a larger design team including the V&A we worked through the challenges of re-using existing cabinets, co-ordinating large scale artworks including technical installations and navigating the excessive rising costs of the current economic climate, to create an energetic and joyful exhibition.

Our conversations were always engaging and constantly challenged what the exhibitions should look and feel like. As creative lead Na’s input from a cultural and critical perspective was extremely important to the project. The final outcome of Hallyu! The Korean Wave is the embodiment of our collaboration with Berlin-based graphic designer Na Kim.

It is a truly collaborative design process and designers are uniquely positioned to act as a mediator between the visiting public and the curator – having an understanding of the content and how best to display it, while also maintaining a certain distance that allows us to clarify the message by asking what, why and who. More than simply deciding where the objects go, exhibition design should create miniature worlds which support and enhance visitors’ experiences. We believe that exhibition design is about storytelling.

Korean graphic design studio