Mauro Porcini, chief design officer at Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), laid out a design strategy centered on what he called designing technology that fully embraces people.
Porcini made the remarks on the 15th while presenting an exhibition titled "Design is an Act of Love" at Seoul Design Week 2026, now under way at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul's Dongdaemun District.
"Through the eyes of diverse creators, familiar products are reborn as new expressions that carry each person's individuality, perspective and even way of life," he said. "This exhibition will serve as an occasion to show how technology connects closely to personal daily life through design."
The comments reinforced "expressive design," the next-generation design strategy Porcini unveiled last month at Design Miami Seoul 2026, also held at the DDP. Expressive design emphasizes meaningful product functions and visual originality, and above all the emotional impact a product has on its user.
The approach breaks from the current minimalism strategy of stripping products down to make them smaller and lighter, such as making television bezels as thin as possible. Instead, it thickens the bezel to present a television like a work of art set in a frame.
Samsung Electronics promoted expressive design the same day with an exhibition of works by 14 emerging Italian artist teams, each inspired by the company's products. The works were displayed on Samsung's S95H organic light-emitting diode (OLED) television, which features a "float layer" design reminiscent of a metal picture frame. A different frame design was applied to each work to bring out its individual character.
Porcini will also take part in the Seoul Design Week conference on the 18th, delivering a lecture on the theme "Italian Design vs. K-Design."
