BAT Designer Urges Responsible Creations

Product designs should not center only on providing attractive appearance but also encompass meaning, value and responsibility, according to Ken Kim, head of design at the BAT Group.

“The role of designers is changing, from simply designing products to assuming social and environmental responsibilities,” Kim said at the Design Korea conference, which took place Nov. 1-5, 2023, in Seoul. “This [new role] is not a choice for individual designers to make, but a common goal the industry and society must undertake together in order to move forward.”

Kim is the first Korean to head BAT’s product design division. His portfolio includes tobacco heating products such as Vuse Epod 2, Glo Pro Slim and Glo Hyper X2. 

During the conference, which was reported in The Korea Herald, Kim reviewed measures on how designs could address social issues such as carbon neutrality amid heightened regulations, emphasizing that designs could function as an important key to the tobacco industry’s sustainable future.

He stressed the importance of designing products in ways that do not appeal to underage consumers. “We need a balanced design strategy that does not stimulate the curiosity of minors, through conducting analysis of design preferences by age groups,” he was quoted as saying.