Hong Kong Designers in California for a nine-day Exchange Tour enriched with inspirations in design and technology

LOS ANGELES, US�- Media OutReach - 23 September 2019 – The fourth Design Exchange Tour (DX
Tour) organised by Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) was successfully held from 14
to 22 September in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Twelve emerging Hong Kong
designers were selected to join a nine-day inspiration trip enriched with
exchange opportunities as well as study visits that emphasise how design is
responding to technology shifts in an ever more connected society.

Twelve Hong Kong designers of DX Tour posed for a photo with the 4 speakers of TATHK’s thematic session “Design x Technology: Now and Beyond”. 

An audience is trying the VR experience by the emerging Hong Kong designer Roy Lo (Creote Studio; left) at “Design x Technology: Now and Beyond” session at TATHK.

Some delegates also participated at the “Co-creating Hong Kong, a Design+ Exhibition” in San Francisco.

 

Organised by HKDC and sponsored
by Create Hong Kong, the DX Tour aims to reinforce HKDC’s mission of establishing
Hong Kong as a creative hub of design excellence in Asia, through expanding the
global vision of emerging local designers and cultivating their aspirations for
producing designs with international impact. 
The DX Tour 2019 is an opportunity for Hong Kong to connect with the Bay
Area in the US to explore future co-creations in design and beyond. Three DX
Tours featuring different Hong Kong designers have been successfully held in
Bangkok, Melbourne and Tokyo since 2018.

 

“Hong Kong is a dynamic,
multi-cultural city known for its can-do, entrepreneurial spirit, understanding
of global and local values as well as agility in responding to new phenomena,”
said Prof. Eric Yim, JP, Chairman of HKDC. “The twelve designers at DX Tour
California represent an emerging force which is well-poised to tap into the
design culture in California and create new creative connections between the
Bay areas in California and China.”

 

Two flagship events were
staged during the tour, namely the “Co-creating Hong Kong” exhibition in the
heart of the theatre district in San Francisco, and a thematic session at the “Think
Asia, Think Hong Kong” (TATHK) conference in Los Angeles. Both events discussed
the expanding role of design in tackling a broad range of imminent and global
challenges from technology, to sustainability and community. Co-creating
through design is becoming ever more relevant for tackling complex urban and
social issues, and the co-creative spirit shall reinforce Hong Kong’s dynamic exchange
with the rest of the world.

 

Co-hosted by the Hong Kong
Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco and Hong Kong Design Centre, with
the support of AIGA San Francisco, the “Co-creating Hong Kong” exhibition featured
14 unique projects by Hong Kong’s leading and emerging creative talent, some of
them being delegates of the DX Tour. The exhibition posed an opportunity for
the two multicultural and strategically positioned cities to explore future
co-creations in design and beyond.

 

The thematic session at TATHK
conference, organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Hong Kong
Design Centre, examined the topic “Design x Technology: Now and Beyond”.
Moderated by Dr Edmund Lee (Executive Director of HKDC), it addressed how design
thinking is being progressively adopted to address critical issues and bring
forth meaningful human values, experience and impact. The panel featured leading
Hong Kong designers Mui Kinoshita (CEO, ASA Innovation & Technology),
Chelsea Lau (Design Director of Ford Smart Mobility, Ford Motor), Victor Wong
(Multimedia artist, vfxNova), and Karr Yip (Founder, SOSOC). The conference
session also gave the 12 emerging Hong Kong designers and panel speakers the
opportunity to showcase their work to the American audiences.

 

In addition to the flagship
events, the DX Tour also consists of study trips to studios and companies in
San Francisco with a strong portfolio in product innovation, enterpreneurial
culture and in applying design thinking in both business and social domains. The
delegates visited industry leaders at Autodesk Gallery, IDEO, Oculus, and Whipsaw.
The study trips in Los Angeles offered inspiration on the cross-over between
design, fashion, spatial experience, entertainment and digital media, such as
virtual and augmented reality. Studios visited include Fashion Institute of
Design and Merchandising, Portals XR, Southern California Institute of
Architecture, and Virtue (the creative agency by VICE). 

 

The DX 2019 delegation
comprises emerging designers from various design disciplines from fashion to
digital media, architecture and product design. Among them are also past
winners of the DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award (DFA HKYDTA), and
incubatees of the Design Incubation Programme (DIP) and Fashion Incubation
Programme (FIP) organised by HKDC. Upon returning to Hong Kong, these designers
will base on the “Co-creating Hong Kong” exhibition to present their
inspiration from the tour as a finale at a similar exhibition which will be curated
for Hong Kong audiences at DesignInspire, to be held in the Hong Kong
Convention and Exhibition Centre from 5 to 7 December, 2019.

 

The twelve Hong Kong
designers who participated in DX Tour include Alan Cheung (onebitedesign), Henry
Chu (pill & pillow), ), Ian Hau (XLMS), Bodin Hon (Yellowdot Design), Fiona
Lau (FFIXXED STUDIOS), Mazing Lee (Lify), Michael Leung (Studio AA), Roy Lo
(Creote Studio), Kat Luk (eMotionLab), Emily Tang (Studio Doozy), Clement Tien
(Arical), and Nicholas Tsao. 

Please download the press
photos at:

http://www.hkdc.hk/download/awards/DX2019-photos.zip

About Hong Kong Design Centre

Hong
Kong Design Centre (HKDC) is a non-governmental organisation, and was founded
in 2001 as a strategic partner of the HKSAR Government in establishing Hong
Kong as an international centre of design excellence in Asia. Our public
mission is to promote wider and strategic use of design and design thinking to
create business value and improve societal well-being, with the aim of
advancing Hong Kong as an international design centre in Greater Bay Area and
in Asia.

 

HKDC’s
flagship programmes include Business of Design Week, DFA Awards, Knowledge of
Design Week, Design Incubation Programme, Fashion Incubation Programme, and
FASHION ASIA HONG KONG. Learn more about us at www.hkdesigncentre.org