BUSINESS OF DESIGN WEEK HONG KONG: REVIEW
Early December Fused headed to Hong Kong for the annual Business of Design Week event to hear what the speakers had to say about the current state of design, innovation and brands.
Serving as a valuable platform for professionals across sectors to network, exchange ideas and explore business collaborations BODW brings together some of the world’s most celebrated design masters, brand leaders and business figures across a variety of fields, to inspire both audiences on the merits of good design.
The annual flagship event is co-organised by Hong Kong Design Centre and Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and consists of a main summit, a City Programme to activate business creative communities in different districts, and over 20 concurrent events.
In collaboration with this year’s partner city Melbourne (which has won the accolade of the world’s most liveable city by the Economist Intelligence Unit for seven consecutive years, 2011-2017) BODW provided a platform for business and creative leaders to present the latest innovative ideas and industry insights.
This year’s summit took on the theme of ‘Think • Collaborate • Create’. Featuring more than 20 speakers from the city of Melbourne, the event drew inspiration from Melbourne’s strategic and thoughtful approach to design.
Two stand out talk’s from the city’s delegates came from the team at Flack Studio and Dr. Ken Cato of Cato Brand Partners.
Flack Studio
Principal / Founder David Flack, alongside Practice & Strategy Manager Mark Robinson talked about their approach to working within their interior architecture and design practice based in Melbourne which they established in 2014.
The Flack Studio aesthetic is contemporary yet respectfully classic. Its designs are bold and elegantly masculine, nodding to restrained stateliness but offset with unexpected, light-hearted elements. Holding craftsmanship in high regard, Flack and Robinson combine warm materials with clean lines, textural palettes and fine detailing.
Flack and Robinson spoke about their design teams process and how they deter staff from continually looking at the screen for inspiration and instead send $1000 a month on books and magazines for the research stages of schematic design.
Dr. Ken Cato
In 1970 Ken Cato established Cato Brand Partners in Melbourne and has continued to stay at the helm with offices in 16 international locations. The team has worked in over 110 countries affording global acclaim and numerous international awards as well as being recognised as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2013 for distinguished service to the graphic design profession.
A regular speaker at both design and business conferences, Cato has presented in over 30 countries and is an acclaimed author of over 20 books about design and business.
As Cato’s work takes him around the globe he talked about the cultural and language issues that the company can often face. The importance of local knowledge, history and culture to form solid working relationships was at the fore of the teams’ work. Gaining trust and building trust has ultimately lead to a succession of World class campaigns.
Along the international speakers we heard from former Editor-in-Chief of Wallpaper* magazine, Tony Chambers and Michael Wang of Marriott Hotels.
Tony Chambers
Chambers was the Creative Director and Editor-in-Chief of Wallpaper* from January 2003 to September 2018, its longest serving Editor-in-Chief and under his stewardship, Wallpaper* was transformed into a global brand.
He has worked with Philippe Starck, Jeff Koons, Karl Lagerfeld, Hedi Slimane, Kraftwerk and Zaha Hadid on guest editors’ issues.
Chambers is a fan of macro trend ‘Positive Discomfort’ believing that one should never be too comfortable in ones role. During his talk he said: “Seven of the most expensive words in business is: ‘We have always done it that way’.” He believes that design by democracy is a disaster and complacency in the great danger!
His latest project, TC & Friends, is a multidisciplinary creative agency that engages and collaborates with Chambers’ extensive professional network.
Michael Wang
Michael Wang has been with Marriott for over 20 years, and is responsible for design and project management related activities for all Marriott International portfolios of 30 brands in Asia Pacific.
Wang spoke about the incredible use AI can have within the hotel World but pointed out that it takes time, imagination and creativity to make good design – something that we, as humans, will always ultimately have above and beyond our AI counterparts.
Common threads throughout the talks were to embrace all that technology has to offer but also to collaborate with clients to understand their needs, to turn off the screen and look back at heritage and history, using books and magazines as inspiration and leaving ‘trends’ to one side. Design should move beyond function to engage senses and embrace cultures.
The official partner country for BODW 2019 will be the United Kingdom.
