ACLES the Tao of Giving
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THE MAGAZINE OF THE HONG KONG DESIGN INSTITUTE ISSUE SIX 2013 THE TAO OF GIVING BRINGING CLASSICAL CHINESE ART TO SMALLMIRACLES A NEW GENERATION STRIKING THE DRAGON STIRS A BALANCE MAO JIHONG ON HKDI’S ANNUAL CHINA’S CREATIVE DesiGN SHOWS AWAKENING ISSUE SIX the painter vincent Van Gogh created profoundly to Grow and The Voice Ford designer innovative paintings but he also developed some and HKDI alumnus Chelsia Lau, extraordinary ideas about design, ethics and education interior designer Rosan Bosch and in a famous series of letters to his brother Theo, a filmmaker Ruby Yang demonstrate WHEN Parisian art dealer. how insight and its cousin intuition On April 3 1878 Van Gogh wrote these lines to Theo are the driving force behind great from Amsterdam, “If one is master of one thing, one cars, inspiring environments and has at the same time insight into many things” and he life-changing documentaries. YOU waNT thereby revealed that to master any activity requires This edition is completed by discipline - to acquire basic principles - and creativity stories about the “hidden nature” - to adopt those principles to one’s own circumstances. of Hong Kong’s tiny apartments, And insight, the theme of this sixth edition of SIGNED iconic-designer Barney Cheng using INSIGHT AS magazine, is what happens when discipline and his sharp “mind’s eye” to advise creativity combine to create a fresh approach. HKDI’s budding couturiers and the The word insight first appeared in English during “penetrating understanding” to be the 12th century, when it meant, “to see with the eyes found in modern reinterpretations BADLY AS YOU of the mind.” By the late 16th century it had evolved of Classic Chinese paintings. to mean a “penetrating understanding into character or The great Russian humanist and hidden nature.” For a designer it’s best to absorb both author Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote of these definitions to develop visions that create new “…we make mistakes because the waNT to ways of crafting materials or shaping space. A great easiest and most comfortable course designer must be able to see things from within, with is to seek insight where it accords all of their intellect and senses engaged. And they must with our emotions - especially selfish be able to see things that are hidden from others, be it ones.” He meant that true insight BreatHE, THEN a way that two fabrics can be combined or a means of comes when creative people act arranging space so that human beings can work more selflessly and seek for inspiration harmoniously together. outside their comfort zone. That’s YOU SHALL In this edition Mao Jihong (The Dragon Stirs), one the kind of insight that Van Gogh of China’s most insightful fashion innovators talks sought in his painful explorations of about how high standards can form the foundation his own limitations. Where there’s no of a revolution in design quality. In Striking a Balance pain, there’s no gain – and no insight. the work of HKDI students and staff for the school’s HAVE IT. DANIEL JEFFREYS annual design show reveals the importance of self- disciplined reflection in choosing the right mix of Editor-In-Chief SOCRATES technique and creativity in. And in Drive Time, Space 02 SIGN | ISSUE SIX 2013 ISSUE SIX 2013 | SIGN 03 6 4 1 1 0 6 8 9 7 1 1 1 0 2 3 5 4 6 1 7 8 9 0 02 03 0 05 0 07 08 09 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 20 2 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 3 3 32 33 34 35 3 3 3 3 40 4 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 5 52 06 FEATURE 14 FEATURE STRIKING A THE DRAGON STIRS BALANCE Fashion entrepreneur Craftsmanship and Mao Jihong on the Creativity at the HKDI’s rebirth of Chinese luxury annual design show 20 PEOPLE 26 PEOPLE DRIVE TIME SPACE TO GROW Chelsia Lau and Dutch designer Rosan the global car Bosch talks about designing for social change 30 PEOPLE 36 FEATURE THE VOICE HAUTE Oscar winning ARCHITECTURE director Ruby Yang HKDI students design at HKDI couture with fashion legend Barney Cheng 42 CULTURE 48 CULTURE 50 EVENTS THE TAO OF SMALL miracLES What’S NEXT GIVING Big lessons from Bringing new life Hong Kong’s tiny flats at HKDI to the Xubaizhai collection THE MAGAZINE OF THE HONG KONG DESIGN INSTITUTE COVER IMAGE SCReenshot The Hong Kong Design Institute is a member institution of the Vocational Training EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DANIEL JEFFREYS MANAGING EDITOR DAISY ZHONG CREATIVE DIRECTOR STEVE ELLUL FROM AN ANIMation IN Council. For more information about HKDI, please check our website on ISSUE SIX 2013 EDITORIAL BOARD LESLIE LU • AMY CHAN • TERENCE WONG • DR YAN YAN LAM THE E-BOOK “A JOURNEY www.hkdi.edu.hk, or email us at [email protected] INTO CHINESE PAINTING: • LIZ MCLAFFERTY • DANIEL CHAN • WONG PAK KAY • NIKI SHEK A SELECTION OF WORKS Signed is produced on behalf of the Hong Kong Design Institute by deluxewords, PHOTOGRAPHY VANESSA KO EDITOR SUMMER CAO CONTRIBUTOR LISA LI THE TAO OF GIVING FROM THE XUBAIZHAI a subsidiary of Deluxe Holdings Limited, Winning Centre, 46-48 Wyndham Street, BRINGING CLASSICAL CHINESE ART TO PUBLISHER SMALLMIRACLES A NEW GENERATION DELUXEWORDS COLLECTION” CReated BY Hong Kong. Advertising sales enquiries to +852 2868 0671. Printed in Hong Kong STRIKING THE DRAGON STIRS A BALANCE MAO JIHONG ON HKDI’S ANNUAL CHINA’S CREATIVE DESIGN SHOWS AWAKENING HKDI STUDENTS at Icicle Group. Origination by deluxewords. 04 SIGN | ISSUE SIX 2013 ISSUE SIX 2013 | SIGN 05 FEATURE STRIKING A BALANCE The best design education creates harmony between craftsmanship and creativity, with students being equally equipped to manufacture and inspire. This year’s annual design show “Searching...Becoming - Emerging Design Talents” at HKDI and IVE - Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Lee Wai Lee) revealed that there are many different ways to achieve the right mix between technique and innovation. LISA LI reports. HKDI ALL IMAGES: 06 SIGN | ISSUE SIX 2013 ISSUE SIX 2013 | SIGN 07 FEATURE n 29th June 2013, I boarded the Star Ferry at the Edinburgh Place Pier in Central but the ship’s clock told me it was 11th November 2006 and I realised I was about to join a Ferry Pier farewell party. This exercise in nostalgia was crafted by Higher Diploma graduates from IVE (Lee Wai Lee)’s Department of Multimedia and Internet Technology and the mix of music and images felt like riding a time machine, especially when three true stories from ordinary Hong Kongers became part of the narrative, reminding audience members of their deep-seated affection for the old Ferry pier. The Remaining-Star Ferry (留情 - 天星) graduate project was one of three shown during this year’s Multimedia Entertainment Show, which had My Hong Kong as its theme, providing an opportunity for students to reflect on the city’s collective identity and the need to preserve its cultural heritage. These issues PREVIOUS PAGE FIVE fashiON COLLECTIONS FROM THE HKDI’S were explored by applying industry-leading technology, Annual DESIGN SHOW 2013 such as laser animation, moving projection systems, TOP STUDENTS WHO PARTICIPated IN THE MICRO FILM SCREENING ABOVE computer lighting programmes and moving sound AND TOP RIGHT TWO WORKS IN THE technology, which the students had mastered during multimedia Entertainment SHOW their two years’ of study. OPPOSITE LOWER FOUR SCREEN CAPTURES FROM FILMS SHOWN at THE “The Multimedia Entertainment Show focused MICRO FILM SCREENING on the kind of visual effects and entertainment that visitors see at Disneyland and Ocean Park,” says Peter Si, Acting Principal Lecturer at IVE (Lee Wai Lee)’s Department of Multimedia and Internet Technology (MIT). “We also launched Micro Film Screening this year, for which students created films, multimedia advertisements and animations.” The Micro Film Screening was a collaboration between the Department of Communication Design and Digital Media (CDM) at HKDI and MIT. The CDM provides THERE IS programmes for a Higher Diploma in Film and Television, in Advertising Design and Creative Media (Animation and Visual Effects) while MIT NO MORE offers a Higher Diploma in Multimedia and in Digital Entertainment (Games and Animation). ‘prODUCT’ “There is some similarity in the work we do. So after a suggestion by Eric Liu, the Vice Principal (Academic) at HKDI & IVE (Lee Wai Lee), we BECAUSE decided to organise the Micro Film Screening together,” Si says. The Micro Film Screening became a visual banquet offering TV PEOPLE JUST commercials, microfilms and animations. The first occasion was a big success. More than a thousand people attended screenings between 29th WANT ‘SERVICE’, and 30th June, including many professionals. “We did not prescribe a general theme, to leave more space for IT IS ALL ABOUT imagination,” says Si. The young creatives thus weaved their life experiences into the graduation pieces and made the micro films a THE STYLE celebration of youthfulness with a variety of topics expressing the young generation’s views on society, culture and their hopes for the future. Old OF LIVING. Hong Kong stationers, Pottinger Street and Tong-sui stores all became playgrounds for their creativity. 08 SIGN | ISSUE SIX 2013 ISSUE SIX 2013 | SIGN 09 FEATURE A different kind of story was being told by graduates of the Department of Fashion and Image Design (FID), FASHION IS ABOUT although both sets of students faced the same challenge, namely how to strike the right balance between BEING AVANT- creativity and craftsmanship. For fashion students the dilemma often pushes them toward flamboyance as they GARDE, CHIC AND try to stand out from their contemporaries.