4-day Exchange Tour Inspires Twelve Young Designers and 

Strengthens Hong Kong's Position as Asia's Creative Hub

TOKYO, JAPAN - Media OutReach^[1] - 2 November 2018 - The third Design Exchange Tour (DeX Tour) organised by Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) was successfully held from 30 October to 2 November 2018 in Tokyo, Japan. Following the success of the tour in Bangkok and Melbourne earlier this year, twelve emerging Hong Kong designers were selected to join a 4-day inspiration trip packed with cultural exchange activities and study visits to Tokyo's well-known design studios and projects. The trip culminated with an exhibition of the designers' works at Think Global, Think Hong Kong (TGTHK), a mega promotion campaign hosted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

Sponsored by Create Hong Kong and organised by HKDC, the DeX 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 young local designers and cultivating their aspirations for producing designs with international impact. Two DeX Tours have been successfully held in the first half of 2018 in Bangkok and Melbourne, which opened up cross-regional dialogue among the young generation of designers in the two cities.

"Hong Kong is a dynamic metropolitan where designers are always looking to explore new markets such as mainland China and the rest of the world," said Prof. Eric Yim, JP, Chairman of HKDC. "The twelve designers at DeX Tokyo represent a sliver of the vibrant spectrum of the design force in Hong Kong who, when provided with the right exposure and networking opportunities, have enormous potential to produce designs with a broader regional or international impact."

Like preceding DeX Tours in Bangkok and Melbourne, DeX Japan hopes to position Hong Kong as one of Asia's most dynamic and liveable creative hubs. The delegation comprises up-and-coming designers from various design disciplines selected among 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. The designers visited creative studios in Tokyo and learned about notable design projects, such as visiting the acclaimed teamLab studio and GK Design Group, attending the open house of Yohji Yamamoto's new SS19 collection, and touring the Daikanyama T-SITE with world-renowned architects Mark Dytham of Klein & Dytham architecture. They also learned from the visit to winning projects at the Good Design Awards Exhibition, to name a few highlights.

The designers joining DeX Japan also had the opportunity to present their creative designs during a session in TGTHK themed "Design & Liveability", where five professional designers from Hong Kong and Japan shared how a human-centred design approach can offer insights for building empathy and fostering collaborative synergy, thus boosting innovation and business opportunities for today's designers. Key speakers at the thematic session include Kay Kwok (Founder, KAYKWOK); Stanley Wong (Founder/ Creative Director, 84000 Communications Limited); Eisuke Tachikawa (Director and Founder, NOSIGNER); Joey Ho (Design Partner, P A L Design Group); and Prof. Eric Yim (Chairman, Hong Kong Design Centre), with Dr. Edmund Lee (Executive Director, Hong Kong Design Centre) as the moderator for the session.

The twelve Hong Kong designers who participated in DeX Japan include Chan Hei Shing (Hei Shing Book Design); Woody Chau (NEVER-NEVER); Ken Hui (AIR Concepts); Soilworm Lai (STICKYLINE); June Kimberly Lau (Novel Fineries); Tak Lee (Tak Lee); Comma Leung (mosi mosi); Prudence Mak (Chocolate Rain); Baldwin PUI (hoiming & Fungus Workshop); Mandy Tsang (eMotionLAB); Angus Tsui (ANGUS TSUI) and Yeung Chin (Yeung Chin).

Please download the press photos at:

http://www.hkdc.hk/download/awards/DeX-Japan_photos.zip^[2]

About Hong Kong Design Centre

https://www.hkdesigncentre.org/^[3]

Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) was founded in 2001 as a strategic partner of the HKSAR Government in establishing Hong Kong as centre of design excellence in Asia. HKDC continues its public mission to promote wider and strategic use of design and design thinking to create business value and improve societal well-being. Our initiatives are anchored by five major work directions: CONNECT, CELEBRATE, NURTURE, ADVANCE and ENGAGE.

HKDC's flagship programmes include Business of Design Week (since 2002) -- Asia's leading annual conference and event on Design, Innovation and Brands; DFA Awards (since 2003) -- a widely recognised design awards that celebrates outstanding designs with Asian perspectives; Design Incubation Programme (since 2012) and Fashion Incubation Programme (since 2016) -- 2-year incubation programmes to nurture future design and fashion entrepreneurs; FASHION ASIA HONGKONG (since 2016) -- a fashion initiative combining conversations, interactions and cultural exchanges to energise the city's image, and position it as an Asian hub for fashion trade and business development; Knowledge of Design Week (since 2006) -- an annual thematic design knowledge sharing platform that explores how design can solve complex challenges of our society.

References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} http://www.hkdc.hk/download/awards/DeX-Japan_photos.zip (www.hkdc.hk)
3. ^{^} https://www.hkdesigncentre.org/ (www.hkdesigncentre.org)