The presence of Japanese designer Masaki Hanahara, art director of Shiseido beauty products, for a lecture and exhibition, is the highlight of Macau Design Week 2018, which starts on Sunday, November 4 and runs until Sunday November11.
James Chu, president of the Macau Designers Association, who has been organizing the event for four years, sees Masaki Hanahara as an "obvious" choice. "He is young, talented, very reputed, we wanted to bring someone we know well, we thoroughly appreciate his work, we thought he could bring a totally different design perspective, especially in Macau where there are not many people who know Japanese design. Of course we see it on television, there are many products designed by Japanese designers, but the concept is unfamiliar, that's another reason we chose to bring him to Macau," explains James Chu, who is also responsible for Macau Design Centre, a space created by ADM to promote design in the territory.
Masaki Hanahara was born in 1979 in Fukuoka, Japan, and joined Shiseido in 2005 as a graphic designer. He began as art director for MAQuillAGE and the Global SHISEIDO brand. In recent years, his work has transcended traditional media and expanded into interactive design. He is currently responsible for Shiseido's "Design R&D" (“Research&Development”) project, which seeks to generate value by combining design and technology. Masaki Hanahara will speak on the opening day of the event, November 4, from 3:30 p.m., at Macau Design Centre, Travessa da Fábrica, number 5, while the exhibition of his work will be on show throughout the event. The language of communication is Japanese, with translation into Cantonese.
The event is also a showcase of internationally awarded Macau design, at the "Macau Design Exhibition". According to James Chu, "Macau design has always won awards". "There is a lot of work being exhibited by companies or groups of designers who have won international awards in recent years, because this is also the spirit of Macau Design Week, which is to let people know about the quality work that Macau is producing. It is important to make it known that there are good designers in Macau, not just Hong Kong or Japan, we have to promote Macau designers, this is also the spirit of this design week," according to the organizer.
There are works on display that have received distinctions such as the IF design prize, established in 1953 in Germany, the Art Directors Club of New York award, the Italian distinction "A’ Design Award & Competition", the Japanese "Good Design Award" and the Tokyo Type Directors Club Annual Awards, among others.
Drawing and photography laboratories are also scheduled for November 9 and 10 at the Apple Cotai Central store in Sands Cotai Central, an establishment where design was also thought out in great detail, and which opened on the 29th of June. The workshops are designed primarily for professional designers, James Chu explains. "The contents are very technical, that's why they are being held in the Apple Store, they have the technology, and so we decided to organize the workshops there. The aim is to help increase the skills of designers in Macau," the organiser concludes.
