Asia’s leading international event on design, innovation and brands, Business of Design Week (BODW), took place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre last December, providing a platform for business and creative leaders to present their latest innovative ideas and industry insights. Organised by the Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC), co-organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and sponsored by Create Hong Kong, the theme for the 2018 summit was ‘Think ∙ Collaborate ∙ Create’.
Featuring a number of speakers from the city of Melbourne, the 2018 partner city, BODW consisted of more than 20 events including a main summit, a BODW City Programme to activate business creative communities in different districts, and many concurrent events to foster innovation and business connections.
2018 saw the introduction of new sessions to the event lineup, including the track: “Greater Bay Area & Design”, to provide knowledge about the business opportunities created under the Greater Bay economic policy, spearheaded by the mainland Chinese government.
Mann Lao, founder and creative director of Chiii Design, an expert in commercial brand design, represented Macau with a presentation of his work and his presence at a panel discussion with other designers from the Greater Bay Area.
Specialising in integrating commercial elements with arts and culture, Chiii Design provides consultancy services on branding and design with a particular focus on fields of brand image, packaging and advertising design.
One of the few design teams with a simultaneous presence in the markets of Hong Kong, Mainland China, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and South East Asia, Chiii Design have won more than 200 awards in exhibitions in over 10 countries and regions.
Born and raised in Macau, Mann Lao’s expansion into new geographies was driven by need: “Macau is a very small place, we needed to look elsewhere,” the designer explains of his very successful foray into places such as Japan and Switzerland. Undeterred by potential cultural obstacles, “design is about problem solving, and that is a global language,” the head of Chiii Design reflects, “Art should be border free”.
How does a place like Macau distinguish itself from neighbouring regions such as Hong Kong and Mainland China? By specializing in what it is good at – entertainment. According to Lao, that is Macau’s niche and unique selling point. The designer believes that the main question for Macau is how to turn the entertainment resources it has into something that can be exported – be that enticing people to come to Macau, or exporting those services to different cities in the Greater Bay Area.
With Macau’s strong and improving economy, conditions for designers are really good, even better than Hong Kong, according to Lao, adding that Chiii Design handles all the top tier clients in Macau. It might appear that running a successful agency in a financially sound environment would be enough to meet the needs of most, but Lao sees his role in the region as something more than winning awards and being able to be selective about who he works with.
In fact, Lao is on a very particular mission, closer to home. Design is not greatly emphasized in places such as Hong Kong and Macau. Despite all the development and modernization, industries such as real estate, investment banking, and financial services still reign supreme and are the main focus, but Lao believes that one day he will be able to show people the importance of design, even to those ‘on top’.
To change society, Lao first seeks to change himself. He didn’t want to organize a campaign using a ‘designer mindset’, because as a designer he recognizes that people will always see him as one, and as doing the job of a designer. He realized that in order to change perceptions, he couldn’t do it alone, that he needed to broaden his approach. That’s when he partnered with entrepreneur Sabrina Ho, to work together on something bigger.
Their collaboration kicked off in 2016 with Y Show the first Macau Art Graduates Joint Exhibition, organised by Chiu Yeng Cultural and Creative Industry Association and co-organised by Chiii Design. Exhibiting the works of local and overseas art and design graduates, it provides an opportunity to showcase new talent, as well as a platform for young artists to share ideas and get greater exposure. Renowned local and international design specialists form the assessment committee, selecting ten ‘Outstanding Awards’ for recognition.
The Y Class creative design course provides a direct channel for creative culture and commercial business from local, neighbouring and overseas sources, pushing design education forward and cultivating creative talent.
“Y Show is the link between business and design, to show people the work of the design students,” Lao says of the project. “It’s not about numbers, about how many students or institutions you invite, rather it’s about how one changes people’s mindsets and the perception of design”.