Society wraps up prize for design

It looks like a present. With a cardboard cover designed to look like wrapping paper and a magnet-pull red ribbon decoration at the front, the Hong Kong Housing Society's 2006 annual report comes as an offering to the community.

The original design, with easy-to-read content split into chapters following the gift-wrap theme, earned a citation from the HKMA for Achievement in Design in the Best Annual Reports Awards in the 'non-profit making and charitable organisations category'.

The society's executive director Wong Lai-chun said the idea behind the gift-wrap and ribbons theme, interspersed throughout the 102-page annual report, was to give a warm feeling to the reader 'because our theme is meeting the needs and caring for the community'.

The society, whose main aim is to provide affordable housing and related services for residents, hired design company TDA - The Design Associates, which had helped to compile the report for the past five years.

The report is divided into social contribution and business, with the chapters showing the four key areas the society works in - urban renewal, housing for the elderly, social and environmental responsibilities and the building management and maintenance scheme.

Each chapter contains a 'gift' from the community. An e-mail or letter sent to staff from a member of the public in appreciation of their efforts.