Free by name and nature

Designer Freeman Lau Siu-hong is known for taking everyday objects and giving them a new spin, altering our perception of the seemingly mundane.

Even if his name isn't familiar, his work will be. Take the Watsons Water bottle, perhaps the best known of his rebranding exercises. He spent an intense six months working on the project that was launched in 2002.

"We set out to change the perception of people drinking water. In the past, advertising told people to drink water after doing sports. We wanted to show that water is something you need to drink every day," says Lau.

He redesigned the bottle, giving it a curvaceous form that didn't just look good but made it stronger and easy to hold. The original screw-top lid was replaced with a moulded cap completing the design aesthetic and also serving as a cup. And the green colour that the company had long used for branding was updated to a fresh shade of lime. It was no longer a boring bottle - it represented a lifestyle. He clearly hit the mark because the design spawned a series of copycats on the mainland and in Thailand, Malaysia, Europe and the US.

Lau has an easy manner and a ready laugh. He had a happy childhood growing up on a public housing estate in Hong Kong and remembers playing, drawing and entertaining his younger siblings with stories based on his pictures.

By the time he reached middle school, he had a keen interest in design and read all he could on the subject. An article in a local magazine by Kan Tai-keung - an icon in the city's design industry - convinced him to study design and he applied to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.