The Hong Kong Designers Association was first established in 1972 when it invited practising design professionals from multiple disciplines to join. At present, its 560 members include designers who specialise in graphic, product, interior, multi-media, exhibition, architectural or fashion design, and academic professionals in the field. 'We only admit practising professionals,' says association chairman Alan Yip Chi-wing, a product designer who also runs his own firm, Yip Design. 'To become full members, professionals need to have at least five years' experience and demonstrate their experience in an interview at the association.' The creative industry enjoyed a golden period from 1990 through to 1997, before the Asian financial crisis. 'We suffered as much as other service providers [during the crisis], when corporate budgets were tight. Then came an industry consolidation where design shops were closed and designers left the industry,' says Mr Yip. In 2000, when the industry was left with the more established and high-quality designers, it started to become energetic again. Partially, it was being bolstered by the Hong Kong government's commitment to strengthen its 'creative industry' policy. 'We are evolving from an OEM [original equipment manufacturer] to ODM [original design manufacturer] centre. This has created a very positive response from the media as well as other industries,' Mr Yip says. He encourages the industry to benchmark the recent success of South Korea. 'The country was in a worse situation in 1998 than us. However, it has used creative industry as a tool to bounce back. Now we can view their creative products everywhere - consumer electronics, computers, drama or even music,' Mr Yip says. 'Just take Samsung. At the recent International Consumer Electronics Fair in Berlin, Samsung expanded its exposure by having a huge booth about the same size as the consumer giant Sony, and gained as much attention. This is a successful brand model that we should learn from.' Every year, design graduates trained locally and overseas embark on careers as external consultants or in-house designers. 'There are a number of opportunities we can choose from. We can either work for industrialists in jewellery, products [watches, clocks, electronics or premiums], multimedia firms or retail chains. On the other hand, we can also join a production house that provides design consultancy services to corporations.' The industry has had quite a turnover in its 40-year development in Hong Kong. 'The association's missions are to enhance our professionalism and promote the status of design as a profession. This will then help to maintain the core group of practising professionals,'' Mr Yip says. 'We have to build everything from ground zero. Nothing is ready made, all the software and tools that we have are to help us create from scratch. 'It is not that easy to find one's own design direction. A good designer need to be sensitive and open-minded. Moreover, they have to possess good observation and presentation skills. All their designs need to add value to the originals and be able to achieve commercial success. 'One mission that every product designer wants to achieve is to improve living standards through more user-friendly and cost-effective design.'
