First Person: Tommy Li
Homegrown designer Tommy Li is known for using his humorous, edgy style to revamp the logos and shops of local institutions, including Honeymoon Dessert and jewelry chain Chow Sang Sang. On the eve of a 20,000-square-foot retrospective of his life’s work, Li tells Hana R. Alberts how he discovered his calling, what it’s like to design for the mainland and why he’s not an artist.
I am a typical local boy. I grew up here and studied design at Poly U. I remember there were more than 3,000 applications for 150 seats.
When I was 13, I went to evening school for design. Compared with geography, compared with biology, it struck me.
My family didn’t understand design, movies or reading. They thought, “Why don’t you go to a proper university to study engineering or accounting, just like your brother?” It was really tough. In the 80s, the subject was really new.
After graduation I helped film movies for art directors. They asked me, “Do you want to go to Tokyo?” I said, “Of course!” because I’d never been to Japan. They wanted me to write about the new Japan, youth culture, pop culture.
Movies are not a one-man creation. They come from producers, writers, directors. If one part is a failure the project will turn into a disaster, so that’s why I don’t think movies fit me.
I came back to Hong Kong. Over 10 years I worked for three branding companies.
People will bring a portfolio to a company to let them see their work. One more thing I brought with me was a sleeping bag. It said, I will treat the office like my home. My bosses loved it. They didn’t give me overtime [pay]. I didn’t mind, because I just wanted to learn.