DesignInspire highlighted Hong Kong creativity

Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), DesignInspire was held from 5 to 7 December at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), featuring outstanding designs and providing creative solutions, as well as showcasing Hong Kong creativity to both trade and public visitors.

The third edition of DesignInspire run under the theme “Co-create Sustainable Cities”, aiming to promote the sustainable development of the urban and commercial environment, and paid heed to the importance of preserving aspects of traditional culture.

“Hong Kong Creative Force” highlighted young local design talents

The “Hong Kong Creative Force” pavilion, sponsored by Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), is a campaign to raise public awareness of local creative talents, with young Hong Kong designers given the opportunity to promote their innovative creations to local and overseas visitors.

The pavilion showcased the design projects of 131 designers and 12 local institutions and included the “RetroInnovations” project, which involved 26 young local design talents who created a series of contemporary installations paying tribute to the city’s cultural traditions by reinterpreting them.

Visitors discovered other creative works – including architectural design, sculpture, photography and painting – in the pavilion.

Seal by Hidy Lam

The idea behind ‘Seal’ is to use traditional flower-drying techniques to preserve recycled flowers. The dried flowers are sealed in resin, with the handmade galvanized iron mailbox used as a vase to form a clock, representing the preservation of love and blessings.

The Sleepless Playground by Lo Yat-ming

The ‘Sleepless Playground’ shows the unique beauty of Hong Kong’s neon lights by using different fonts and graphic elements, representing a wide range of Hong Kong industries and the city’s diverse 24-hour lifestyle – just like a sleepless playground.

“Urbanovation”: innovation through technology and design

With the support of the Innovation and Technology Commission (ICT) of the HKSAR, “Urbanovation 2019” examined how innovation and technology merge with design and art to shape sustainable commercial development and an improved urban life.

The pavilion gathered 25 collaborators with a focus on three areas.

1. “Experimental Business Solution” featured five multi-media interactive experiential installations that demonstrated how technology can be integrated into the design experience to fulfil business needs;
2. “STEAM Education” showcased creations from young Hong Kong talents using education tools that foster participatory and interdisciplinary learning in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics;
3. “Smart Living” gathered 16 home gadgets with innovative concepts such as Internet of Things (IoT) functions.

A couple of highlights:

• “The Wave” Series by vfxNova Digital Productions Ltd (left) Inspired by the movement of rough water, “The Wave” Series is Victor Wong’s new mixed-media art series that carry an art therapy message. “TROUBLE WATER” is an LED wave bench that visitors can sit on to experience moments that symbolise difficulties
• Interactive AI installation “Mountain & Water” by XRT and Square Solution Limited (right) Visitors can co-create an artificial intelligence-created landscape painting by simply drawing lines and letting the device generate a 3D image using a generative adversarial network (GAN) algorithm

This year, DesignInspire has invited Titan the Robot to entertain visitors.

The Transformer-like Titan – a highlight exhibit from the United Kingdom – is built using advanced robotic technology and artificial intelligence, with its agility enabled by state-of-the-art joints and mechanisms.

International exhibits inspire creativity

DesignInspire has brought together the latest designs and innovations from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Italy, Japan, Poland and Taiwan.

In addition, a series of interactive events were organised during the event with the aim of promoting good design and innovative thinking.

InnoTalks and workshops were held to discuss the latest global design trends and share practical knowledge based on traditional craftsmanship.

They included various talks along with STEAM and design workshops.

Visitors could also buy design products from pop-up stores at the event.