Business of Design Week 2020 Summit Concludes First Hybrid Live Edition Captures Trends Redefined by World’s Top Creative Minds for the Post-pandemic Era
Ellie Suen Dec 14, 2020 16:00
Business of Design Week (BODW), Asia’s annual flagship event on design, innovation and brands held its 2020 edition from 30 November to 5 December.
Business of Design Week 2020 Summit Concludes First Hybrid Live Edition Captures Trends Redefined by World’s Top Creative Minds for the Post-pandemic Era
Over 50 Sessions Available On-Demand Online from 18 December onwards
Business of Design Week (BODW), Asia’s annual flagship event on design, innovation and brands held its 2020 edition from 30 November to 5 December. Organised by Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) and co-organised by Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), with Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR Government) as the Lead Sponsor, BODW 2020 was successfully concluded with its BODW Summit held as a hybrid event simulcast live on multiple platforms for the first time. From 3 to 5 December, the BODW 2020 Summit connected global creative visionaries with international participants from around the world in over 50 sessions.
Under the theme ‘VISION 20/21’, the BODW Summit addressed timely themes relevant to the post-pandemic era to help participants find clarity in uncertainty. Over 100 influential design and business leaders shared their views on nine themes, namely Brand Futures, Connected Health, Safe Travels, Circular Economy, Immersive Tech, Creative Leadership, Entwined Spaces, Communication & Design and Culture & the City. With the support of the UK as Strategic Partner, this year’s programme featured a new “BODW Great British Design” video series, showcasing the designs of 14 creative leaders from the UK. Past talks from nine global celebrated creative pioneers were also featured in “BODW Greatest Moments” that were part of the Summit programme.Prof. Eric Yim, Chairman of Hong Kong Design Centre, said, “Through Business of Design Week, we are committed to promoting the power of innovative design in Hong Kong, and across the world. At this year’s BODW Summit, over 100 influential design and business leaders gathered together and explored some of the critical topics that will redefine the pandemic era, and inspire us to imagine new possibilities for the future.”
Here are some thought-provoking insights from this year’s BODW speakers, grouped by themes explored during the Summit:
Creative Leadership
• “What is Next For Design – Now, Near and Far”
Tim Brown (US), Chair of IDEO, said, “Organisations with existing design capacity were able to respond more quickly (to the pandemic). This shows that investing in design makes society more resilient to unexpected shocks.”
Brand Futures
• “TOMorrow: Designer Brands after 2020”
Tom Dixon OBE (UK), Designer & Creative Director of Tom Dixon, said “The combination of the digital, handmade and personal will be the interesting evolution in terms of design thinking.”
Entwined Spaces
• “Melting the Boundary: Live/Work”
Keith Griffiths (Hong Kong), Chairman & Global Design Principal of Aedas, said, “So if everybody’s buying products online, what is the purpose of shopping (at physical shops)? What's the purpose of a (physical) shop? We as human beings need to socialise. These palaces of purchasing called shopping malls will no longer be places where we just buy products. They'll be places where we go to meet to exchange news.”
Safe Travels
• “Designing Tomorrow's Travel Experience”
Paul Priestman (UK), Designer, Co-founder & Chairman of PriestmanGoode, said, “The contactless journey is a key part of transport design thinking - how do we ease the customer journey in travel, removing the stopping points. Key to design of big airports and stations is to help make the journey secure, safe but also enjoyable.”
Circular Economy
• “Circular Magic in Nature, People and Planet”
Lay Koon Tan (UK), Co-founder of Nature Squared said, “Today’s environmental imperatives are global poverty and inequality. All these issues are very widely publicised. We felt strongly that if we want to make a difference, however small, we can contribute to sustainable development. We needed to come up with an answer that was holistic and would address environmental, social and financial responsibilities.”
Immersive Tech
• “Design x Art x Tech: Stroke of Human Touch”
Victor Wong (Hong Kong), Founder of vfxNova said, “For me, the work of AI is not just to mimic the work of humans. I think we should find a way to cooperate with AI to do something that humans cannot do. So the process inspires us to do the next.”
About Hong Kong Design Centre
Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) is a non-governmental organisation, and was founded in 2001 as a strategic partner of the HKSAR Government in establishing Hong Kong as an international centre of design excellence in Asia. Our public mission is to promote wider and strategic use of design and design thinking to create business value and improve societal well- being, with the aim of advancing Hong Kong as an international design centre in Asia. Learn more about us at www.hkdesigncentre.org
About Create Hong Kong
Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) is a dedicated agency set up by the HKSAR Government in June 2009. It is under the Communications and Creative Industries Branch of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and dedicated to spearheading the development of creative industries in Hong Kong. Its strategic foci are nurturing talent and facilitating start-ups, exploring markets, and promoting Hong Kong as Asia’s creative capital and fostering a creative atmosphere in the community. CreateHK sponsors HKDC to organise BODW and other
projects to promote Hong Kong design. CreateHK’s website: www.createhk.gov.hk.
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