Fuelling the Quest for Change and Transformation for a Better World, Business of Design Week 2022 Comes to a Close

For immediate release                                                   5 December 2022

Fuelling the Quest for Change and Transformation for a Better World, Business of Design Week 2022 Comes to a Close

Themed ‘Design for Change,’ more than 30 sessions featured over 90 speakers from Hong Kong, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Thailand, the UK and beyond from 30 November to 3 December 

The sessions, exploring timely topics from revamping the urban environment, redesigning brand and cultural experiences, and investigating the metaverse, are now available to view on-demand on bodw+, the new design knowledge platform for exclusive BODW content

HONG KONG, 5 December 2022 – Business of Design Week (BODW) 2022, Asia’s premier annual event on design, innovation and brands organised by Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) since 2002, concluded its 20th anniversary edition on 3 December. Headlined by some of the most illustrious global names in their respective industries, some 90 speakers from 14 countries and cities including Hong Kong, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Thailand, and the UK graced the BODW Summit, with 15 speakers flying in from all over the world to speak at the physical event and attend the Gala Dinner finale at M+. The summit programme from 30 Nov to 3 Dec featured more than 30 illuminating sessions simulcast on ViuTVsix and bodw+ online under the theme ‘Design for Change,’ which highlighted the power and impact of design in today’s world – and how creative leaders can lead the way for a shift to more sustainable innovative practices. 

An accredited event celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, BODW 2022 is supported by Strategic Partners, the Netherlands, and its platform for creative pioneers, CreativeNL; and co-organised by Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), together with Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR Government) as the Lead Sponsor. Continuing BODW’s grand tradition of collaboration across borders, the next edition of the event in 2023 will be held with the Netherlands as Partner Country. 

Those who have missed the BODW 2022 Summit can revisit all sessions on the bodw+ digital design knowledge platform with a bodw+ Plus membership; in addition, the televised sessions are available to watch on the ViuTV app. A special Cantonese highlight programme showcasing insightful conversations and exclusive, behind-the-scenes interviews from the Summit is slated to air on ViuTV Channel 99 on 17 December and 7 January from 7:30-8:30pm. 

The BODW 2022 Summit is anchored on five main pillars: Brand Transformation, Culture and the City, Metaverse and Metaliving, New Urban Models, and Social Design Innovation. Inspiring reflections and future trends shared by the speakers, not to be missed by anyone from the design and business industries, include: 

Brand Transformation

• Consumer Experience & Brand Innovation: ‘People are quickly shifting to a mobile-first world. We recognised that we have to make some change, and we decided to rebrand our marketing in a way that would befit the future. We can personalize our digital marketing; leverage the values and first-party data we have to increase our conversion rate and give them [customers] more based on their preferences.’ – Tina Chao (Chief Marketing and Digital Customer Experience Officer, McDonald’s Hong Kong, HK) 

• Dutch Inspirations: Rethinking Business with Circular Design: ‘Circular economy is about material efficiency, closing the loop, preserving value at the highest level, extending the evolvement of the product. That's a nice challenge for the designer.’ – Pieter van Os (Program Manager International, CIRCO, NL) 

• Pioneers in Digital Transformation: ‘It is important for brands to build connection with their clients by observing their needs and understand their opinions. It could help them to accurately develop new products and enhancing their adaptability.’ – Deng Chao (Head of Product and Design, Xiaohongshu, Mainland China) 

Culture & the City

• Immersive Voyages of Our Heritage: ‘Some changes not only affect our present time, but also our past, by destroying cultural heritage. There are natural threats as well as human threats, such as massive urbanization, massive tourism, conflict... We are seeing an acceleration of the disappearance of our heritage.’ – Yves Ubelmann (Co-founder and CEO, ICONEM, France) 

• Reimagining Asian Design: ‘To use your own culture, you have to be not ashamed of it. Embrace it, and it becomes very special.’– Dr William Lim (Managing Director, CL3 Architects Limited, HK) 

• Design Policy Conversations: ‘It's not enough [for cities] to be liveable, we want to be lovable. We want to measure how we can be more lovable – having a sense of agency, having citizens be part of the design process. Nothing we do is isolated, we don't come from a place where we say we know better; we want to engage citizens.’ – Guanyou Chen (Deputy Director of Strategy, Governance and International Relations, DesignSingapore Council, SG) 

New Urban Models

• The Master Roundtable: Design for Change: ‘The most important power a designer has is the ability to rely on, to develop critical thinking. You may mostly participate in a kind of consumption cycle, of things that come and go. It is a waste. To be able to push design to make a real significant change, we need to engage the public to really make change.’ – Chi Wing Lo (Founder, DIMENSIONE CHI WING LO, Italy). 

• Blue Urban Models: Building Climate-Resilient Neighbourhoods: ‘To design for change, you need a recipe. Every designer has to have their own recipe. For me, this was living on water. If we want to be ready for the future, we have to change cities from static cities to dynamic cities.’ – Dr Koen Olthuis (CEO Architect, Waterstudio, NL) 

• Reimagining Our Future Habitats: ‘I hope we can invest more to find out how we can incorporate nature into our urban cities. In high rise buildings, only the ground levels would benefit from greenery. In future technology, we should look at how to grow plants at higher levels, how to capture rainwater effectively, how we can use recycled materials to nurture plants.’ – Dennis Ho (Director & East Asia Regional Design Lead, ARUP, HK) 

Metaliving & Metaverse

• Brand and Service Design in the Metaverse: ‘If we're just looking at the data, some say the opportunity in the metaverse is in the trillions of dollars. This trend is being driven by growing wealth and technologies. We're seeing more consumers in the metaverse, particularly the younger generation. And as a marketer, you want to be where your future consumers are going to be.’ – Grace Chan (Head of Brand & Brand Partnerships, Asia Pacific, HSBC, HK) 

Social Design Innovation

• Keynote: The Future of Transportation – Integrating Mobility & Community: ‘In my profession, I've developed some of the highest speed vehicles in the world, high speed trains, cars, etc. But I've always wondered, “what's the rush?” Why don't we slow down or take a bit more time to get where we need to go? ’– Paul Priestman (Chairman & Creative Director, Puli Innovations Shanghai, UK) 

• AI and Life-Centred Design: ‘Why do we do what we do? We feel the worst thing we can do is continue to operate the way we have for the last 75 years. We've created this disjointed supply chain in this globalised world. There is a need to pull everything together. Ultimately, who's missing at the table are the children of tomorrow.’ – Edwin Keh (CEO, Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel, HK) 

• Keynote: Communal Space & Impactful Design: ‘As the world is becoming more connected, there's this danger that we would lose all of those cultural nuances and things could just merge into themselves. It's so important that we are embracing the local nuances as well.’ – Thomas Widdershoven (Co-founder, Designer & Director, Thonik, NL) 

To foster an appreciation for design, BODW 2022 also comprises concurrent and partner events and programmes across the city. Among BODW’s partners are its Strategic Regional Partner, Guangzhou Design Week; Strategic Cultural Partner, M+; Strategic Business Partners, Brand Hong Kong, Dutch Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and InvestHK; and Strategic Programme Partners, Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI), PMQ and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design (PolyU Design). 

Sign up on bodw+ and stay tuned for the latest updates on BODW 2022 at 2022.bodw.com. All BODW sessions can be accessed on-demand by bodw+ Plus members for free. bodw+ Basic members can upgrade to Plus (for a yearly subscription fee priced at HK$100) or Corporate membership for exclusive content, discounts and offers from partners. Follow BODW on the following social media channels: Facebook (bodw+), Instagram (bodw+), Twitter (bodw+), LinkedIn (bodw+), and YouTube (bodw+). 

 

Press Images:

	Over 30 sessions were held at M+ in the West Kowloon Cultural District from 30 Nov to 3 Dec for the 20th Anniversary edition of BODW
	Special guests officiating the 2023 partnership with the Netherlands at BODW’s Closing Ceremony included (from left to right): Dr Victor Lo, Chairman of BODW 2022 Steering Committee and KODW Steering Committee; Prof. Viveca Chan, Vice Chairman of Hong Kong Design Centre; Steve Leung, Vice Chairman of Hong Kong Design Centre; Prof. Eric Yim, Chairman of Hong Kong Design Centre; Arjen van den Berg, Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Bart Ahsmann, Managing Director of CLICKNL; and Monique Knapen, China Coordinator of CreativeNL
	(Second from left) Dr ir Peter Joore, Professor Open Innovation of NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, NL; Thomas Widdershoven, Co-founder, Designer & Director, Thonik, NL; and Paul Priestman, Chairman & Creative Director of Puli Innovations Shanghai, UK feature in ‘Roundtable Discussion: Transformative Design for Good’ with moderator Shirley Surya, Curator, Design & Architecture of M+, Hong Kong (far left)
	Chi Wing Lo, Founder of DIMENSIONE CHI WING LO, Italy, speaks at ‘Keynote: A Lifetime of Creative Experimentation’
	Dr Koen Olthuis, CEO Architect of Waterstudio.NL, the Netherlands (right) discusses ‘Designing Future Livability with AI’ with moderator Simone Schultz, Managing Editor of Design Anthology, Hong Kong
	Adeline Ooi, Director, Asia of Art Basel, Hong Kong (left) and Gillian Howard, Founder & Global Fair Director of Digital Art Fair, Hong Kong (right) discuss ‘Art Tech and Creative Digitalisation’ panel
	Dr William Lim, Managing Director of CL3 Architects Limited, Hong Kong (left), and Stanley Wong Ping-pui, Founder & Creative Director of 84000 Communications Limited, Hong Kong (right), speak on ‘Reimagining Asian Design’
	Thomas Widdershoven, Co-founder, Designer & Director of Thonik, the Netherlands (middle), and Nikki Gonnissen, Co-founder, Designer & Director of Thonik, the Netherlands (right) on ‘Keynote: Communal Space and Impactful Design’ with moderator Jonathan Cummings, President, APAC of Landor & Fitch, Hong Kong (left)

-End-

Contact 

For further enquiries and requests for interviews, please contact: 
CatchOn, a Finn Partners Company  

Email: HKDesignCentre@FinnPartners.com

Press materials 

Images including speakers’ portraits are available at: https://finnpartners.box.com/s/jrj5x1hma4f4p0xr7x0ew10jloblsp8x 

 

About Hong Kong Design Centre  (www.hkdesigncentre.org)

A non-governmental organisation registered in 2001 and established in 2002, Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) is 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. 

The year 2022 marks our 20th Anniversary, where we will celebrate with a series of activities under the theme ‘Design for Sustainable Community’. 

About Business of Design Week  (2022.bodw.com)

Asia’s premier annual event on design, innovation and brands since 2002, Business of Design Week (BODW) organised by Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) gathers some of the world’s foremost design masters, brand leaders and entrepreneurs from Hong Kong as well as overseas, driving discourse on the value of design and innovation to inspire global audiences and explore new business opportunities. 

About Create Hong Kong (www.createhk.gov.hk)

Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) is a dedicated office set up by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in June 2009 to spearhead the development of creative industries in Hong Kong. From 1 July 2022 onwards, it is under the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau. 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 Business of Design Week (BODW), BODW City Programme, DFA Awards, Knowledge of Design Week, Fashion Asia Hong Kong, Design Incubation Programme and Fashion Incubation Programme, among other projects, to promote Hong Kong design.