DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award Confers Honours to the Rising Stars of Hong Kong’s Design Scene

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 8 November 2021 - The Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) is delighted to announce the 16 awardees of the DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award (DFA HKYDTA) 2021. The up-and-coming awarded designers, selected by the professional judging panel, are going to start their overseas journeys with a substantial amount of sponsorships, gaining immersive experiences and global perspectives to take their future accomplishments to the next level.

All awardees demonstrated exceptional talent and design techniques across different disciplines. The awarded Apparel and Accessory designers are the emerging new players in Hong Kong's fashion industry that we cannot afford to ignore. They have their unique and avant-garde personal design styles. Communication designers communicate with people through visual identity, illustration and story design, user experience and more, and create platforms to connect different creative forces to the community. Environmental designers have a vision of sustainable development, promoting community engagement, cultural preservation and community construction through hands-on research and innovative design. Product and industrial designers have a deep insight into the user experience and create human-centred design with environmental and innovative concepts. 14 of the winners will receive up to HK$5 million in grants to either undertake overseas work experience of 6-12 months with leading practitioners around the world or further their academic studies in related fields for 6-18 months. The experience of working or studying overseas will broaden the international perspective of young designers, enrich their artistic and cultural background, diversify and inspire their designs, thereby enabling them to create more influential designs.

Commenting on this year's DFA HKYDTA awardees, Professor Eric Yim, Chairman of HKDC states:

"The past year has shown the importance of adaptability and innovation, which has allowed an opportunity for many designers to be imaginative and come up with thoughtful solutions for the new normal. Therefore, it is our hope that by identifying these young talent early in their design journeys and exposing them to the global design industry, we can equip them with the boost needed to broaden their horizons and achieve their greatest potential as they develop their personal creative visions. We look forward to seeing their contributions to the creative industries in Hong Kong upon their return."

DFA HKYDTA is one of five DFA Awards programmes organised by the HKDC, with Create Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (CreateHK) as the lead sponsor, and Hong Kong Design Institute and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, School of Design as sponsors. Established in 2005, the DFA HKYDTA's mission is to nurture and support Hong Kong's emerging design talent and fuel the growth of the local creative industry. Since its inception, this programme has provided sponsorship for over 110 Hong Kong young talent, all of which are design practitioners or graduates between the ages of 18 to 35 years old. The DFA Awards Presentation Ceremony celebrating the awardees will be held on 1 December 2021.

Please download the Press Kit, with full list of awardees and high resolutions images here: DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award 2021: https://bit.ly/3BE4vWQ

About DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award (ydta.dfaawards.com)

Established in 2005, the DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award, one of the programmes of the DFA Awards which are organised by Hong Kong Design Centre and sponsored by Create Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR Government"), aims to support and nurture Hong Kong's up-and-coming designers and design graduates aged 18 to 35. Awardees may receive sponsorship to work in overseas renowned design companies or study in overseas institutes to unleash their potential and contribute to Hong Kong's design and creative industries' development upon their return.

About DFA Awards (www.dfaawards.com)

In 2003, the Hong Kong Design Centre launched the DFA Awards to underpin the role of designers in society, to celebrate design leadership and exemplary designs and projects with commercial success or impact in Asia, as well as to recognize the rising force of emerging Hong Kong designers since 2005.

The DFA Awards, through its five major award programmes, has grown in its international influence in Asia. The five award programmes include DFA Lifetime Achievement Award, DFA Design Leadership Award, DFA World's Outstanding Chinese Designer, DFA Design for Asia Awards and DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award.

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

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 center 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 center in Asia.

HKDC's flagship programmes include Business of Design Week (BODW; since 2002) – Asia's leading annual event on design, innovation and brands; DFA Awards (since 2003) – a well-recognised annual awards that celebrate outstanding designs with Asian perspectives; and Knowledge of Design Week (KODW; since 2006) – an annual thematic programme that gathers the global design community to explore how design can solve complex challenges of our society.

We also manage a Design Incubation Programme and a Fashion Incubation Programme (since 2012 and 2016) – 2-year programmes to nurture future design and fashion entrepreneurs; and launched FASHION ASIA HONG KONG (since 2016) – an initiative combining conversations, interactions and cultural exchanges to position the city as an Asian hub for fashion trade and business development.

These programmes are all sponsored by Create Hong Kong of the HKSAR Government.

#HongKongDesignCentre #HKDC

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

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 focuses 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 has been the lead sponsor of the DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award since 2012 and sponsors the flagship programmes organised by Hong Kong Design Centre and other projects to promote Hong Kong design.

Disclaimer:

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region provides funding support to the project only, and does not otherwise take part in the project. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials/events (or by members of the project team) are those of the project organizers only and do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Communications and Creative Industries Branch of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, Create Hong Kong, the CreateSmart Initiative Secretariat or the CreateSmart Initiative Vetting Committee.