To Explore Timely Themes from Connected Health to Safe Travels, Circular Economy, Immersive Tech and Brand Futures

First Hybrid Live Design Summit Edition with Free Experience Passes
Attend close to 50 Sessions to learn from some of the World’s Top Creative Minds

 

Business of Design Week (BODW) 2020, Asia’s leading event on design, innovation and brands, will bring together design visionaries, creatives, entrepreneurs and business leaders from across sectors and industries around the world with a series of events from 30 November – 5 December 2020 to inspire a new vision of success for the ‘new normal’. One of the highlighted events, the BODW Summit (3 – 5 December 2020), themed “VISION 20/21” this year, will be a hybrid LIVE event, with selective sessions simulcast on ViuTVsix, social media and at ‘BODW CitySalon’ partner locations including D2 Place and Fashion Walk’s for the first time to deliver a ‘Beyond virtual, LIVE global’ experience for international audiences.

At the BODW Summit, over 100 local and international design and business leaders will share their collective creative vision to help participants find clarity in uncertainty. This year’s event explores timely themes namely Brand Futures, Connected Health, Safe Travels, Circular Economy, Immersive Tech, Creative Leadership, Entwined Spaces, Communication & Design and Culture & the City. 

For this special edition only, the BODW Summit (3 – 5 December 2020) is offering FREE Experience Passes for global participants to watch the live sessions online. Please register at 2020.bodw.com before 29 November 2020 to get your free ticket.

 

Some highly relevant discussions at the BODW 2020 include:

Designing Tomorrow’s Travel Experience: Paul Priestman (UK) Designer, Co-founder & Chairman of PriestmanGoode and Arnaud Champenois (UK), Senior Vice President of Brand & Marketing of Belmond, will share how they envision a future for safe travels by delivering innovation from hotel design to transportation.

Future Materials: Inspired by Nature, Cities and the Planet: Lay Koon Tan (UK) Co-founder of Nature Squared and Elaine Yan Ling Ng (Hong Kong), Founder of THE FABRICK LAB, will explore how to make the circular economy a reality by turning waste natural materials into stunning, luxurious surfaces.

Between Nature and Architecture: Sou Fujimoto (Japan) Architect & CEO of Sou Fujimoto Architects, will present his vision of the relationship between the built environment and organic structures. 

Immerse the Body, Create with Others, and Become One: The convergence of design, art and technology has enhanced how we connect and experience the world. Pioneers of making immersive technology fun for all ages, teamLab (Japan) will challenge the boundaries of live experiences.

A New Now : Morag Myerscough (UK), Artist and Designer, will explore endless creative possibilities in the realm of communication for positivity through design, as demonstrated in her 2020 ‘New Now’ installation, which encourages people to focus on the positives of this year.

*Please refer to the BODW Programme Schedule for more details on the BODW Summit sessions and speakers.

 

These world renowned creative and business leaders will be speaking at the Summit: 

		Tim Brown (US), Chair of IDEO and influential voice on the value of design thinking, creative leadership, and innovation. He participates in the World Economic Forum in Davos, and advises senior executives and boards of global Fortune 100 companies. In 2009, he wrote the book ‘Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation’ to reinforce his belief.
© Adam J. Schokora		Neville Brody RDI (UK), CEO & Creative Director of Brody Associates and pioneering typographer and magazine designer. A former dean of London’s Royal College of Art School of Communication, he is now Professor of Visual Communication and a design education advocate. In 2018, he designed Coca-Cola’s first own-brand typeface in 130 years.
		Thomas Heatherwick (UK), Founder of Heatherwick Studio, an architecture and design firm with projects that span commercial and residential buildings, master planning and infrastructure schemes as well as high profile works of public art. In 2019, he designed Vessel, the centrepiece of the new Hudson Yards development in New York. © Getty Images
		Corneel Koster (UK), Chief Customer and Operating Officer of Virgin Atlantic has international leadership experience in the global airline industry and specialises in designing and delivering customer experience excellence. He also introduced the first on site pre-flight Covid-19 testing trial for air crew in the UK.
		Michael Young (Hong Kong), Director of Michael Young Studio, heads one of the most exciting design companies in Asia, acclaimed for its use of iconic industrial design to enhance user experience of products. Back in 2017, he designed Roxanne, an armchair inspired by radical 1970s designers’ disco décor for the Italian brand Gufram.
		André Fu (Hong Kong), Founder of ANDRÉ FU STUDIO has wide acclaim for his signature modern style and understated elegance. In 2020, he published ‘Crossing Cultures with Design’ featuring 18 recent notable projects spanning hospitality, residential and lifestyle design and architecture. His well-known work in his hometown includes The Upper House and St Regis Hong Kong.
©NOSIGNER		Eisuke Tachikawa (Japan), CEO of NOSIGNER is a design strategist dedicated to creating designs from a social perspective. He is an Associate Professor at Keio University and winner of over 100 international awards. Responding to Covid-19, he set up PANDAID, to share knowledge, with different materials including posters illustrating social distancing.  © NOSIGNER
© Dennis Lehmann		Kigge Mai Hvid (Denmark), Partner of JA studio is a leading global voice within sustainable design. She founded the INDEX: Award in 2005, the world’s largest design award, and assists organisations on innovation, strategy and sustainability. Her unique botanical prints are composed of many artistic experiments with flowers and plants. © Kigge Hvid
		Tim Lee (Hong Kong), Founder & CEO of QFPay Haojin Fintech, a leading mobile payment company that pioneers integrating cashless transactions for millions of merchants around the world.
© David Ellis		Es Devlin (UK), Artist and Stage Designer, is one of the world’s most influential set designers. She is the artistic director of the 2021 London Design Biennale and is designing The UK Pavilion at EXPO 2021 Dubai.
		Larry Keeley (US), innovation scientist and author of ‘Ten Types of Innovation’, helped pioneer the specialist field of innovation effectiveness. He was described by Bloomberg BusinessWeek as one of the seven Innovation Gurus who are changing the field.
		Patrik Schumacher (UK), Principal of Zaha Hadid Architects coined the term “parametricism”, and has published manifestos promoting it as the epochal style of the 21st century. He designed the new Beijing Daxing International Airport, which opened in 2019.

 

Please download high-resolution images of key speakers and their projects here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wADDmgSd5U-4zZTjWpWSBND_xKP_4Evg?usp=sharing

Business of Design Week is 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.

 

Business of Design Week 2020 – Event Details:

Date: 30 November – 5 December 2020 (Monday – Saturday)
Format: Hybrid live
Live Broadcast Platforms: Virtual livestream, with selective sessions broadcasted on social media, ViuTV channels, and screened at partner locations across the city
Languages: English, Cantonese and Putonghua (with simultaneous interpretation)
Tickets: 2020.bodw.com/pr (FREE Experience Pass available. Early bird offer ends on 13 November 2020)

 

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. 

 

Media Contact

For further enquiries or interview requests, please contact:

Tiffany Ho | tiffany.ho@fleishman.com | (852) 2586 7867 / 6089 9273
Charlie So | charlie.so@fleishman.com | (852) 2586 7850 / 9326 8267

 

Disclaimer: Create Hong Kong of 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, CreateHong Kong, the CreateSmartInitiative Secretariat or the CreateSmartInitiative Vetting Committee.