Opens Doors to Creative Designers From Asia

The high standards of design in Asian countries have attracted increasing international attention in recent years, with a vast number of creative designs on the world stage being the brain child of Asia designers. Asian designers are becoming trend setters and influencing the lifestyle and spending patterns of Asian consumers.  To celebrate designs that have made a significant impact in Asia among businesses and members of the public , Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) is now calling for design entries from local, Asian and international designers to enter this year’s Design for Asia (DFA) Award.

Since its launch in 2003, DFA Award has been earning wide recognition in the design industry at local and international levels.  DFA Award provides an international platform for the players in the design industry to learn and get inspired from one another for excellent designs.  Last year, DFA Award attracted around 500 entries from 14 countries worldwide  including Japan, Mainland China, South Korea and Thailand, and many of the designs submitted were from international award winners.

Half of the world’s population lives in Asia and the unique characteristics of this vibrant and rapidly growing market are becoming an important consideration for designers and companies across the world if they want to capitalize on the vast business opportunity.  “As Asia continues its breakneck pace of economic development, we are now at a crucial juncture where design and innovation have been embraced along with emphasis on sustainability,” said Victor Lo, HKDC’s Chairman.

DFA Award tries to convey a message to companies and designers around the world that business success can be achieved through good designs that will profoundly affect the ways people in Asia lead their lives.

Amy Chow, Design Director and Education Consultant of HKDC said: “Since the beginning of this year, we have vigorously promoted DFA Award across Asia by staging a series of road shows in Japan, Taiwan and Mainland China to raise awareness in the local design profession and boost participation. I believe both the number of entries and the design level for this year’s competition will set a new record.”

“It is exceptionally encouraging to see improvement every day in design quality for the entries, and I was especially impressed with last year’s entries,” said John Heskett, Chair Professor of School of Design at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, who was a judge in last year’s panel.

The submission deadline for entries for this year’s DFA Award is 31 July 2010, with judging to be held in September.  DFA Award boasts 18 design categories including apparel/accessories design, communication design and product/industrial design and awards include the following accolades:

• DFA Gold Award, DFA Silver Award, DFA Bronze Award and DFA Merit Recognition;
• 10 DFA Grand Award; and
• 3 DFA Special Award for Culture, Sustainability and Technology respectively

For more details regarding DFA Award, please refer to the official DFA Award website at http://www.dfaaward.com/2010/pages/index/. Friends of the media are welcome to interview and feature previous DFA Award winners from Hong Kong, Mainland China and Asian designers.

Contact
Micky Lee, Hong Kong Design Centre
T: 3793 8442
E: micky.lee@hkdesigncentre.org   

Angel Poon, Hong Kong Design Centre
T: 3793 8473
E: angel.poon@hkdesigncentre.org

Hong Kong Design Centre
The Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping local designers and businesses realise their full potential. We take a leadership role engaging in a proactive dialogue that preaches to government, industry, business partners, educational institutions and private organisations about design as a strategic, value-enhancing constituent of business. Towards the wider public we tirelessly seek to inculcate a greater appreciation of the ways design contributes to a better quality of life.