Hong Kong’s Business of Design Week (BODW) is the industry event destination for professionals in graphic, architectural and technology design, including students, innovators and philanthropists.
Hong Kong, a metropolis that caters to these areas, provides an excellent background for this event, which brings together the world’s most influential design leaders in order to inspire the audience’s creative and technical approaches to design.
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BODW is a product of the Hong Kong Design Centre, which aims to establish Hong Kong as a center of design excellence in Asia. Since its inception in 2002, BODW has focused on challenging design trends, teaching businesses how to incorporate creative and technical design ideas into their overall business models and engaging with people from around the world to exhibit how art knows no languages, cultural boundaries or political agendas.
Everything from fashion to product design and architecture to automotive is discussed during the symposium’s week-long events. Thought-leaders and innovators from brands including Coca-Cola, Kickstarter, Moleskine and PwC among many others contribute their knowledge and foresight onhow design greatly impacts business.
Additionally, countries such as Switzerland, Barcelona, Malaysia, Canada and Italy were represented further enhancing the global prospective and conversation about design theory and influence.
The attendees of BODW represent many areas of business ranging from actual designers (graphic and architectural) to technology innovators and philanthropists. An average of twenty percent of the BODW audience is composed of students at various levels of their education.
This demographic shows that younger minds are paying very close attention to design, and business and are very interested in participating in the conversation as well. BODW presents opportunities for these students, who are eager to re-design the world according to their ideas of the future. More importantly, the symposium provides them with guidance and education on the right way to pursue their ideas.
Women are yet another demographic that’s significantly represented at BODW. The presence of women in the design world—beyond their acknowledged, longtime presence in the world of fashion—appears to be a well-kept secret. However, at BODW, not only were women on various panels, but they also represented the heads of companies, showcasing their leadership abilities as well as their influence on global design.
It’s not always easy for women to hold high positions in mega brands, especially at globally-attended events such as BODW, but they are welcomed and applauded in Hong Kong, especially at this event.
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BODW has grown from 2,195 attendees to over 120,000 attendees over the course of thirteen years. This statistic demonstrates that the symposium is not only very influential, but that design is a significant factor in numerous global economies. It also shows that design is not simply a trend. It’s a very serious industry concept that molds businesses into recognizable brands and then builds longevity for those brands.
In addition to the week-long panels and events, the DFA (Design for Asia) Awards, holds a gala during BODW, highlighting five global design categories: the DFA Lifetime Achievement Award, the DFA Design Leadership Award, the DFA World’s Outstanding Chinese Designer, the DFA Design for Asia Awards and the DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award. These awards celebrate companies or individuals who have used design to transcend cultures and restrictions with creativity, functionality and advanced design knowledge.
In a very fast-paced world, where our thoughts can swiftly change along with customer tastes, the aesthetic appeal of product design is critical in keeping consumers engaged in many products, from houses to cars and household goods to fashion.
BODW is keeping up with this conversation and the direction that design is headed in the future. It will be very interesting to see what concepts and design schemes originate from this year’s BODW attendees and how the world will react to them.
To learn more visit BODW online.