What’s New

Dec 10 2018

Business of Design Week 2018 Wraps Up A Stellar Week of Design and Innovation Events

Over 120,000 international participants attended the week-long event; BODW announces the United Kingdom as partner country in 2019

[HONG KONG – 10 December 2018]

Asia’s leading international event on design, innovation and brands, Business of Design Week (BODW), concluded its 2018 Summit on 8 December (Saturday) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. An annual flagship event co-organised by the Hong Kong Design Centre and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and sponsored by Create Hong Kong, BODW brought to Hong Kong some of the world’s most influential and inspirational design masters, brand leaders and business figures across a large range of different industries and sectors, who inspired an international audience of over 120,000 on driving good design and business connections across all levels of society through topical presentations, forum discussions and networking events during the week.

BODW is highly regarded as a valuable platform for professionals across sectors to network, exchange ideas about innovation and design and explore business opportunities. In collaboration with this year’s partner city Melbourne, BODW 2018 consisted of a main summit (3-8 December), a BODW City Programme to activate creative communities in different districts across Hong Kong, and over 20 concurrent events to foster innovation and business connections that promote the development of Hong Kong’s creative industries.

This year’s summit took on the theme ‘Think ∙ Collaborate ∙ Create’.  Of over 80 international speakers at the event, more than 20 came from this year’s partner city Melbourne, which has won the accolade of the world’s most liveable city by the Economist Intelligence Unit for seven consecutive years (2011-2017). The speakers shared the latest innovative ideas and industry insights in the fields of urban planning, architecture, culture, technology and digital design.

Professor Eric Yim, JP, Chairman of Hong Kong Design Centre, the organiser of this year’s BODW said, “This is the first time that BODW has teamed up with Melbourne, a unique city in the southern hemisphere. Through this meaningful partnership, BODW can reach a wider audience and create even more new business opportunities. It has been a privilege to see the meeting of minds of these two creative hubs, and I am sure this cross-territorial exchange will continue to go from strength to strength well after the event.”

Mrs Carrie Lam, GBM, GBS, JP the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR officially opened this year’s event on Thursday, 6 December. BODW aligns with the Hong Kong SAR’s direction of cultivating design thinking and people-centred innovation and promoting wider and more strategic use of design in the city for problem solving, wealth creation and societal wellbeing.

Spreading the Creative Vibe Around in the City

Having made its debut in Wan Chai and other districts in Hong Kong in November, the BODW City Programme is an extension of the main BODW summit. It helps to forge collaborations between local designers, businesses and brands to celebrate good design and innovation and strengthen Hong Kong as a creative hub in Asia through exciting art installations, exhibitions, creative tours, and education and community programmes. Featuring nearly 200 exciting happenings on a city-wide scale, BODW City Programme will prolong the momentum generated by the main summit until January 2019. Beyond the main BODW summit, a number of concurrent partner events also took place: the DFA Awards Presentation Ceremony, FASHION ASIA HONGKONG, DesignInspire, BIP Asia Forum, deTour, WORKTECH Hong Kong, GDN Symposium, M+ Matters Keynote, and the Leadership Forum on Design Education.

Unveiling a new partnership for 2019

As this year’s summit drew to a close, BODW announced the United Kingdom as the official partner country for BODW 2019. The United Kingdom is renowned for its flourishing architecture and design communities and as a country with a creative, vibrant and exhilarating atmosphere, where arts, culture, architecture and design all thrive together. It is home to some of the best art and design schools, and brings cutting-edge design to its world-famous architecture. With a partner of such rich design heritage, BODW 2019 is set to be another breath-taking event for those who look for endless inspiration and meaningful cultural exchange.

NOTES TO THE EDITOR

More information about this year’s programme can be found at bodw.com.

About Hong Kong Design Centre

Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) was founded in 2001 as a strategic partner of the HKSAR Government in establishing Hong Kong as centre of design excellence in Asia. HKDC continues its public mission to promote wider and strategic use of design and design thinking to create business value and improve societal well-being. Our initiatives are anchored by five major work directions: CONNECT, CELEBRATE, NURTURE, ADVANCE and ENGAGE.

HKDC’s flagship programmes include Business of Design Week (since 2002) – Asia’s leading annual conference and event on Design, Innovation and Brands; DFA Awards (since 2003) – a widely recognised design awards that celebrates outstanding designs with Asian perspectives; Design Incubation Programme (since 2012) and Fashion Incubation Programme (since 2016) – 2-year incubation programmes to nurture future design and fashion entrepreneurs; FASHION ASIA HONGKONG (since 2016) – a fashion initiative combining conversations, interactions and cultural exchanges to energise the city’s image, and position it as an Asian hub for fashion trade and business development; Knowledge of Design Week (since 2006) – an annual thematic design knowledge sharing platform that explores how design can solve complex challenges of our society.

Media Contact

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