Hong Kong Design Centre Presents REFINED TOUCH: CROSSOVER BETWEEN DESIGN & CRAFT, Third DESIGN SPECTRUM Exhibition

Daily Essentials

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Designer/ Brand : Chiaki Murata @ hers design inc.

Region：Japan

Designed for hustle-free living   Simple yet sophisticated

Established by Chiaki Murata in 1989 in Osaka, Japan involving in the fields of graphic design and diversified product design, the brand collaborated with METHAPHYS, a design consortium brand, in 2005 to fusion design image and share vision with each other. The Behaviour Design practiced by Chiaki Murata originates from the nature of an “Object”. Reiterating the needs of the end users, the project features various collaborations with traditional craftsmen, such as the art of making tin and cast iron ware.

gekka︰a drinkware set made of tin which is said to absorb impurities in water and make liquors mellower while acting as a powerful thermal conductor.

suiu︰also made of tin and featuring a playful design. When taking away its lid, the container is a drinkware of itself, and the lid could be used as a small serving dish. When stacked, it looks like the Japanese celebratory kagami mochi.

quolo︰a collaboration with Matsuda Yasu Ironworks Inc., this cast iron incense burner is particularly good as an ash guard.

saen︰another collaboration with Matsuda Yasu Ironworks Inc., this chakoro features a heat-insulating base part and is safe to move around when in use.

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Designer/ Brand : I’DER Visual Image Design

Region：Taiwan

Observe the ever-changing “Taiwan” design plan

This ambitious design project brings together the tea leaves produced by Mountain Ali Tea No. 35, the paintings by Apex Lin and the brand design by Izen Tu. The exhibition “Descry Taiwan-Alishan” is curated at the renowned Taiwan tourist spot, Alishan. Taking place in a hidden mountain forest, the exhibition merges Taiwan tea industry into the art through a form of cross-field combination, which brings tourists the scenic view and the beauty of both craftsmanship.

The images of Taiwan islands are taken as the subject of the artwork. Apex Lin transformed various plants into the outline of Taiwan. The most outstanding feature of the show is the use of three colours as the creative elements, namely green, yellow and red. The green colour symbolises the forest of Alishan, while the yellow colour and the red colour represent the sunrise and the sunset respectively. These elements are practically applied to the Alishan gift packaging and introduce a viewing perspective by the crossover of Taiwanese art and Alishan. It also unites artists, designers and business operators, and enhances their cooperation. Part of the exhibits is shown this time.

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Designer/ Brand: Samuel Chan @Joined and Jointed

Region: The United Kingdom

Streamlining the details,  a complete return to the utmost of refined wood application

Hong Kong-born Samuel moved to the United Kingdom at the age of 13. His hand-made furniture is well-known and highly acclaimed in the industry. His client list includes the world-renowned singer Eric Clapton and the late founder of the British fashion brand, Joseph, among others. Famous for its clean line feature, his work demonstrates innovation, uniqueness and attention to the details, free of unnecessary parts. With the wise use of solid wood veneer, a fresh visual look is created. The designer adapts traditional woodworking techniques in the world of contemporary furniture design with a touch of unpretentious Oriental style. Refusing to go with the flow, he created a timeless style. ‘I hope my design would not only last for one generation but also pass through generations,’ said the designer.

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Designer/ Brand: Julie & Jesse

Region: Hong Kong

When the Western humour meets spotless white porcelain

Jesse Mc Lin was born in California, USA, and Julie Progin is a Hong Kong-born Swiss. They are both husband and wife and work partners. The couple focuses on porcelain dinnerware and housewares, at the same time getting involved in graphic design and woodwork.

Their creative career kicked off in Hong Kong. They bring the traditional craftsmanship to the contemporary world and create simple yet interesting designs by integrating modern elements. Famed for emphasising the collaboration with traditional artisans, the duo also create some cutting-edge designs by leveraging advanced technologies and materials. Their latest series Without Leaving Your Room is exhibited this time. 

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Designer/ Brand: Niko Leung

Region: Hong Kong

Explore the world  Venture into the possibilities of ceramics and glass art

The Hong Kong-born designer graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven in Holland. Working as an artist and a secondary school teacher, the designer has practiced internship in Jingdezhen, the Mainland.  Following her graduation, she worked for a period of time at Holland’s most established ceramics manufacturing factory Royal Ticheiaar Makkum. She also gained a lot when visiting the 150-year-old Kouraku Kiln in Japan as a resident artist. Her design focuses on craftsmanship and narratives. After graduation, she began to appreciate practicality, from her daily housework and cooking, while currently she tries to combine aesthetics, craftwork and culture with the scenic views she appreciates and develops design education programme.

Last year, she visited Taiwan to explore new materials. After that, she designed a series of glass arts through a collaboration with Spring Pool Glass. Furthermore, during her internship in Jingdezhen, she was astonished by the massive waste produced from the large-scale productions. A considerable amount of defectives were thrown away every day which made her realise the enormous consumption of resources during ceramics creation. It stopped her, the ceramics lover, from going into a ceramics studio for an entire year. However, this experience has also added the concept of environmental protection and nature connection to her creation afterwards.

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Designer/ Brand: ：Shin So Hyun & Jeon Min Seonge @ OIMU

Region : South Korea

New packaging rekindle the diminishing matchbox industry and light up your life

OIMU was founded by a couple, Shin So Hyun and Jean Min Seonge. The brand name, OIMU, means One Day I Met You. During the decline of the matchbox usage in Korea, the two vintage lovers are committed to the matchbox industry with a sense of mission, and they turned the dull match heads into a vivid kaleidoscope of colours while playing around with the shape design for the matchbox.  A sense of luxury comes with a quote written on a parchment paper found in the little match box. The graphic design is exquisite, eye-catching yet subtle. With an addition of promotional images filled with cultural ambiance to the matchboxes, people’s love for vintage matchbox collection is instantly rekindled.

To extend the matchbox design, the couple started the Air Project which is another collaboration with an incense workshop to design incense stick collection, bringing natural aroma to daily life. Fully handmade by artisans, the collection features elegant simplicity. With reference to the traditional design of incense burners from the Three Kingdom period of Korea, the newly designed incense burner that features four short feet and rounded fine lines is a perfect match for the modern interior design.

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Designer/ Brand: Upsetters Inc.

Region: Japan

Reviving Tobe ware of Ehime by the new generation

This project is led by Shuzo Okabe, the creative director and architect of Upsetters Inc. Born and raised in Ehime, Okabe was invited to initiate the project “Shiro Ao”. The Tobe ware from Ehime prefecture has a history of 230 years, making use of the local raw materials. The beauty of Tobe ware comes from its white porcelain with slight thickness and the hand painting with indigo colour. Okabe not only studies the history and development of Tobe ware, but also studies the importance of the development project and its connection to the generations, in order to carry out continuous experiments on the adaptation of various sizes and shapes on different dinnerwares. “Shiro Ao” continues to gain support from new designers and keep injecting new craftwork and design elements into the traditional foundation, extending the centuries-old craftsmanship and heritage.

Fashion Design

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Designer/ Brand: Arto Wong

Region: Hong Kong

New interpretation of knit design

Knitting is the iconic technique in the glorious era of Hong Kong’s textile industry. With the rise of fast fashion, the amount of knitted fashion dropped significantly while the amount of produced garments increases rapidly, leading to a huge waste problem. Majored in knitting design, Arto Wong looks to reverse the trend and designed a series of knitting fashion demonstrating a balance of design and texture, bringing an eye-opening experience to the public.

Trained in a knitting machine manufacturer in Japan, Arto masters the practical knowledge of automated knitting with a better understanding of the knitting techniques and concept. She created a series of knitted fabrics with a theme Chinese poetry under  the”Word You See” series. The porcelain-like pattern is a combination of words and colours with great sense of time, thinking out of the box.

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Designer/ Brand: Polly & Andy @ Creatique Studio Limited

Region：Hong Kong

Reborn of Canton gauze and knots

Gambiered Canton gauze is a traditional Guangdong handicraft and a unique fabric found in the southern China. Polly & Andy puts this fabric to the centre stage and created a themed collection that blends both trends and tradition with other materials and knitting methods. The collection presents traditional Chinese stories, such as Concrete Jungle featuring Chinese tiger, and Mang Zhong featuring an auspicious cat, giving the Canton gauze a new life and a contemporary twist.

Chinese knotting deserves an irreplaceable position in the fashion industry in China. Either known as cheongsam or qipao, they cannot be regarded as completed pieces without the Chinese knots. Inspired by the art of Chinese knots, Polly & Andy created the patterns featuring the delicate knotting and made a collection named KNOT, breaking the conventional concept for knots and putting spotlight on the intricate craftsmanship.

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Designer/ Brand:：JUNE LAU @  Novel Fineries  ltd

Passion turns Suzhou embroidery and Indian beading into a masterpiece

June Kimberly Lau, the founder and designer of Novel Fineries, presents Pocket Art and Gorget collection in the exhibition. She paid a visit to Suzhou in search of the local embroidery artisans for the butterfly patterned pocket square of Pocket Art collection. The beaded shawl from Gorget collection is a tribute paid to the heritage of Indian hand beading. Lau values authentic expressions and the traditional craftsmanship, while falling for the affection on the craft and its heritage. She incorporates the traditions into new media and daily lives, making unique and ready-to-wear accessories. Apart from Suzhou and India, Lau explored Kyoto and Kenya for local handicrafts, in a hope of more startling collaboration with artisans.

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Designer/ Brand:：Priscilla Shunmugam @  Ong Shunmugam

Region：Singapore

Oriental beauty presented in dyed textiles by a Singapore designer

The Indian Chinese designer, Priscilla Shunmugam was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Currently living in Singapore, Shunmugam established her own brand, Ong Shunmugam with an ambition to level up the status of Asian traditional costumes and in a hope of pushing haute couture fashion to a world beyond Europe and the US.

Shunmugam always incorporates South East Asian textiles into her Oriental design style, such as Java batik, Bali batik, Cambodian tie-dye and Chinese tapestry, as an action to show the importance of the declining and nearly lost craftsmanship on fabric dye in the fashion world. By validating the craftsmanship of various countries, she hopes it will bring the arts to the international stage and enhance Asians’ sense of belonging.

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Designer/ Brand: RE;CODE

Region: South Korea

A balance between fashion industry and the nature

As the fast fashion industry emerges, customers seek trends instead of fashion quality. That’s why more and more clothes and fabrics end up in landfills. In order to cut the amount of off-season clothes and excessive fabrics, RE;CODE, an up-cycling brand under KOLON Industries FnC from Seoul, Korea makes good use of those unwanted materials to produce a collection of stunning recycle fashion design that makes people rethink the meaning of fashion.

RE;CODE values quality. Each piece is meticulously sourced and processed. Despite its limited quantity, each piece is unique. Those pieces chosen for the exhibition are something different from the typical Korean fashion. They are subtle in colour and design, showing details and complexity through a patchwork of fabrics and materials. Unique, sustainable and stylish.

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Designer/ Brand: Chan Chun Leung @  SILZENCE style Ltd.

Region：Taiwan

A revolution of Tang costume

When it comes to men collection, you might think of tees, jeans, football jerseys and suits. Yet, don’t forget Tang costume which has a long history despite the fact that it is gradually forgotten by the times. Wearing Tang costume might make you stand out of a crowd in the Western culture trends, which might discourage young men from doing it. Chan Chun Leung, famed as oriental design master, introduces Chinese culture as a backbone of his design, bringing ancient oriental charm to the world. Believing Tang costume is more suitable to the Asians, Chen creates the collection “SILZENCE men” to extend the history of Tang costume.

Selected pieces of SILZENCE men showed at the exhibition are specially designed for the Asian builds. Following the traditional tailoring techniques for making Tang costume, the design features low shoulder line, mandarin collar and buttonless edge, creating clean lines and a sleek silhouette for the masculine charm of mature men.