DFA Design for Asia Awards 2021 Winners Announcement
One of Asia’s most prestigious design awards honours three trailblazers in the world of design, and the design projects globally that have influenced and meaningful impact on Asia
HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 19
October 2021 - The DFA Awards is a flagship programme of the Hong Kong
Design Centre (HKDC). It is comprised of five major awards to acknowledge
leaders for their outstanding contributions to the design industry and
celebrate projects at the forefront of design excellence with Asian
perspectives. Three trailblazers in the world of design have been awarded in
2021: Patrick Whitney, Professor in Residence of Harvard T.H.Chan School of
Public Health - DFA Lifetime Achievement Award (DFA LAA), Min-Liang Tan,CEO & Co-founder of Razer Inc. - DFA Design Leadership Award (DFA
DLA), and Freeman Lau, Founder of KL&K Creative Strategics - DFA
World's Outstanding Chinese Designer (DFA WOCD). In addition, 180 awards
were conferred under the DFA Design for Asia Awards (DFA DFAA).
Organised by the
Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) with Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) of the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region Government as the lead sponsor, the DFA
Awards was launched in 2003 to underpin the role of designers within society,
celebrate design excellence with positive influence and impacts in Asia.
Upon reflection of
this year's awards, Professor Eric Yim, Chairman of HKDC states:
"Design is a vital part of Hong Kong, a city that
brings people, culture and ideas together. This is especially critical at a
time when the world has witnessed so much uncertainty brought on by the
pandemic. This year, I am delighted to honour three exceptional leaders:
Patrick Whitney, Min-Liang Tan, and Freeman Lau, all have shown through their
work, dedication and leadership how design can be used to inspire communities,
unite people from all walks of life through one singularity, and contribute to
the betterment of society in Asia and beyond."
DFA Lifetime Achievement Award 2021 (DFA LAA)
Patrick Whitney - Professor in Residence,
Harvard T.H.Chan School of Public Health
Patrick Whitney is the Professor in Residence
of D-lab in the Harvard T.H.Chan School of Public Health, a leading laboratory
that explores and demonstrates how design methods and frameworks can improve
human well-being. He is widely regarded as a thought leader for pioneering the
notions of human-centred design and strategic design. He is a highly esteemed
speaker at multiple international design events, on topics such as innovation,
sustainability and human well-being. Global Entrepreneur Magazine named him as
one of 25 people worldwide contributing the most in bringing new ideas to
businesses in China.
DFA Lifetime
Achievement Award 2021 honours Whitney's vast contribution to the design
industry through design strategy development, education programmes, and his
advisory work to governing design bodies, actively strengthening the relationship
between design theory and practice.
DFA Design Leadership Award 2021 (DFA DLA)
Min-Liang Tan - CEO & Co-founder, Razer
Inc.
As the pioneer of e-sports hardware, former
lawyer Min-Liang Tan is seen as a trailblazer for the younger generation, of
someone following their dream and at the same time adding valuable
contributions to society. As CEO, Co-founder and Creative Director of the
world's leading lifestyle brand for gamers – Razer Inc., Tan has demonstrated
how forward-thinking and innovative design can disrupt the gaming industry.
DFA Design Leadership Award 2021 honours his
leadership throughout the years in pushing the boundaries of the gaming
industry and driving industry innovation through design. Under Tan's strategic
and creative direction, Razer has gone from a two-man startup to a
multinational market leader and Unicorn in the technology world.
DFA World's Outstanding Chinese Designer 2021 (DFA
WOCD)
Freeman Lau - Founder, KL&L Creative
Strategics
Freeman Lau is a Hong Kong designer, renowned
for his art and design innovations. He is the brains behind some of Hong Kong's
most iconic designs such as the Watson Water bottle, which earned him multiple
awards. The design aesthetics and its functionality has lauded a critical
breakthrough in the history of bottled water. In addition, Lau has been
tirelessly promoting the development of design in Hong Kong, Greater China and
Asia.
Lau's creative prowess spans across the entire
design spectrum, from graphic design, packaging design, to fine arts. His
contributions are widely recognised in society His creative contributions have
a significant, cultural impact in Asia, which is best demonstrated by his
'Chairplay' series. The series
includes a range of furniture and sculptures, which has been shown worldwide at
different exhibitions. The notion of Chairplay is a metaphor for the
exploration of different human centric issues and is one of Lau's signature
works.
DFA World's Outstanding Chinese Designer 2021 honours his devotion and contribution to
promoting the design, creative industry and culture of Hong Kong and Asia.
DFA Design
for Asia Awards 2021 (DFA
DFAA)
Since its launch in 2003, the DFA Design for
Asia Awards has served to celebrate design excellence and acknowledge
outstanding designs with Asian perspectives. It has been a stage upon which
design talents and corporations can showcase their design projects
internationally. It consists of the Grand Award and Category Award. Category
Award entries are recruited by open submission to one of 24 categories under
four key design disciplines, namely Apparel & Accessory Design,
Communication Design, Environmental Design, and Product & Industrial Design;
Gold, Silver, Bronze and Merit awards are presented to the outstanding projects.
Gold award winners from the Category Award and other nominated design projects
will be considered for the Grand Award.
Dr Joseph
Wong, Executive Director of Hong Kong Design Centre mentions that:
"Amidst the pandemic,
creativity and innovation proves to be the remedy for improving our quality of
life. We are pleased to award projects that meaningfully address critical
issues such as humanitarian needs, environmental, cultural and sustainable
development, revitalisation through technological advancements, and marriage of
functionality and aesthetics."
The Awards' international judging panel comprises experienced design professionals and
experts. Entries were
judged and 180 winners through rounds of judging and deliberation were
conferred. These awards include 12 Grand Awards, six Grand Award with Special
Mention and 162 Gold, Silver, Bronze and Merit under the Category Award. This year, companies from Mainland China and Japan are at the top of leaderboard
with 52 awards, followed by Hong Kong awardees claiming 41 awards.
For more information and the DFA Awards 2021 full
list of awardees, please visit www.dfaawards.com.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About DFA Awards (www.dfaawards.com)
In 2003, the Hong Kong Design Centre launched
the DFA Awards to underpin the role of designers in society, to celebrate
design leadership and exemplary designs and projects with impact in Asia, as well
as to recognise the rising force of emerging Hong Kong designers since 2005.
The DFA Award, through its five major award
programmes, has grown in its international influence in Asia. The five award
programmes include DFA Lifetime Achievement Award, DFA Design Leadership Award,
DFA World's Outstanding Chinese Designer, DFA Design for Asia Awards and DFA
Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award.
#DFA
About Hong Kong Design Centre (www.hkdesigncentre.org)
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.
HKDC's flagship programmes include Business of Design Week (BODW; since
2002) – Asia's leading annual event on design, innovation and brands; DFA Awards (since 2003) – a
well-recognised annual awards that celebrate outstanding designs with Asian
perspectives; and Knowledge of Design
Week(KODW; since 2006) – an
annual thematic programme that gathers the global design community to explore
how design can solve complex challenges of our society.
We also manage a Design Incubation Programme and Fashion Incubation Programme (since 2012 and 2016) – 2-year
programmes to nurture future design and fashion entrepreneurs; and launched FASHION ASIA HONG KONG (since 2016) –
an initiative combining conversations, interactions and cultural exchanges to
position the city as an Asian hub for fashion trade and business development.
#HongKongDesignCentre #HKDC
About Create Hong Kong (www.createhk.gov.hk)
Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) is a dedicated
agency set up by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
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 focuses 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 the Hong Kong Design Centre to organise the DFA
Awards for years and other projects to promote Hong Kong design.
Disclaimer: 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, Create Hong Kong, the CreateSmart Initiative Secretariat or
the CreateSmart Initiative Vetting Committee.