Connecting emerging designers with businesses and buyers, Kiesly Tsang’s O2O platform puts Hong Kong creators on the map. Tamsin Bradshaw checks out what’s on offer.
September 9th, 2015
The Raindom umbrella – its floral motif changes colour when it rains. Through SD Works on Design 1+1’s site.
“What exactly is Hong Kong design?” asked Joshua Davies at the launch of O2O platform Design 1+1. Davies is the founder of communications consultancy 1221 Consulting, and he introduced this new platform, which was founded by Kiesly Tang of Kiesly Tang Concepts Ltd, in the hopes of growing awareness of Hong Kong’s emerging designers.
Kiesly Tsang, founder of Design 1+1, at the launch event at Aluminium.
Tsang intends to answer the question of what design is in Hong Kong via Design 1+1, which uses the online to offline model to enable consumers in Hong Kong and elsewhere to buy original design pieces from creators based here. It will also work with carefully selected partners – hotels, developers and interior and architecture firms – on specific projects.
Rcube Design Studio’s fun torch light, on show at the Design 1+1 launch.
In fact, it was on a project for a developer that the idea for Design 1+1 began to germinate. “We worked on a project together, she was keen to put Hong Kong design in a showflat. People think that overseas design is better. But in Asia, there are a lot of upcoming designers, and we definitely need to nurture them,” says David Chiu, owner of furniture and home store Aluminium. Chiu is one of Tsang’s offline partners in Design 1+1, proudly providing retail support and showcasing Hong Kong designs in Aluminium’s stores around Hong Kong. “At least if you take this first step, putting your products next to iconic designs from overseas, you raise the bar,” he says.
David Chiu, owner of Aluminium and offline partner of Design 1+1.
Design 1+1’s name comes from this idea of coming together, says Tsang. It is about bringing designers together with consumers from Hong Kong and afar, and it is about introducing businesses looking for furniture, homewares and other design products, to the passionate people who make them.
A number of the brands on Design 1+1’s platform were at the launch event to talk about their products, and indeed, each of them spoke with passion about what they do. SD Works, a platform for students from the School of Design at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, presented the works of several students; Rcube Design Studio Limited founder Raft Wong presented his clever and striking torch toy and swiveling mirror; Civilian Goods team Kenneth Ng and Candy Kok showcased their cool, minimalist bags; and Danny Fang of Fang Studio spoke on working intensively to educate factories in China about the importance of creating original design.
FabriConcrete products, available through Design 1+1.
Tsang and Dr. Ernesto Spicciolato, a professor at PolyU’s School of Design and one of the directors of SD Works.
For Tsang, originality is what makes each of the designers on her platform special. “My friends always ask me where they can find real design in Hong Kong. [Design 1+1] is my guideline for what makes a product ‘design’,” she says. “Design is what is behind the objects – design means half communication, half design.
“Design 1+1 will be the best online platform for sourcing Hong Kong design products,” she continues. “There are a lot of Hong Kong people with strong potential, they’re just hiding in a corner somewhere. I want to bring them together.”
Design 1+1
designoneplusone.com
Kiesly Tsang Concepts Ltd
kieslytsangconceptsltd.biz
Aluminium
aluminium-furniture.com
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
‘The Elevation of Gravity’ installation was an immersive showcase of innovation that heralded the debut of Gaggenau’s groundbreaking Essential Induction cooktop.
In the pursuit of an uplifting synergy between the inner world and the surrounding environment, internationally acclaimed Interior Architect and Designer Lorena Gaxiola transform the vibration of the auspicious number ‘8’ into mesmerising artistry alongside the Feltex design team, brought to you by GH Commercial.
Suitable for applications ranging from schools and retail outlets to computer rooms and X-ray suites, Palettone comes in two varieties and a choice of more than fifty colours.
The Design Institute of Australia launches its new DIAlogues seminar series in Brisbane, featuring pearls of wisdom from industry professionals.
Over 80 of Indesign’s guests from Australian and International A&D communities gathered in Cologne recently to mark the annual Orgatec Fair
This year’s Launch Pad saw the most entries ever, with outstanding quality a theme among the selected finalists.
The Australian Design Alliance (AdA) is delighted to announce Engineers Australia as a new member. We look forward to working closely with Engineers Australia on issues of mutual interest. The thirteen peak bodies that make up the AdA represent a substantial constituency. The combined national membership of the member organisations is in excess of 120,000. […]
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Available now across Australia, Eden TPO is setting new standards in terms of not just sustainability, but also style.
Artificial intelligence is one of the defining issues of our time. Here are five ideas articles addressing the anxieties and possibilities of the technology in design.