In a creative economy, design plays a strategic role in value creation in businesses and in the society. The power of design touches upon our everyday lives and transcends beyond products’ aesthetics and value. In a new form of global economy, opportunities prevail for designers to work across disciplines and with others to contribute towards new mentalities and concepts for business value creation and social progress – from urban planning and architecture, product and service design to effective solutions in solving social intractable problems. Skills and challenges for leaders, managers and professionals in the 21st century are multi-faceted.
Hong Kong is blessed with having mainland China as our hinterland and with the support of government initiatives and mainland-Hong Kong partnerships fostering development of the creative industries. The community’s resilience, dynamics, creativity and international outlook remain core attributes for advancement of the economy and the society.
Laden with a strong local spirit of entrepreneurship, Hong Kong Design Centre has, since 2008, collaborated with the Center for Entrepreneurship of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in offering an “Entrepreneurship for Design and Creative Business programme for design and creative talents. The programme aims to enhance the resourcefulness and ability of design practitioners and executives in managing and developing creative businesses. Successful design entrepreneurs are also invited to share their insights through dialogues and study visits. Inspired by the Entrepreneurship Programme, the Center for Entrepreneurship has further created 10 business cases based
on extended research of entrepreneurs and enterprises which have deployed design, creativity and innovation for sustained business competitive advantages. This anthology of business cases, therefore, serves a good reference for those interested in the make-up of design-preneurs or create-preneurs, and represents a milestone development in the domain of education and research of Hong Kong’s creative and design-related industries.
Design For Society is a major undertaking of HKDC as we aim to increase the resourcefulness of people and businesses. The research approach complements HKDC’s educational initiatives and interventions which serve to share the insights and processes of design among the professions and with those who would otherwise be excluded from it. These research projects alongside a vibrant and forthcoming programme of publishing, sharing and debate will contribute towards value creation, and better understanding of the vibrant creative ecology in Hong Kong.
We applaud the professionalism and commitment of the research team at the Center and look forward to continuing the partnership with them.