Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Exhibition Day

原來一日內看三埸展覽這般要命!先是中大藝術系展,繼而是文化博物館的產品設計展,最後一站回到理大設計的畢業展。由於極度疲乏,理大一站已淪為走馬看花,沒半點勁兒,只是Pierre 的作品著實太令人驚喜了,不得不為他花上點時間。老實說,許久沒看過設計系這樣精彩的畢業作,以往數屆的作品不是沒有好的,只是大部份都「包裝」(請容許我用這個帶點商業味的字眼,設計壓根兒就是這麼一回事)得太美輪美奐,跟現實拉得太近,某部分作品的形式與風格更略帶某某名師的影子,多了點虛張的聲勢,少了點個性,要找個有心有力又忠於自己的,好難。

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

六四成人禮


今年是我第一年參加六四的燭光晚會。

跟爸爸一起來,特別有意思。記得第一次看見爸哭,便是某一年的六四,大家都在用膳,電視機正播放當年的片段…我不明白,事情有那麼嚴重嗎?爸爸可不是當年的大學生。

「有多少父母就這樣喪掉孩子?」

他忽地吐出那麼一句,這才發現他臉上沾着淚水…

後來六四十週年,學校辦了一個特別週會,播放了一段當時的紀錄片,看着被血紅渲染的畫面,我這才懂得哭,是的,我們應該為他們哭。

每年都有想過到維園走一趟,總是提不起勁,也許我希望有人能陪我壯壯膽。第一年參加七一大遊行也是他先提出的,終於明白甚麼叫“薪火相傳”,需要的不是單純的口號,而是身體力行,這一點爸爸做到了。

還沒到達現場,氣氛已相當濃厚,那些邊抓著飯盒邊往前推進的少年人讓我覺得香港的未來充滿希望,雖然不是每一個到場的都是為了平反六四,可為了讓這點標誌著香港在一國兩制下仍享有言論和集會自由的燭光得以延續下去,出一點綿力又如何?試想一天,連香港也不能悼念六四的時候,會是怎樣的光境?

Sunday, June 3, 2007

旁觀者 I

前文提及概念,早前就收過一位從英國來港修讀設計的交換生的一篇文章,豪不諱言地指出香港的教育制度使學生失掉創作意念,技能一身只為金錢賣命,可沒想過外來客在短短三個月內竟會看得這樣清。
原文載於 NewDesignMagazine HKArticle, 2007 April14:

Opportunities. That is what defines life as a student industrial designer in Hong Kong. Everywhere there are chances, new possibilities and open doors. Young designers are in demand and whilst students in the UK can struggle to find the most mundane of placements, opportunities for talented designers are abundant in Hong Kong.

Our class had only 45 members (compared to the 150 in Coventry) and tutor contact time was twice weekly for each subject. Local students almost lived out of their studios, each work space not only containing piles of work, but dozens of personal possessions. It was no wonder that many of them would often not go home during the week and sleep at their desks.Expectations on students are different in Hong Kong. Whilst in the UK our experience has been one where lecturers are passive and allow students to mature and develop on their own, here the information and technical knowledge is force fed into students, producing young designers who posses immense levels of computer-based design skill but also all share the same design philosophy. This apparent lack of individualism and even creativity is not so much through the teaching at the university, but more through the general education system in Hong Kong.

Indeed, the broadly experienced international lecturers actively encourages in-depth thinking and concentration on a strong concept over superficial aesthetic details, but are constantly fighting the ingrained conformism that seems to be a product of the secondary education in Hong Kong. Consequently, local work was very different to what we knew and we had to make a significant shift in our style to fit into the course. Hong Kong students have a love of technology and anything computer related and this translates into CAD skills that put many UK professionals to shame. Likewise, their presentation skills were initially in a different league to what was expected in Coventry and although this often came at the expense of strong concepts, it is a design approach that suits Hong Kong.

For us, it was a surprise to find so many of the local students taking freelance design work: they would be designing USB sticks and other small products in their spare time, as well as using their significant graphic design skills to create packaging and advertising. This ability to find quick, simple and well paid design work part time was perhaps the biggest shock for us and the most encouraging development of our time in Hong Kong. However, the blurring of the boundary between student and paid designer came at a cost: the local students work so much harder than many of their contemporaries in the UK yet often lacked clear, directed conceptual ability in favour of design for quick, cheap manufacture.The reason for the amount of available work, especially for young designers with fresh ideas is simple: Gunagdong Province of China is just across the border and is the largest manufacturing hub in the world. A product of this is dozens of busy, profitable design consultancies in Hong Kong actively seeking international design staff and students like us were in a perfect position to find experience.There is a strong ex-pat community, many of whom are senior designers in local consultancies and all were looking to hire both local and foreign students.

The compact nature of Hong Kong means that networking is easy and it didn't take long for our names to be passed between designers and for internship interviews to be set up with very little pestering on our behalf. This nurturing, friendly attitude towards young designers is so refreshing to the closed-door policy adopted by firms towards students in the UK and over the next few weeks, we have interviews with several major companies, something undreamt of for inexperienced designers like us.

Saturday, June 2, 2007

設計毒癮


看過友人在其網誌 http://heishing.wordpress.com/ 的貼文 (27/5),有感而發。他被問到設計師的終極目標是甚麼?記得兩年前預備畢業展的時候,主辦單位要求我們每人提交一段題為“甚麼是設計?”的文字,用於場刊之上。現在重看舊文,自覺有那麼點兒偏激和負面:

If someone tells you that design is about rules breaking, he'll be a lawyer;

if he tells you that design is about problem solving, he'll be an engineer;

if he tells you that design is about improving our lives, he'll be another Hitler.

雖然當時有幾位同學對我的瘋言拍案叫絕,但著實對一班在這個大染缸中不斷為設計努力着的一群略有不敬。若問我現在的看法,跟那版主的回應相約,節錄如下:

“在香港從事平面設計或書籍設計,實在有太多太多的限制;而我們所要做的,就是在這多重限制之下,讓那創意有一小點的發揮空間。我常常在想,設計不須要是一個非常偉大的職業或我不須要成為一個偉大的設計工作者,我只希望我的設計作品能帶到一點點歡樂、驚喜或滿足感給讀者,讓他/她在生命的過程裡多一絲的笑容,已經很滿足了。我身為讀者的經驗是:每買一期日本雜誌「+81」,還未看內容,只看 layout,那種開心興奮的感覺已自動湧上心頭,這就是設計所帶來的快感。”

曾有許多行內人揚言做設計的都期盼有朝一日能成立自家公司或品牌,在這行頭打滾,為的是汲取經驗,打通人際網絡,那麼多時裝設計人爭相上《Project Runway》,還不是希望他朝看見街上有人穿上印有自己名字的時裝?但筆者認為最讓人對設計心癢的還是那份創作帶來的滿足感和優越感,不然幹麼還有那麼多人開不了公司、做不到AD,仍舊留守在這個磨心磨力的行業?正如Tommy Li於上一期Metropop《設計毒癮》一文中提到的,就是人家那麼一句欣賞的話,便足以令一個設計人心甘情願地花上多年的光華歲月,在行內做個平凡設計人。是甚麼設計哲學已經不重要了,重要的是人們看過設計後那點點窩心的回應,看似微不足道,卻是推動每個設計師前進的原始動能。

話說回來,因習慣了這種工作模式而留在這一行的也大有人在,到了某個年紀又不願重新適應新環境或學習新技能,就更難轉行,是否真愛設計,誰曉得?近陣子正在做一個有關設計學生思考過程的項目,問到為何當初選修設計,都是糊裡糊塗地闖了進來,談不上喜歡不喜歡,更莫說對設計有任何熱誠,奈何他們都擁有一身不錯的“軟件功”,身兼多份兼職。難怪市面上都充斥着許多有形無實的產品,“實”指的是產品的靈魂──概念,而非單純的漂亮外殼。