Friday, December 1, 2006

So Fucking Inspired

It's been a while since I'd felt as alive as I did yesterday at HKTDC's Innovation & Design Expo. The experience was much like visiting the art museum, but better. Impressive works of photography, graphic design, poster ads, and less impressive fashion designs—all made in Hong Kong—were on display though in a small scale. The Hong Kong Invention Association has a couple dozen booths showcasing gadgets like a smokeless ashtray, which supposedly slows down the burning of a cigarette and reduces emission of second-hand smoke. It was too bad the exhibitor couldn't demonstrate in the smoke-free venue.

The seminars co-organized by Hong Kong Design Centre as BODW events proved to be rewarding. The experiences, case studies and design philosophies shared by the speakers were not nearly as practical as they were inspiring. I particularly enjoyed the background story of the 2006 FIFA World Cup logo design as told by design and branding veteran Michael Yu of Creation House; and the remarkable quest from making toy cars to developing, patenting and offering a whole new printing technology as shared by the charming-in-a-strange-way Victor Chan of UGT.

A couple of days ago a colleague had on his msn handle "Passion = the secret of success". I said to him, it's no secret; passion is the key to success. I've long grasped this truth and at the same time have continued to come across people whose complete lack of passion in their jobs makes you wonder why they bother doing what they do. So it was very comforting to see that there is in fact a lot of people in our city who still have that burning fire in their eyes.

Managing (barely) the editorial department in probably the one "Publications Ltd" who cares least about editorial has drained the life out of me. I need to get into a more creative field of work. Job offers anyone?

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