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Vetting Committee

The committee will consist of regional design professionals from around Asia and Hong Kong.

Members of Vetting Committee:


First Stage Judging

The judging panel will consist of design experts of each category and regional editors from around Asia and Hong Kong.

Members of the First Stage Judging:



Grand Award Judging

The prestigious international judging panel will consist of world-renowned professionals and experts from a variety of business, professional, academic and design disciplines with experience both locally and internationally.

Members of the Grand Award Judging:


Meet the Judges
Victor Lo, Chairman, Hong Kong Design Centre, Hong Kong | Co-chairman of the Judging Panel

Victor Lo is Chairman of the Board of Governors of Hong Kong Design Centre. Lo received the Young Industrialist Award of Hong Kong in 1989 and was named Industrialist of the Year 2005. Of his many public service engagements, Lo is a member of the Executive Council, Hong Kong SAR Government; Chairman of the Board of Directors, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation; and convenor of the Museum Advisory Group under the Consultative Committee, Core Arts and Cultural Facilities of the West Kowloon Cultural District. He is on the Board of Overseers of the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology. Lo is also Chairman & Chief Executive of Gold Peak Industries (Holdings) Limited.

Freeman Lau, Vice Chairman, Hong Kong Design Centre, Hong Kong | Co-chairman of the Judging Panel

Freeman Lau is chairman of the board of directors of Hong Kong Design Centre. Lau is also the Secretary General of Hong Kong Federation of Design Association and a member of the Design Management Institute's Advisory Council. A winner of over 300 design awards in overseas and local competitions, Lau is also a partner at influential firm Kan & Lau Design Consultants. Apart from a distinguished focus on furniture, notably chair designs, he is a celebrated poster, communications and visual identity designer for an array of clients. Through his work, Lau has played a pivotal role in shaping the cultural identity of Hong Kong.

William Harald-Wong, Principal and Director, William Harald-Wong Associates

William Harald-Wong has been involved in the visual branding, identity and design industry for nineteen years. Understanding the vital importance of balancing the demands of global branding with local needs and pride, his work has spanned several continents and many clients.

Notable projects have included the promotion of British design and innovation for the dTI (UK) within Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia and UAE, and the management of cross-cultural communications for "HP Mobile E-Services Bazaar" for Asia-Pacific.

Harald-Wong also heads Moment Font Studio, which researches and documents Southeast Asian motifs, traditions and beliefs from ancient times to the present; its findings are an important resource for creating concepts and communications that are meaningful to Southeast Asians.

Harald-Wong is responsible for founding The Design Alliance, a groundbreaking network of Asian design consultancies implementing pan-regional brand and corporate identity programmes for the exchange of art and culture in Asia. He is a frequent speaker at international and regional conferences on topics ranging from corporate identity and branding, to the design and culture of Southeast Asia.

John Heskett, Chair Professor, School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

John Heskett is Chair Professor at the School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. For the preceding 15 years, he was professor at the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology. Business applications of design, in particular how design creates economic value in the Pearl River Delta region in China, are his specialties. He is a prolific writer. His first publication, Industrial Design, came in 1980 and it continues to be in print with translations into many different languages.

Kelley Cheng, Editorial Director, Page One Publishing Pte Ltd, Singapore

Kelley Cheng is the Editorial Director of Page One Publishing, and the Creative Director of Page One Group, which known for its outstandingly-designed chain of bookshops in Asia. The multiple award-winning design magazine - ish, conceptualised and envisioned by her to be the definitive design magazine from Asia, for the world.
Cheng serves as advisory panel for many Singapore government organisations, including the National Art Gallery, Singapore Furniture Industry Council, Singapore Polytechnic and has served as a judge in many international design competitions including the Nagoya Design Do!, Singapore Design Awards, Design for Asia Award, just to name a few.

Amy Chow, Design Director, Hong Kong Design Centre, Hong Kong

Amy Yuen-mei Chow graduated from Academy of Art College in San Francisco with a Bachelor degree (BFA), major in Sculptural Design and Master's degree (MFA), major in Graphic Design. Over the following 5 years, she had worked in various international design firms as typographer and art director.

Her passion in teaching art and design started in 1996 and never stopped ever since. Apart from teaching in various academic institutions, Amy was the coordinator of the design-related diplomas, higher diplomas and top-up-degree programmes in HKU SPACE, The Art School Hong Kong Arts Centre and PolyU SPEED respectively. Enjoying teaching as well as traveling, Amy has designed and led more than twelve study tours spanning over 6 time zones in the past eight years.

In 2005, Amy moved to a new venture of her career by joining The Hong Kong Design Centre. She is currently the design director and educational consultant of HKDC and has planned many design workshops, seminars, overseas master classes and exhibitions for design students and professional practitioners.

Andre Fu, Executive, AFSO, Hong Kong

Boutique design studio AFSO is founded by Andre Fu in 2000. Formerly a protege of minimalist architect John Pawson, the Cambridge-educated Fu is hailed by Conde Nast Traveler as an "Asian Design Sensation" and by trendsetting Travel & Leisure magazine US as "Design-of-the-moment". Fu is also named by Wallpaper* as an Upcoming Talent.

To date, AFSO's work has largely comprised bars, restaurants and hospitality venues in London, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Notable projects to date include Opia for Jia Hong Kong, Azure in Hong Kong's Hotel LKF and the residence for the internationally celebrated actress Michelle Yeoh. Most recently, he designed the i24 gizmo for Apple IPod's, Jia Shanghai's eclectic lobby as well as the upscale Duke's Burger in Hong Kong's Soho area. He is currently working on a number of highly anticipated hospitality projects in Tokyo, Singapore and Thailand.

AFSO's design philosophy is firstly to generate the optimum layout for the space in question and once further functional refinement is no longer possible, secondly to apply pattern and intense colour to the resulting surfaces. Its vision is to blend clarity with playfulness in interior architecture to surprising emotional effects.

Joshua Roberts, Editor, Perspective Limited, Hong Kong

Joshua Roberts is an architect, writer, and Managing Editor at Perspective Limited. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Rice University and studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Archeworks, he received a Masters of Architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

Prior to Perspective he worked at the Department of Publications at the Harvard GSD on numerous publications and exhibitions. He has also worked as architect and designer on projects in the United States, Korea, China, Hong Kong, and Europe. In addition Joshua has served as a guest design critic at various institutions including the Harvard GSD summer program, Columbia University, the Boston Architectural Centre, HKU Space, and Hong Kong University. Currently in addition to Perspective he teaches first year architectural design studio and lectures on contemporary architecture and design at HKU Space in Hong Kong.

Pratarn Teeratada, Managing Editor, Corporation 4d Limited, Thailand

Pratarn Teeratada is the managing editor and one of the founders of art4d, a leading architectural and design magazine in Thailand. After obtaining his B.A. in Political Science at Chulalongkorn University, he then moved on to New York Institute of Technology for his MBA. For over a decade, art4d took the leading role in promoting good design through organizing exhibitions and lectures by local and internationally acclaimed designers, such as David Chipperfield, Toyo Ito, Peter Greenaway, Massimo Morozzi, Tom Dixon, Glenn Murcutt and the list goes on. Some of his many recent outstanding events include: Signes-a touring exhibition of young French graphic designers with lecture by Pascal Colrat (2002), lecture by Garry Emery (2002), and Phylogenesis-a lecture by Alejandro Zaera Polo (2003).

Manfred Wang, Director, Lifestyle Design Center, BenQ Corporation, Taiwan

Manfred Wang is the Chief Design Officer of both BenQ Group and Qisda Group. He joined BenQ Corporation and established the Lifestyle Design center in 2002. In the past 6 years, BenQ has already won more than 200 international design awards including iF, Red-dot, IDEA, G-Mark and DFA.

Wang received the German State Diplom-Designer (master degree of Industrial Design) from State Academy of Art and Design Stuttgart, Germany in 1994. Then he joined the Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan and worked as the project leader of Conceptual Product Design. Later, Wang became the design director of Acer Netxus Incorporated, a subsidiary network company of Acer group. In 1999, Wang transferred to Acer Incorporated to be the director of industrial design division of Computer & Consumer Products Business Unit. Afterwards, he was the design director of Acer Brand Operation and in charge of all branding product design and strategy.

Dickson Yewn, Director, Life Of Circle Limited, Hong Kong

Born in 1970, Dickson Yewn divided his undergraduate years of fine arts and business studies between Paris and Ottawa. In New York City, he continued his studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology in photography and jewelry design. Yewn has worked in a variety of creative fields including design, advertising and film before beginning his conceptual jewelry collections for life of circle in 1999.

Yewn's jewelry has won numerous international awards including the DTC Diamond Award Hong Kong and Hong Kong's Ten Outstanding Designers Award. His conceptual jewelry store, life of circle, was selected by Forbes Magazine in 2005 as one of the top 25 stores in the world, winning the category for jewelry store among other brand names such as Herm?s, Manolo Blahnik and Ralph Lauren, etc.

Since 1995, Yewn has been creating fine and luxury jewelry pieces which are either one-of-a-kind or limited edition pieces. From Chinese lattice, Chinese Paper Cut, Chinese Folk Arts to Manchurian Collections, his works draw inspiration from Chinese arts and culture. All of these exclusive collections are now branded under his own name YEWN.

Zhou Yi, General Manager & Founder, s. point design, China

Zhou Yi is the founder and president of s.point design, the first industrial design consultancy in Shanghai and currently one of the leading firms in China. A graduate of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and a former lecturer at Tongji University Shanghai.

He has gained repute and respect in the local and international business community for his long experience and deep understanding of the Chinese market. International clients seek his advice on the rapidly evolving Chinese market; while local clients engage him to lift their products onto the international stage.

A passionate propagator of good design in China, he has molded numerous successful Chinese designers in his practice over the years, and has also created his own brand of products called s.core to express to the world what modern Chinese design could be.
The business scope of s.point includes design research, strategy, industrial design, mechanical engineering and manufacturing.

Katsunori Aoki, Creative Director, Butterfly-stroke inc, Japan

Born in Tokyo in 1965. After working for SUN-AD agency founded the Butterfly Stroke Inc. in 1999. Not only does he handle advertising, also works on graphics and images. He is an artist that handles from the planning stage to the presentation. Uses scribble like sketches and photos or computer generated graphics with ease. He is well known for his audience striking and sharp visual creativity, and has many corporate clients.

Past awards include Japan Graphic Designers Associations (JAGDA) New Talent Award; Japan Magazine Advertising Grand Prize; Tokyo Typodirectors Club Award; Transportation Advertising Gold Prize; Tokyo Art Directors Club Prize; Tokyo Typodirectors Club Members' Prize. Major works include creative and art directors for Benetton brand and Okamoto brand condoms for Okamoto Industries; Grand Bazaar events for Lagoret fashion department store; Nike total performance leadership; Kirin Beer; PARCO department store; Kose cosmetic company; Honda; Venusfort fashion mall's Odaiba bargain; Internet Exhibition; Keshonwakusei; graphic design for Hiromishi Nakano and Hikara Utada; produced and directed Kami-Robo and COPET.

Members of JAGDA, Tokyo Typodirectors Club and Tokyo Art Directors Club.

Peter Zec, President, red dot GmbH & Co.KG, Germany

Global design expert, Professor Dr. Peter Zec is president of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) as well as of Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, one of the oldest and most internationally renowned design institutions. Professor Dr. Zec has over 20 years' experience as a design consultant working with numerous companies around the world. He is also the initiator of the prestigious red dot design award.

A frequent and respected commentator on business communication and global design trends and issues, Professor Dr. Zec has lectured in more than 40 countries and has been a professor of Business Communication at the University of Applied Sciences Berlin since 1993.

Before becoming president of the Design Zentrum in 1991, Professor Dr. Zec was president of the Federation of German Graphic Designers (BDG) and the Association of German Industrial Designers (VDID).

He is publisher of the Red Dot Design Yearbook and the International Yearbook Communication Design and has recently published the following titles: Good Design (2000), Hall of Fame; Companies Searching for Excellence in Design (2003) and Who's Who in Design (2004) as well as German Design Standards (2005).

Professor Dr. Zec lives in Essen and Berlin, Germany.

Michel de Boer, Creative Director, Studio Dumbar, Netherlands

Michel de Boer (1954) has been educated at the Academy of Fine-Arts and Higher Technologies in Rotterdam. In 1989 he became creative managing partner at Studio Dumbar. At present 25 designers work at Studio Dumbar, assisted by a facilities staff of five. Currently he is full responsible for the creative output at Studio Dumbar. He worked for many clients around the world on projects that require international implementation in the commercial service sector, for non-profit organisations and the public sector.

His portfolio includes prestigious projects such as for Apple Computer, Allianz, Shell, KPN, Dutch Police, Nike, European Central Bank, Danish Post, Randstad, Buick, General Motors China and the Dutch Government.

Michel de Boer has won many awards. Amongst them two prestigious D&AD Golden Awards and seven D&AD Silver Awards. He has taken part in many international design conferences and has been tutor to the design department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Den Bosch. In 2005 he became professor at the Instituto Universitario Architettura in Venice, Italy. He is a member of the professional organisations Board of Dutch Designers (BNO), Designers and Art Directors Association United Kingdom (D&AD) and Alliance Graphique International (AGI).

Studio Dumbar has its head office in Rotterdam with liaising offices in Frankfurt, Germany and Wang Xu Associates in Guangzhou and Beijing, P.R. China. He is the driving force of the start-up of a new joint venture in Shanghai, which has started in 2005.

Lyndon Neri, Founding Partner, Neri & Hu Design & Research, China

Lyndon Neri is a Founding Partner of NHDRO, a multidisciplinary architecture practice based in Shanghai, China. Mr. Neri received a Master of Architecture from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to founding NHDRO in 2003 with partner Rossana Hu, he was the Director for Projects in Asia with Michael Graves & Associates. Mr. Neri is also the Founder of Design Republic, a Founding Panel Member of 100% Design in Shanghai and a Regional Advisor for the Atlas of 21st Century Architecture to be published by Phaidon Press.

Mr. Neri was selected by I.D. Magazine as one of "The I.D. 40" as an architect that deserves more international recognition in 2006. Recent the Design Republic Flagship Store Project won the DFA (Design for Asia) 2007 "Best Design from Greater China" Award; the Y+ Yoga Centre Project won the Perspectives 2007 for "Best Hospitality Interior" Award and Zisha Tea Set for "Best Product Design" Award. NHDRO also won the GIA (Great Indoors Award) 2007 as one of the four finalists for "Interior Firm of the Year" category and one of the five finalist for "Relax & Consume (Leisure)" Category; At the same time, the firm was awarded the 2006 Elle Deco International Design Award (China) for "Best Tableware Design" for its Zisha Tea Set and 2007 "Best Design Team" for its neri & hu branded products.

Tan Kay Ngee, Founder, Kay Ngee Tan Architects, Singapore

Tan Kay Ngee is the founder of Kay Ngee Tan Architects, which was first established in London in 1990. He graduated from the Architectural Association in London, and had taught at the Barlett School of Architecture.

Over the years, Tan had won many prestigious awards around the globe. In 1985, he won the first prize in the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). In 1987, he won the Royal Academy Young Designers Awards. In 1995, he won the Singapore Institute of Architects Design Awards. In 2002, he won the Silver Award (Group) in the Venice Biennale for Commune by the Great Wall, a critically acclaimed mixed residential and commercial development in Beijing. In 2007, he won the Design of the Year for the President's Design Award.

His body of work extends to different scopes in many countries, ranging from Japan to London, Istanbul to Singapore. He also writes a regular column for Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao.

I-min Pao, President, PPGroups, Taiwan

After graduating from the world's top design schools, Rhode Island School of Design and Art Center, I-min Pao became the only Chinese member in Wieden and Kennedy. He spent three years creating commercials and advertisements for Nike, and was consequently awarded a green card for extraordinary individuals.

Pao returned to Taiwan and was appointed the vice creative director for Leoburnett and JWT. The clients he was in charge of included SK-II, Reebok, Ford, MTV, Hennessy and Johnnie Walker. He has also worked with international corporation clients such as Nike, MTV, Sony, Toshiba, Nissan, Citibank and Cartier. His work is internationally recognized and has won more than 80 international awards. They are also documented and published in international magazines such as One Show, Communication Arts, Graphics, Prints, New York Art Director Club, Tokyo Type, Director Club and Lurzer's Archive. In 2001, Archive magazine ranked Pao as the 7th best creative director in the world. In 2004, Pao published his autobiography and it later became one of the best selling biographies then.

In 1995, Pao and Ivy Hu founded PPGROUP. Currently, the corporation has become multi-dimensional and is involved in different areas such as publishing, branding, fashion, product design and artist management.

Tony Suppattranont, Founder, THANN-Oryza Co. Ltd., Thailand

Thai entrepreneur and founder of Thann-Oryza, Tony Suppatranont designs Asian-inspired home spa and skincare products for distribution in over 30 countries worldwide. Tony is living proof of the capacity for Thai entrepreneurs to succeed on a global level using Asian innovation and home-grown ingredients.

In 1999, Tony Suppattranont, a former engineer, was one of two Thai entrepreneurs who envisioned the potential of spa products and teamed up selling natural home spa products under the name Harnn. Three years later, they went on to establish Thann-Oryza Co, Ltd. to manufacture natural skincare products under the name THANN using a clean and contemporary design which promotes Thailand's rich cultural arts and crafts.

William Tang, Fashion Designer, W Tang Company Limited, Hong Kong

William Tang is a fashion designer, consultant, spokesperson, and a writer. His broad working experience covered places like London, Paris, New York, Dusseldorf as well as the Asian region. He's now concentrating on his own label "WILLIAM", also as a fashion and branding consultant in China. In Hong Kong, he was appointed by various institutions as the uniform designer, such as the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway, Hong Kong International Airport, Bank of China, Dragon Air, Hong Kong Express, etc.

His "King of Kowloon" collection has been collected by the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Power House Museum in Sydney, Australia and Victoria and Albert Museum in London, UK.