Bringing Hong Kong Young Designers to the Global Stage with Immersive Work or Study Experiences Abroad

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 20 April 2021 - In this volatile era where opportunities come with challenges, design talent with global perspectives and innovative thinking are highly desired around the world. The DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award (DFA HKYDTA) supports Hong Kong's young designers to gain immersive experiences and unleash their potentials by providing them with overseas work or study opportunities. The Award is now open for applications until 28 June 2021.

The DFA HKYDTA awardees may receive up to HK$500,000 sponsorship to pursue 6 to 12-month work at renowned design companies or 6 to 18-month study at reputable institutes abroad. Since 2005, over 110 designers have gained rewarding overseas learning experiences through the programme.

Prof. Eric Yim, Chairman of Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) , said, "During these challenging times, designers with a creative and adaptable mindset play a crucial role as they help organisations come up with future-oriented solutions to create a better future for all. By offering global learning opportunities through the DFA HKYDTA, we hope to equip Hong Kong's young designers with advanced skills and a global perspective for them to contribute to the local creative industries and open up new opportunities in the new normal."

DFA HKYDTA is organised by Hong Kong Design Centre, supported by Create Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("CreateHK") as lead sponsor, and Hong Kong Design Institute and the School of Design of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University as sponsors.

Online Application Details

Application period: 20 April 2021 (9am) - 28 June 2021 (5pm) (Hong Kong time)

Online application website: ydta.dfaawards.com

Application Requirements
Hong Kong permanent residents aged 18 to 35, who are either design practitioners with relevant working experiences; design graduates with Higher Diplomas, Associate Degrees or Bachelor Degrees from local educational institutions; or design graduates with Master Degrees from local or overseas educational institutions in 2021. Eligible design practitioner or design graduate needs to be nominated by a design-related organisation or professional to apply.
Judging Criteria
A judging panel comprising locally and internationally recognised professional designers and experts will assess the candidates based on latter's (1) potential contributions to the design and innovation development in Hong Kong; (2) personal aspirations, talents and achievements in specific fields with potential continuous development; (3) effectiveness of communication and presentation skills; (4) portfolio of design works and (5) overseas work / study proposal.
The DFA HKYDTA 2020
The DFA HKYDTA 2020 granted awards to a total of 16 young designers including 8 design practitioners and 8 design graduates. Among them, 13 awardees receive sponsorship totalling up to HK$500,000 for their overseas work or study.

Photos are available at:

https://www.hkdc.hk/download/awards/DFA_HKYDTA_2021_Call_for_Applications.zip

Visit our website and social media pages for more information:

Website: ydta.dfaawards.com

Facebook:

Instagram:

About DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award

(ydta.dfaawards.com)

Established in 2005, the DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award, one of the programmes of the DFA Awards which are organised by Hong Kong Design Centre and sponsored by Create Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR Government"), aims to support and nurture Hong Kong's up-and-coming designers and design graduates aged 18 to 35. Awardees may receive sponsorship to work in overseas renowned design companies or study in overseas institutes to unleash their potential and contribute to Hong Kong's design and creative industries' development upon their return.

About Hong Kong Design Centre

(www.hkdesigncentre.org)
Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) is a non-governmental organisation, and was founded in 2001 as a strategic partner of the HKSAR Government in establishing Hong Kong as an international centre of design excellence in Asia. Our public mission is to promote wider and strategic use of design and design thinking to create business value and improve societal well-being.

HKDC's flagship programmes include Business of Design Week (BODW; since 2002) – Asia's leading annual event on design, innovation and brands; DFA Awards (since 2003) – a well-recognised annual awards that celebrate outstanding designs with Asian perspectives; and Knowledge of Design Week (KODW; since 2006) – an annual thematic programme that gathers the global design community to explore how design can solve complex challenges of our society.

We also manage a Design Incubation Programme and a Fashion Incubation Programme (since 2012 and 2016) – 2-year programmes to nurture future design and fashion entrepreneurs; and launched FASHION ASIA HONG KONG (since 2016) – an initiative combining conversations, interactions and cultural exchanges to position the city as an Asian hub for fashion trade and business development.

These programmes are all sponsored by Create Hong Kong of the HKSAR Government.

About Create Hong Kong

(www.createhk.gov.hk)
Create Hong Kong ("CreateHK") is a dedicated agency set up by the HKSAR Government in June 2009. It is under the Communications and Creative Industries Branch of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and dedicated to spearheading the development of creative industries in Hong Kong. Its strategic foci are nurturing talent and facilitating start-ups, exploring markets, and promoting Hong Kong as Asia's creative capital and fostering a creative atmosphere in the community. CreateHK has been the lead sponsor of the DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award since 2012 and sponsors the flagship programmes organised by Hong Kong Design Centre and other projects to promote Hong Kong design.

Disclaimer:

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region provides funding support to the project only, and does not otherwise take part in the project. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials/events (or by members of the project team) are those of the project organizers only and do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Communications and Creative Industries Branch of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, Create Hong Kong, the CreateSmart Initiative Secretariat or the CreateSmart Initiative Vetting Committee.