Interview with Tim Kwok

Tim Kwok ("TK") interviewed on Monday, 13 August.

Could you please tell us about your experience as a designer, artist, architect or creator?

TK : I graduated from Industrial Design at RMIT University, Australia. After I graduated, I went back to Hong Kong and work for a sport company, my client is included Body Glove, BG Mermaid, Fluid, Rydr, Speedo and Wham O. During this time, I gain a lot of experience on design different type of products, from toy to profession snorkel equipment, I also experience working with different material. With the experience and knowledge, I start to develop a personal project, Cocoon, and it is then turn out to be a lounge chair called "Cocoon Lounge Chair". It then won the Gold award in A Furniture Homeware and Decor Items Design Award category at A Design Award in 2018. This award encourages me to develop my other personal projects. Now I am working as a professional product designer in Hong Kong.

How did you become a designer?

TK : I believe design not only easily assimilate into our daily life, besides, it also innovative and decorative, to simplify my word, design can easily make changes because it is closely related to our lives. I am especially interested in how design can make changes and benefit all life. This is the reason I become a designer.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

TK : My priority when designing is "form following function", this is my bottom line of design, therefore I will sketch out different ideas and build a lot of mockups to find out the best solution according to the purpose of the project. Then the 3D model (CAD) and the prototype will build to study the feasibility and availability. The final design should tell people what it is by its shape, for me, this will be a successful and complete design.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

TK : I feel excited when I am designing, it is like welcoming a new life to join my life, full of expectation.

What particular aspects of your background shaped you as a designer?

TK : When I was small, I already feel passionate about Art. After the study of high school, I found out the practical use of art, which is "design". Design not only can easily assimilate into our daily life, besides, it also innovative and decorative, to simplify my word, design can easily make changes because it is closely related to our lives. I am especially interested in how design can make changes and benefit all life. This is the reason I become a designer.

What is your growth path? What are your future plans? What is your dream design project?

TK : The past working experiences bring me the knowledge of different kind of product and various materials, this then becomes the cornerstone of Cocoon Lounge Chair's success. The success of the product encourages me to develop more personal innovative products. Now I am working on my personal project, I wish one day I can design a product to make changes and benefit mankind.

What are your advices to designers who are at the beginning of their career?

TK : I think they have to be curious and be passionate about design all the time, willing to accept the challenge and have the ability to solve problems independently.

You are truly successful as a designer, what do you suggest to fellow designers, artists and architects?

TK : Do not lose the passion for design. Be open to what you see, and be patient to listen.

What is your day to day look like?

TK : My day usually looks like a normal office worker. In the morning, I start with breakfast and e-mail. Then I will continue the development on the design project, I will also spend some time researching and study about some new materials. This is how I spend my normal day.

How do you keep up with latest design trends? To what extent do design trends matter?

TK : I believe innovative design create design trend naturally, so I will try to keep up with the latest technology and invention and study how can I adopt them to improve my design. I think design trend just industry indicators on what the latest good design in the coming year, so there are possibilities for every designer, including myself, to create their design trend.

How do you know if a product or project is well designed? How do you define good design?

TK : My basic rule of good design is "form following function", this is my bottom line of design. And the innovation, improvement, ability to solve a problem and the perfect combination of function and art of a designed product are also help build a good design.

How do you decide if your design is ready?

TK : When a design is ready, it needs to come up with a 1 to 1 working prototype to prove it's availability, stability and safety. Besides, "Does it fulfil the project's aim?" "How people think about the project?" "What is the user experience?" are also important to criticize the success of the product. I will consider a design is ready when all the points I mentioned are fulfiled.

What is your biggest design work?

TK : My biggest design work is Cocoon Lounge Chair. It successfully reflects my goal and expectation with the design. It is a perfect combination of art and design, and it also successfully bring minimum material to present natural comfort. The outcome is a minimal structure that represents a natural comfort form and it serves as a functional piece of furniture.

Who is your favourite designer?

TK : Marcel Wanders is my favourite designer. I often inspired from him, his design is iconic, unique, inspiring and innovative. He can bring ordinary materials and old technologies to the new use, therefore his design often inspire me a new way of thinking.

Would you tell us a bit about your lifestyle and culture?

TK : I live in Hong Kong since I was small. Hong Kong is a very small international city with a lot of peoples, cars and buildings, it's unique history brings multicultural in our daily life. The age of my birth made me experience the rule of two generations of government, so I am fully experiencing two different cultures and life-changing. This experience helps me to broaden my horizons to accept different things. And the inclusiveness of Hong Kong, just like my design, therefore I can design in different styles on different product according to the orientation of the project.

Would you tell us more about your work culture and business philosophy?

TK : I will only make a decision that I won't feel regret. During my work, I would not stifle any possibility of different project, I believe even a small project has various possibilities: possibility to make the change; possibility to learn, or possibility to grow better... therefore I always try my best so I don’t feel regret for losing the possibility for each single project.

What are your philanthropic contributions to society as a designer, artist and architect?

TK : Global warming becomes a serious global problem. As a designer, I also aware of this huge problem. Although my personal ability is limited, I still wish I can make a contribution for the solution, therefore, I decided to set a basic rule on all my design, which is, "bring minimum material to maximum use". On the other hand, I will consider recyclable materials as the first priority for the design. Lastly, I will try to use the same material on one design, so a user can easily recycle the product. If the design use multi-materials, I will design an easy disintegrated system to separate different materials for recycling. I hope in these ways, I can reduce the material and waste from the design and finally decrease the damage to the natural environment.

What positive experiences you had when you attend the A’ Design Award?

TK : I meet a lot of different talented designers around the world when I attend the A’ Design Award, this gives me an opportunity to build up my personal network for my future career. Besides, it also gives me an opportunity to share my winning design to other people. I believe this is one of my unforgettable memories in my life.

Tim Kwok Profile