VIVIENNE CHOWvivienne.chow@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 22 November, 2015, 2:23am
UPDATED : Sunday, 22 November, 2015, 2:23am
Nicholas Yang looks to new industries. Photo: Sam Tsang
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has come under fire for saying design does not involve innovation.
Leading figures in the design and cultural worlds accused Leung of demeaning the innovative nature of design and misleading the public.
"Saying that design is not related to innovation is similar to saying that Steve Jobs never lived," Professor Cees de Bont, dean of Polytechnic University's school of design, said.
Leung spoke on Friday at the launch of the new Innovation and Technology Bureau. He told reporters the portfolios of the IT bureau and the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau would not overlap as creative industries, such as design and film, fell under the latter while the former focused on innovation.
"Creative [industries] include a lot of product design, such as fashion design, which does not involve innovation. [Industries] that do not contain elements of innovation are design," he said.
"The IT bureau focuses on innovation, which refers to technology and invention. Thus, the division of labour of the two bureaus is very clear."
Those remarks were widely criticised on social media. "How can there be no creativity in innovation? How come creativity is restricted to design?" one contributor wrote on Facebook.
"If there is no innovation in design, I think all industrial designers can shut down their businesses. Isn't the iPhone, for example, innovation as well as design?" another wrote.
Culture critic Mathias Woo challenged Leung's claim of a lack of innovation in fashion design. "Take Nike, for example. It utilises a great deal of technology and new materials in its designs. Innovation and creativity cannot be separated," Woo said.
"Product design needs technological innovation to be creative. The iPhone is a classic example."
De Bont said he was pleased with the establishment of the new IT bureau and was confident Nicholas Yang Wei-hsiung, the newly appointed minister, would do a good job.
But he was surprised by the chief executive's words. "Design uses technology to create new products, services and environments that contribute to the well-being of people and to the competitiveness of companies."
The professor said he would be happy to take Leung on a tour of the design school's Jockey Club Innovation Tower at PolyU.
The Chief Executive's Office did not respond to Sunday Morning Post inquiries yesterday.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1881631/innovative-design-everywhere-just-look-iphone-say-critics
