HK design legend hosts exhibition at Tsinghua

A large-scale retrospective exhibition by famous Hong Kong graphic designer and educator Kan Tai Keung is being held at the Visual Art Center in Tsinghua University, showing the 68-year-old designer's lifelong achievements in the design industry.

On show are more than 300 of his classic designs. Some 200 works by university students from across the nation are also being exhibited. They are all the previous winners of the Kan Tai Keung Design Award.
Kan founded the award in 1999 to encourage Chinese college students to make innovations in their study and work, which he regarded as a way to bring hope to the Chinese design industry.

Being famous in and outside of China, Kan is also known for his devotion to educating and promoting young designers on the Chinese mainland, with dozens of his books on college design education having been published.

"Once I felt I had made some progress with my own design career I wanted to turn my reflections into books, and try to shed some light for young college students," Kan told the Global Times in an exclusive interview.

"Although China has made tremendous progress in graphic design in the past 30 years, I do think there are many more things we need to do, especially in terms of education for young students with fresh design ideas," he added.

Kan is currently the dean of the Cheung Kong School of Art & Design, Shantou University and a guest professor with the Central Academy of Fine Arts and Tsinghua University. His innovations at Shantou University include encouraging students to look out into the world for inspiration.

"You can never be a good graphic designer by being confined to your own thoughts and just learning from your teachers," commented Kan.

On a lecture to university students on Monday at the Tsinghua University, Kan urged students to learn from traditional Chinese culture when considering their designs.

"There is beauty in traditional Chinese culture. When thinking about a new idea, I used to turn to it for inspiration," Kan added.

Source: Global Times