The International Design Masters Lecture Series came to a great success ! On Friday, May 17, 2024

The International Design Masters Series Lecture on May 17, 2024, at the Dadun Cultural Center in Taichung, attracted nearly 170 attendees and also streamed online for those who couldn’t attend in person. The event featured guest speakers from various countries: Kimming Yap, Operations Director of Creativeans from Singapore; Leslie Chan, founder of Leslie Chan Design Company from Hong Kong; and Kimiharu Obata, representative of Pioneer Production from Japan. Through the speakers’ presentations, design enthusiasts and students gained insights from different perspectives and disciplines, sparking creative inspiration across cultures. The lecture was inaugurated by the program host, Professor Apex Lin, and we were also honored to have Director Huang from TPCA Environment Foundation deliver a speech.

Lecture 1 – Kimming Yap: Designing in the Physical World

Kimming Yap, a product designer from Singapore, shared his thoughts on designing for the future. He divided design thinking into eight principles, combining physical theories to illustrate the relationship between people and design. By understanding these theories, one can view the world from different angles. He emphasized that empathy is crucial to creating good designs. Understanding the needs of others and the environment they are in is essential to creating products that help others. “When you aim to improve the world through design, no matter how small your power is, your actions can make a difference,” he urged, encouraging everyone that even small acts can impact society.

Lecture 2 – Leslie Chan: Local Sentiment with Global Perspective

Leslie Chan from Hong Kong shared his experience in taking on design projects, explaining how to communicate through design and gain public recognition. He stressed that designers must have appreciation and communication skills, as well as flexibility in using their designs, and learn to break existing frameworks to achieve breakthroughs. He concluded with four future design needs: empathy, altruism, co-prosperity, and the theory of seeking harmony in diversity, which resonates with this event’s theme of “Equality.” This helped the participating students better understand the theme of the competition.

Lecture 3 – Kimiharu Obata: The consideration of “SDGs in the Japanese Animation Industry” by Japanese anime producers.

Japanese animator Kimiharu Obata believes that “words have a soul, and what is spoken has an impact.” Therefore, he hopes that his works will bring some life insights to the audience. Long-time animator Mr. Obata, much like the various hero characters he draws, hopes for a world of mutual help and joy through his animations. He wishes for people from different worlds to combine their cultures to let society flourish and move towards a happy realm together.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to each outstanding lecturer and all participants, and a special thanks to Professor Shin Fu, Lee for perfectly concluding the event. We believe that this International Design Masters Series Lecture provided abundant insights for both the live and online audiences. We look forward to meeting everyone again in the future to create more extraordinary memories together.

Caption : Group photo with all our guests

Caption : Q&A session of the Lecture Series

Caption : Group photo with the executive team & audience