Conference Presentations by Wendy S Wong
Hong Kong, a former British colony,
Globalization is one of today's hottest buzzwords. As globalization currently stands, the primary... more Globalization is one of today's hottest buzzwords. As globalization currently stands, the primary flow of influence is still mainly from European and North American countries to Asia and the rest of the world. Some cultural studies scholars are, however, optimistic about the emerging "Japanization of the West" , which may eventually balance Western dominance with widespread Asian influence. This paper focuses on visual communication design from the Greater China Region created over the past decade, when China's potential as a future world power became apparent. Samples for this study will be taken from design annuals of Communication Arts magazine dating from 1997 to 2006. Works published by designers with Chinese names, regardless of area, are located and evaluated to uncover the multiple cultural design identities, and globalization of modern design issues, in Chinese design and designers from locales including Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, as well as overseas Chinese.
China is an ancient civilization rapidly developing in a globalized post-modern context. The coun... more China is an ancient civilization rapidly developing in a globalized post-modern context. The country now finds itself at a crossroads, with outside ideologies and forces of "Americanization" and "Westernization" competing against its cultural heritage and communist economic system to form a national design identity for contemporary China. This paper uses the rise of modern design in China, design examples from Hong Kong and Taiwan, the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, and Victoria & Albert Museum's China Design Now exhibit to investigate questions of national identity as they pertain to design. It argues that, with the whole world watching China's rise as a global economic power, the real challenge facing Chinese designers is how they can create a "new" image of China to present to the rest of the world, particularly the West, if they don't wish to be stereotyped by images from the ancient past.
Design thinking as a design theory is becoming a hot topic of discussion among the design communi... more Design thinking as a design theory is becoming a hot topic of discussion among the design community, and is also generating interest among design doctoral students. This paper attempts to investigate the inclusion of cultural factors in design thinking theory by adapting theories from semiotics to suggest creative theories, and methods for design education, with a focus on communication design, in response to the globalized world.
The Conference Proceedings of the Second Asian Conference of Design History and Theory, Design Education Beyond Boundaries, 2017
“Modern” design histories in the Sinophone context began developing in the late nineteenth centur... more “Modern” design histories in the Sinophone context began developing in the late nineteenth century through the cultural translation of Western cultures. The term “design” itself has raised intricate questions that are currently under investigation, reflecting an interest in the cultural translation of design and transnational studies within postcolonial studies. In this background, the author articulates the complexity of “national” identity and global influences in the development of design education from the 1950s onward in the Sinophone region, which includes the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao. Taking historical and transnational perspectives, this paper reviews what design educators in the region have struggled to learn from the “foreign barbarians” while establishing a “national” identity for political and pragmatic purposes as well as cultural and ethnic security needs. In the context of Sinophone design education, this paper aims to reveal the conflicting love-hate relationship between the notion of nationalism and the condition of Sinophone modernity. The author concludes this
paper by illuminating conflicts and contradictions that arise in attitudes toward such embodiment in order to underline the role of design education in the construction of national design identities, our understanding of Sinophone modernity, and the cultural translation of design.
Papers by Wendy S Wong
highly profitable and stratified system including a company large enough to be listed on the stoc... more highly profitable and stratified system including a company large enough to be listed on the stock market and many smaller competitors. Now that Hong Kong has resumed its place as a part of China, it may face increasing competitive pressures in the areas of creativity and pro duction costs. On the other hand, China may represent a chance to dis tribute Hong Kong manhua to a vast audience financially .ready to pa.rtic ipate in the pleasures 0f popular culture. It is uncertain how Hong Kong's reunification with China will affect the local manhua market, but judging from previous historical evidence, it seems most likely that new innovations and developments will be able to sustain the Hong Kong manhua industry in ev' er-changing forms. For example, the newly evolved medium of the internet provides artists with a new venue to pub lish their works relatively inexpensively, and it also provides a very good venue to attract young artists to experiment with their work. This direc tion most likely will continue to be explored as manhua arts in Hong Kong have changed throughout the decades in accordance with eco nomic. political, and cu! ltural shifts. Hopefully this important cultural form will not continue td be ignored by scholars ofHortg Kong culture.
Comic books in Hong Kong have traditionally been produced primarily by male artists for male audi... more Comic books in Hong Kong have traditionally been produced primarily by male artists for male audiences. Over the past 30 years of comic history in Hong Kong, only three works have been critical of dominant gender ideology. This paper examines these works and their varying approaches to gender politics in Hong Kong. It argues that these artists made use of a creative strategy that took into account the rapidly changing historical context and female audience to create messages that reeected dominant culture while also either subtly or directly questioning source elements of dominant gender ideology. In the 1960s and 1970s, the fashionable and at times frivolous imagery of Lee Wai-chun's 13-Dot Cartoons gave a newly emerging group of young women workers and students a conndent feminine heroine and model of modern womanhood. In the late 1980s, the direct critique of Chan Ya capitalized on a moment of political insecurity to brieey introduce her unattractive but insightful characters and outsider perspective. Finally, in the late 1990s, Lau Lee-lee's self-proclaimed feminist work has combined a subtle and at times ambiguous style with shocking, taboo, and intensely personal themes, bringing them directly into the political realm.
Uploads
Conference Presentations by Wendy S Wong
paper by illuminating conflicts and contradictions that arise in attitudes toward such embodiment in order to underline the role of design education in the construction of national design identities, our understanding of Sinophone modernity, and the cultural translation of design.
Papers by Wendy S Wong
paper by illuminating conflicts and contradictions that arise in attitudes toward such embodiment in order to underline the role of design education in the construction of national design identities, our understanding of Sinophone modernity, and the cultural translation of design.