Author, Design & Publisher╱曦成製本 Hei Shing Book Design
Size╱270mm(w) x 380mm(h)
Year╱2018

deTour is the Hong Kong’s design profession’s public engagement initiative. As such, its Nxt’s mentorship programme brought together students who cared about the local culture of yesteryear, and explored this theme through typeface and old street scenes in an exhibition of their works. In solidarity with these students, I explored the same theme and created a book entitled Hong Kong Patterns. I hoped my artwork allowed both mentors and students to be on the same page. In this way, we learned, grew, and reflected on one another about our own strengths and weaknesses.

When I led students on a field trip in the old districts of Central and Sheung Wan, it was intriguing to see the many patterns around us that were unique to Hong Kong. These patterns are found on tiles, signs, balconies, iron gates, and manhole covers. If we observe our city more closely, we will discover the many beautiful sides that deserve our attention and preservation. To this end, I tried to use the colours, textures, cutting, and overlapping of different papers to show the beauty of local patterns. Every page was laser cut and sewn by hand to make a stitch bound book. This handicraft allows readers to feel the papers’ textures and warmth.