The following case study from Icograda Education Network (IEN) Member Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) looks at the school's unique brand strategy. As a way to illustrate the school's commitment to design an culture, this multidimensional identity has strengthened HKDI's sense of vision and purpose.

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Honing Hong Kong's New Design Edge

Hong Kong, a city of constant reinvention, is currently transforming itself from an export and manufacturing hub to a knowledge and creative economy.  Design education plays a crucial role in achieving this evolution and HKDI is at the forefront of nurturing new creative talents to meet the challenges of this new vision.

The Institute will shortly move into an iconic building designed by French architect Coldefy & Associes who was the winning entry in a competition adjudicated by top international architects including Richard Meier, Professor Zheng Shiling of Tongji University, and Rocco Yim – another example of HKDI's total commitment to cutting-edge design.

Thoroughly international in its outlook, HKDI also attaches great importance on students acquiring a solid grounding in Chinese culture. An understanding of how design is influenced by local cultural context – and an ability to fuse traditional Chinese forms and local characteristics with international influences – gives graduates deeper resources and a unique edge in their future careers.


The new HKDI campus is scheduled to open in 2010.

Single-minded, Multi-faceted

At the heart of the new branding is a distinctive bi-lingual logo. The design of the symbol is based on the "HKDI" letterforms and embodies an inherent cultural charac-teristic. The upper part of the symbol "HK" resembles the Chinese character "天" meaning sky or heaven, and "DI" at the lower portion has phonetic resemblance to "earth" in Mandarin. The logo suggests a unity of man and the universe as well as HKDI's aspiration to harmonise design and nature, a fusion of theoretical and practical knowledge, and a convergence of east and west culture. A key element of the branding lexicon is a bespoke English and Chinese typeface. Clearly legible and boldly contemporary, the typefaces have distinctively rounded edges that echo both the logo and the square motif with its rounded corner.

Creativity in Action is HKDI's rousing brand positioning. A vibrant new brand identity demonstrates the Institute's commitment to design education and culture.



The brand strategy has a challenging objective – to create a single identity for the overall Institute that nonetheless gives each of the four programme areas its distinctive outlook and personality.

This goal is achieved through the assigning to each programme area its own vibrant colour. The four colours: green, pink, yellow and blue work harmoniously with the corporate colour purple to express the diversity and variety of each programme area and collectively communicate HKDI's strength and depth.

Iconic Square, Meaningful Abstraction

A rich visual language was created for the brand based on a square with a single rounded corner. Among the most fundamental of geometric forms, the square represents stability and symmetry, and the solid foundations that underlie HKDI's academic approach.  Interestingly, the square has special resonance in Hong Kong - an abstract reference of the urban landscape of this modern city.

Compositions derived from the creative interpretations of the squares made up the visual language of the HKDI brand identity.  Themes of the compositions are derived from the strength and uniqueness of HKDI such as its emphasis on culture, its close connection with industry and the interaction among the program areas. This approach has built in an intrinsic need for diversity to communicate the meaning of the Institute and the wide range of applications, allowing the visuals to be consistently connected yet different. While it effectively expresses the vitality, synergy and cultural fusion of HKDI, it purposely pushes the limits of brand graphics towards new forms of abstraction.

Internally Consistent, Outwardly Compelling

Since being introduced, the new brand system has infused HKDI with fresh energy, and clarity of purpose. All staffs have a clearer focus of the vision, students a greater awareness of what they can achieve. The flexibility and vibrancy of the visual language has also greatly simplified and focused the task of producing arresting communication materials – website, prospectuses, posters, exhibitions, signage and so on, providing all materials with a distinctive and easily recognizable look.

For a facility that aspires to teach design excellence, there can be no clearer proof of its credentials than the quality of its own branding.

Below left:Brand book cover and CD; right: Brand book page with photo


Blow: Brand book pages with student work


Below left: Student Industrial Attachment Program brochure cover; right: Prospectus cover


Below left: Graduation Show sponsorship leaflet cover; right: Pocket Diary