A: We work mostly in residential design.

B: Our company works in many different fields, but mainly we design show flats and club houses, and also hotels and retail. My team is residential, so our main work is show flats, and also lobbies and club houses. We don’t do private residences, unless the client has a special relationship with the company, because they are more troublesome.

C: We mainly design offices and banks, etc.

D: We mainly do private residences and retail.

E:  We work with every kind of client, including private residences and exhibition.

B: Our company has three branch offices in China, and we do more business in China than in Hong Kong. Even the Hong Kong office does a lot of China projects and serves Mainland clients. For example we design many high-end residences, whose owners are mostly Mainlanders.

E: We also do business in China, and the scale of projects is greater in China and we earn more money there.

C: We also have Chinese clients, who hired us to design offices.

B: Their tastes are different, and so are their laws, like fire regulations.

B: Yes. Schools don’t emphasize these kinds of knowledge.

A: I didn’t learn such knowledge in school.

B: Our company has branches in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. However a lot of Mainland clients want the Hong Kong office to serve them, because they trust our boss, and believe that Hong Kong designers are better than China’s.

D: My company has branch offices throughout the world, and I’ve also had Mainland Chinese come looking for Hong Kong designers. They think the quality of Hong Kong design is higher.

B: A lot of Mainland clients don’t like their own designs, For example on a luxury residence that I did, the original concept called for a mix of Chinese and Western elements, but the Mainland client did not like Chinese style and preferred Western ones.

D: Communication is a problem because of differences in culture and language.

B: Because of geography, site supervision is a problem, and it is hard to control Mainland workers’ quality of work.

A: The projects I’d seen are of very large scale. I have not seen any of their design for smaller spaces.

B: I have worked with some Mainland colleagues, and feel that their drawings are pretty, and they are done quickly. However, because they do not have access to outside news and information, their design may not keep up with world trends.

D: A lot of Hong Kong projects use Mainland draughtsmen to draw plans, so they are very good at drawing plans.

B: Perhaps in time, people’s drawing skills would get worse and worse.

E: There are two types of designers, those who do drawings and those who communicate with clients. Many famous designers have strong presentation skills. The Mainland is still developing, so many new talents are rising up. I don’t feel threatened by them, because we are not the same type of designer, so there is no conflict.

B: Except for international perspective and English language abilities, they are catching up quickly. Our boss feels that wages are lower on the Mainland, and hiring them is a better bargain because there is not much difference in abilities.

A: I would choose to go abroad, because it is hard to communicate with Mainlanders. I had experience ordering from Mainland suppliers, but they don’t understand our requirements no matter how many times I explained things.

B: I have wanted to enter this industry since I was in secondary school. If I can, I would like to remain in this industry.

A: No.

D: I had switched before, and did advertising and display design, but I like interior design more.

E: I don’t have any career goals. If I were to switch jobs, it would be to earn more money. I have thought about switching to project manager, because few young people choose to do it. Compared with interior design, there is more to learn in contracting.

B: I can learn many different kinds of things.

E: Communication is very important.

B: Organizational skills.

A: A good memory.

B: Experience is more important; there’s a lot about construction that you have to learn by experience.

A: When you interview for a position in this industry, the boss would look at your experience, not academic qualifications.

B: Many interior designers did not study in this field. Perhaps they started out as contractors.

C: Overall, interior design practitioners do not have high academic qualifications. The barrier for entry to this industry is not high.

D: You have to have basic knowledge, but when you interview for a job, the boss would consider your experience.

C: The amount of time you spend studying is short, and there is a lot they can’t teach you. You have to learn on the job.

B: They teach you a lot of theory in school, but on the job you put these theories into practice.

D: Some theories don’t work well in practice.

B: Or it can’t be put into practice for various reasons.

A: Building plans.

B: Materials. In school you seldom learn about the different properties of various materials.  Also they don’t tell you that you cannot put things into practice, because they don’t want to limit your creativity.

D: They should make the courses longer, because there’s not enough time to learn what you have to learn.

D: Yes. I took a course on film production, because I want to learn about 3D animation.

B: Many of my colleagues have considered doing a Master’s degree, but not in interior design. This field involves many different things, and you need to have very broad knowledge, and you need to stimulate your creativity. For example, some of my colleagues are studying philosophy, Chinese history or fine arts.

B: You learn more doing an actual project. Besides, what they teach in these courses we already know, so they are not of much help to me. I need courses that stimulate me.

D: If it wasn’t a whole course but a seminar with a master, I’d be interested because I want to learn from other people’s experience.

C: I would want to study architecture.

A: I’d choose to study visual arts, particularly those from overseas, because that would inspire my own designs.

B: If the content is similar to Bachelor’s or higher diploma program, and the only difference is that you do a few more projects, then there is not much point.

C: Perhaps they should incorporate more technical elements. Many design courses are project based.

B: Many practitioners hope to be exposed to more theoretical elements to strengthen their own designs, or gain exposure to things like aesthetics and culture.

B: There are already too many interior design programs. There is Poly U, IVE, SPACE, Caritas Bianchi, Design First College, etc. Every year they produce a lot of students. The quality of graduates from some schools is not good. Also their courses are not specialized enough. For example, some courses involve marketing, home decoration, etc.

C: There should be more Bachelor degree level programs. There are only a few dozen such graduates each year, which is too few.

A: However, many people don’t have the grades to get into Bachelor degree level programs.

B: Also Poly U graduates don’t earn more money than other kinds of graduates.

D: Many of my friends went to Taiwan or Australia to get their Bachelor degree.

B: Those who study overseas have more international exposure, so they are more sought after. I heard many employers tell me that they don’t want to hire Poly U graduates, because a few years ago they hired many teachers with architecture background, so their courses have become architecture oriented. Students were too theoretically-minded and too architecture-oriented, so their reputation was not good. However things have improved over the past few years.

E: Independent thinking, analytical skills and common sense are important.

C: I agree that analytical skills are important, because in design, you have to understand the habits of users, which involve common sense and analytical skills.

A: I think analytical skills and independent thinking are important. For some reason people think that female designers lack analytical skills, but to me there is no difference between the genders.

D: In real life, analytical skills and independent thinking are important, so is international perspective. One’s mindset should not be too limited.

B: That’s right. This is one of the strengths of Hong Kong designers.

E: I have to strengthen my analytical skills. Good designers are good at absorbing different kinds of knowledge. They look at a lot of different works, and have international perspective. A lot of designers just copy others, but with good designers you can’t tell that they are copying.

B: Presentation skills are important. Sometimes even if your design is bad, as long as you can persuade your clients it’s ok.

D: I think problem-solving skills are important. Everyday designers are faced with many problems.

B: Those are basic skills, but the value of interior designers lies in those other qualities.

C: Not too much.

B: I learnt about building materials and environmental design. The others, not so much.

A: I only leant about it when I started working.

E: I was taught something about fire regulations.

B: Some knowledge such s marketing is important, because you have to know how to suit market needs.

A: Nowadays, shopping malls must have wheelchair access, so we should know about the relevant regulations.

B: I only learnt about safety issues on the job. In school they barely touched on the subject.

D: They didn’t use to teach these things, and have only started to do so recently.

A: I had learnt about ergonomics in school.

B: They did not go in depth on these areas of knowledge. Most people did not learn about building codes and communications.

E: A person with basic computer skills, after working in the industry for one or two years, would have about the same level of knowledge as me.

B: I think it is a profession, because a professional knowledge is something that regular people don’t know. Also my work involves applying design theory into practice.

C: At the moment it is not really a profession, because the barrier of entry is too low. Other places like Taiwan has licensing system for interior design, but Hong Kong doesn’t.

B: I strongly agree. Many people claim to be interior designers, but what they do is not really design, but merely copying others.

A: It depends on what criteria you adopt.

D: I support it. Many Hong Kong people think that licensing equals examination. But does that mean you are professional? Many people only know how to do drawings and supervise construction, and they claim to be interior designers. But is he or she able to solve problems? In addition to design, an interior designer should also know how to manage construction, communicate with clients, sell their design. Only if you know all these things can you call yourself an interior designer.

C: I also agree with licensing. With it, the barrier of entry can be raised, which would be beneficial to the development of the whole industry. It will also encourage people to upgrade their knowledge.

D: Examination should not be a one-off thing. People should be required to renew their registration so that they can be encouraged to keep up their standards.

B: I agree also. New materials appear all the time, so you have to keep updating your knowledge.

B: Perhaps it’d be like first aid test, where you’re just tested on the main points.

E: It’d be hard to put into practice because it difficult to determine the criteria. Many people would not have the necessary qualifications.

B: Some people just fall asleep at seminars, or the content has nothing to do with them and they are just forced to go, so it’s quite pointless. Perhaps short courses would be more appropriate.

D: Perhaps they can test work process, rather than design.

B: If there are more courses to choose from it’d be better. There should be more flexibility in the choice of courses, and the courses themselves should be of good quality.

C: It can. Other professionals like lawyers and doctors have codes of conduct.

E: I don’t think it will be very useful. A code of conduct has nothing to do with professionalism. What codes should designers have?

Q: For example, working on illegal structures. Having a code of conduct may prevent people from doing them.

E: If you work on shopping centre projects, they have a lot of regulations you have to comply with already.

D: If there was a code, would you make it into law?

B: Even if there was a law, some clients may ask you to break it.

B: They can’t just use academic qualifications, because some fresh graduates don’t know anything. Experience is more of an indicator of ability.

D: The exam should cover the whole work flow.

C: The work hours are too long right now.

B: That’s right. My average hourly wage is low, and I don’t get overtime pay.

D: And you have to be on call 24 hours a day, and people call you even on holidays.

B: It’s useless, and so are their seminars.

D: Only bosses join it.

C: It’d be good if they provide us with the latest information about the industry.

B: If they organized Master classes or short courses, I’d be interested.  If there was licensure, it would help the HKIDA. With HKIA, the license is issued by the association, so being its member gives you professional recognition. The association should encourage non-commercial designs, and raise the standards of Hong Kong interior design.

D: If you go to Taiwan or Japan, you’ll notice that buildings have a lot of aesthetic elements. Yet in Hong Kong, shopping malls and other buildings look almost the same, and are all commercially oriented.

B: Overseas governments offer certain incentives for such designs.