Featured Alumnus:
Social Designer takes his first step to make our community better
Interview with Eddie Wong, Social Designer
Social Design is the youngest discipline we offer in the BA(Hons) Scheme in Design at PolyU. It may still be a brand new concept to many of you. Are you wondering what a social designer do, and what our students of this discipline can do after graduation? Here comes our graduate Eddie Wong (Social Design, 2019) who would like to tell you his story.
DC: Design Channel
EW: Eddie Wong (2019 graduate of BA(Hons) in Social Design)
DC: Hello Eddie! Thank you for accepting our interview invitation. Could you introduce yourself to our readers?
EW: Hello, this is Eddie. I graduated from PolyU’s Social Design programme in 2019 as one of the first graduates of the programme. Before my design studies, I studied social work and worked in some NGOs for 8 years.
DC: We know that the programme admits students from different backgrounds, not limited to design, but also other social science disciplines, due to its transdisciplinary by nature. The programme aspires to breed a generation of well-rounded dynamic designers and project coordinators who will become design practitioners, consultants and changemakers in service of social needs. Does it tell what you have been doing after graduation?
EW: After graduation, I worked as a freelancer ranging from social worker, workshop facilitator and social researcher for around half a year. After that, I joined Making On Loft's Community Design & Research Studio as Senior Project Officer. The team aims to contribute in social innovation by promoting and practising community design process and social well-being, as well as to achieve the most effective and sustainable uses of community space. To answer your question, yes, I aspire to be part of the change-making force to our community.
Making On Loft gathers a group of creative minds who concern the sustainable devbelopment of our community. It is founded by PolyU Design's alumni.
DC: It sounds really interesting and meaningful. Would you tell us more, like any interesting projects you are currently engaged in?
EW: I have engaged in various community projects designed for different stakeholders, for example, a community art project for social inclusion with mentally retarded teenagers and young adults, a community profile study for exploring the correlation between Cultural and Creative Industries and self-efficacy on youth development. Another impressive one was a community production project about designing a trolley by using both tangible and intangible community recourses based on community needs.
These are all meaningful projects that are aimed to make our society a better place. There is another self-initiated and non-funding project called “舊物扭蛋” (meaning “gashapon of old stuff”) that is the most memorable one to me. We made use of upcycled materials collected from our neighbourhood and studio, such as straws, tires and suitcases to create a vending machine and its decorations that targeted to engage the general public through a series of public engagement activities with it. I received an inspiring comment from a lady from the neighborhood, “we are willing to stay longer in the community if there are more special experiments like this.” She inspired me to think more about how to increase vibrancy of communities by different innovative interactions or experiments and motivated me to take actions in this regard.
Eddie's gashapon vending machine made with upcycled materials.
DC: What does Social Design mean to you?
EW: I think social design is more like a concept or an attitude that emphasises empathy and empowerment in the design process, rather than just a tangible design. Also, it must involve community stakeholders in different stages to deal with social concerns, especially in research stage.
DC: What is your career aspiration? Does your experience in SD influence your career interest?
EW: Looking back at what I’ve learned from the days in PolyU Design, the importance of observation and listening is what I would never forget. If a social project missed these two essences, it is impossible to fulfil the community’s or user’s needs. Besides, I built a strong belief that co-design with different parties can bring infinite possibilities for improving human well-being and having a positive change in the society. Also, I am inclined to explore more about the root problems or issues via research methods before thinking design solutions.
With his social work background, Eddie concerned much about the synergies between youth centres and their target audience. His Social Design capstone project was a series of co-creation workshops and toolkits with young adults to design the youth centre services best fit young people’s needs.
DC: What do you plan for the next?
EW: In the future, apart from working with different social stakeholders like NGOs and corporates, I would like to make greater effort to participate in the government sector, starting from the district council. I hope to develop more and more co-creating or social design projects by conducting an evidence-based research study, which can facilitate and stimulate public to understand there are many creative possibilities in our public space, facility as well as service that can benefit our lives.
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| Topics | News | Interview | Social Design (BA) |
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