Study Design in Hong Kong

Hello, Hong Kong!

There's so much to do for a younger designer in Hong Kong. Designers can explore art and design in high culture and popular culture. The Hong Kong Palace Museum, M+, Art Park, Freespace, and Xiqu Centre are must-sees in the West Kowloon Cultural District.

Hong Kong cinema has influenced Hollywood movies, and Hong Kong's cityscape inspired many classics in the cyberpunk genre. Visit Hong Kong Film Archive for restored cinematic treasures and Hong Kong Heritage Museum for specialism exhibitions, where two exhibitions featuring the legendary story of Bruce Lee are on display. And the Avenue of Star is an attraction that pays tribute to those who have made significant contributions to Hong Kong cinema.

Hong Kong is also known as a shopper's paradise and food haven. From luxury shopping malls, outlets, street markets, and shopping areas that cater to specific interests such as toys, preowned watches and cameras, and art and crafts, Hong Kong offers countless shopping trips and Instagrammable places to suit varying personal and lifestyles.

The city is also home to many international events. BODW is Asia's premier annual event on design, innovation and brands. Designpreneurs must take advantage to participate in the international conventions and exhibitions staged in Hong Kong, which are the world's largest, including the electronics, jewellery, gifts, watches & clocks and lighting sectors.

Hong Kong has an established D-school ranked consistently among the top 20 in the world. Its Master of Design programme, recognised as one of the world's best 30 design thinking programs, can be completed in 12 months. Taking up a graduate can be a great way to stay in Hong Kong, broaden one's horizons, and potentially make new connections.

Traditional festivals to celebrate

Dragon Boat Festival & Races

Other time-honoured festivals and traditions in a modern metropolis setting: Cheung Chau Bun Festival, Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance, Hakka Unicorn Dance, Chinese herbal tea, Chinese medicine, Fengshui, Tai chi, and many more.

Stunning urban landscape of an international centre of trade

Hong Kong today is an economy of 7.4 million people with land area of 2,754 km², and part of China of 1.4 billion people.

Iconic skyline of Victoria Harbour

Hong Kong has plenty to offer when it comes to the culinary scene. The diversity ranged from street food and local delicacies to high-end restaurants and Michelin-starred eateries provided by close to 13,000 licensed general restaurants in Hong Kong. Some must-try dishes include dim sum, roast goose, egg tarts, and fusion dishes like Hong Kong-style French toast and pineapple buns.

Foodies Paradise

You can see Hong Kong still uses some tools and systems invented over a century ago. The bamboo scaffolding is widely used in construction and over the years the workers are better equipped with safety gears. The trams run on Hong Kong Island and is the most "affordable, convenient and greenest public transport mode in the city". The entire fleet was refurbished, keeping the original exterior design.

Timeless Classics

PolyU Design: Celebrating 60 Years in Design Education

PolyU Design has been an important hub of design education and research for Hong Kong for 60 years. The School thrives on its geographical position in bridging the East and the West, allowing its students to develop their design strengths with a uniquely international cultural awareness at both professional and social levels.

The School is the sole public-funded provider of design education in Hong Kong that offers undergraduate to taught postgraduate and research degrees in Design in Advertising, Communication, Environment & Interior, Product, Social, Innovative Business, Intelligent Systems, Smart Service, Transitional Environments, Digital/ Interactive Media, and Multimedia & Entertainment Technology.

The School has more than 900 students as of 2024, of which 25 per cent are postgraduate students. While all faculty possess academic qualifications from institutions worldwide, the School maintains an expatriate-to-local ratio of 4:6 for the highest global standard of design education. Our English medium of instruction ensures all teaching and learning are globally applicable.

Students at the School of Design have ample opportunities in collaborative projects and professional networking to connect with industry at all local, mainland China and international levels. They are also part of the world-class research university at PolyU, where their entrepreneurial dreams are easily realised with a broad range of disciplines and funding on campus that support design. They are invited to participate in various student enrichment activities within the campus and beyond in projects that address social and global challenges and contribute to a meaningful cause.

PolyU Master of Design: Developing Game-Changers for the Future

First launched in 2004, PolyU Design's Master of Design (MDes) is well established and was recognised as one of the best in the world. Over almost two decades, MDes has strived to ensure its quality and relevance, nurturing proactive leaders and game-changers for the future of businesses, industries, and society.

Underpinning the MDes is interdisciplinary research and education. We need unique ideas, from dealing with new challenges to rooting out distress and bias. These ideas stem from seeing problems in a new light, from a holistic, systematic perspective. Unsurprisingly, you find our students from not only the art, design, and architecture disciplines but also from science, technology, engineering, business, humanities, medicine, and interdisciplinary studies such as environmental management and technology.

Through various class activities and guidance from the experienced faculty, students work in teams on wicked problems, using Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area (GBA) as a lab to test their solutions.

Students will be benefited from our dynamic network of strong academic and industry partnerships. In any given 7-week period, students may be working in a project team with visiting students, going out to a local area to conduct interviews with its residents for an industry-sponsored project, and using our Material Resource Centre to research materials and workshops to prototype solution ideas.

Taught Postgraduate Degrees offered in 2024/25 Entry

Our English taught, full-time programmes are to be completed in one year. Mainland Chinese and nationals of other others countries will require a student visa to take up our courses.

Master of Design (See all four specialisms)

PolyU Campus

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Feel free to chat with our ambassadors about their courses, projects, extracurricular activities, or why they chose Hong Kong to study design.

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