Interview with Connie Lau Tsz Ki | A Global Design Perspective From Hong Kong to Europe

I am a visual designer and content creator currently based in Hong Kong, and sometimes and previously in the UK and other countries in Europe. I have been helping brands and companies to deliver their business strategies by planning and creating both visual and textual content.

Recently, I have been handling design projects in packaging for the fine pastry brand Les Lunes à Deux Limited, which has given me an opportunity to participate in the London Design Awards 2024 with my latest work — the Chinese New Year Deluxe Gift Box Sleeve.

To put it in short, working as a designer offers me endless opportunities to express my creativity and also makes a positive impact. Design is everywhere in our lives, especially as the industry deals with creativity and innovation.

Les Lunes à Deux is a fine pastry brand specialising in festive pastries that embody a sense of luxury and joy in every celebration. As a designer, I create engaging and innovative packaging designs that effectively showcase the brand's products and appeal to the target audience.

To me, "design" means a lot — it is a way for each of us to express ourselves and create something larger than who we are; it is about communicating feelings through visual sensations and unique experiences; it is also a problem-solving with strategic planning and analytical thinking to achieve outcomes through complex processes.

Mine is "Communication Design" in terms of visual design by the form of packaging, at the moment for what I am doing. It's just because I simply love and enjoy what I am doing.

A good design is not just about being aesthetic, but a balance of form, function and user-centred design principles. It would be even better if a design had positive impacts on human lives.

The packaging design of the Deluxe Gift Box focuses on the box sleeve. It is rendered in a combination of tactile film for the exterior and hot-stamping foil for the interior. The use of tactile film creates a sense of touch while the application of thick layers of ink in different heights builds a structured base on which the colour/CMYK print is finally applied.

All these give you increased attention and longer engagement which have also been scientifically proven that appealing to more than one sense leads to better neuronal cross-linking and memory storage in the brain. To further elevate the design, the exterior is screened in a red-grey gradient hue.

Built around a monochromatic palette with the shade of “grey” for the brand identity, the design is enriched with a festive touch of “red” blended with grey as a two-coloured gradient. The exterior is also highlighted with a half octagon as one of the brand’s visual elements in the printing method of hot foil stamping, flaunting a holographic effect and injecting a dash of modern-luxe into the packaging.

The adoption of hot-stamping foil for the interior simply symbolises “hologram” as part of the branding. The foil film gives a glossy finish and a holographic effect same as the half-octagon. Overall, the box sleeve is a big film which can be wrapped resembling a belt closure and the box packaging is executed in a sleek, modern and minimalist construction. CNY Deluxe Gift Box is an embodiment of LLD’s fine pastries with a modern twist.

I am a minimalist and I believe the sense of minimalism is blended in the brand's DNA/ethos, which has led me to create the Deluxe Gift Box Sleeve design.

Yes, more or less. Chinese New Year is such a big festive event in the Chinese-speaking countries and regions. The design process was often involved in the visual elements of the Chinese festivities.

Definitely, it means a lot to me as the creator and to my entire team supporting me for the design and execution. We feel honoured and encouraged to have received this award and to work even harder to create meaningful packagings with positive impacts in future.

It is in fact my first ever packaging design in real execution coming to the market, and I chose this to participate in the London Design Awards simply because it marks my first project in the packaging area.

There were many. Since it's my first packaging design project, there were mistakes and errors due to the lack of solid experience in printing. But I studied and researched a lot while communicating with the printing house to try to fuse my creativity and imagination into the real execution of printing and producing the end-product.

I think it will be a great encouragement to help me further pursue my design career, with no doubt, and it helps me become a better designer.

1. Be Creative: Turning ideas into designs. I enjoy applying my creativity in my work/job.

2. It can be a Collaborative Effort: I am not alone. Sometimes I have other designer or creative friends. It’s always a great idea to get a fresh, outside perspective on a project, especially if I'm feeling stuck.

3. Sense of Accomplishment: I can get to see my work on display/in real execution, whether through social media/websites as online design or product packagings as printed design.

I can't say I am so unique with my design works but I believe blending a brand's DNA/ethos in the design would always be a consistent design in terms of branding and make the brand stand out from others.

It's already happening that AI technology is implemented and highly immersed in design. Since AI is going to be mostly about optimisation and speed, designers working with AI can create designs faster and more cheaply due to the increased speed and efficiency it offers. But I am unsure if and how fast AI can or will fully replace designers.

I think it's crucial to think about what a "good design" means to you and what you want to deliver to your target audience. Conducting research is always recommended before putting your ideas into your design.

I would say always get yourself updated on the market trends and upgrade yourself with design programme skills, apart from your design sense, knowledge and creativity.

Since I was not working as a designer in the beginning of my career, back to some years ago I didn't expect I would become one and I'm curious to see how far I will get in future.

Some designer friends in different design areas have inspired me to become a designer. I see them as my role models and to me they're successful ones so I was wondering if I could be like them one day, and then I was preparing myself to be a designer until now, I'm really working as one.

Success requires dedication, passion and effort.

Again, my team and I are just grateful to have this opportunity to present our festive packaging work in the London Design Awards.