Dream Big and Declare It Loudly! LOUDER X HKDI “LOUDER Entrepreneurship” Competition Results Unveiled, Boosting Local Design Industry Growth
January 31, 2024
A New Year, A New Vision!
What are your big plans for the new year? Shout them out loud! Local retail platform LOUDER, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI), hosted the thrilling “LOUDER Entrepreneurship” initiative. Through an intense elimination-style competition, HKDI students unleashed their creativity, experiencing the full entrepreneurial journey—from product design and production to sales. This hands-on challenge offered a taste of the competitive commercial market, blending fun with invaluable learning. The reality-show-style competition has concluded, and the awards ceremony has just taken place. Curious about the winners? Who embodied the entrepreneurial spirit? Who claimed the title of “Profit King”? Let’s dive into the results!
LOUDER provided funding and sales channels for the “LOUDER Entrepreneurship” reality show, inviting four local design brands they partner with—Someday Stationery, Shiba Van Gogh, Wulichacha, and JARDIN DES FONTAINES—to mentor the contestants. These mentors collaborated with advancing students to launch products for the competition. HKDI fielded 12 student teams, with every three teams vying for one coveted spot to work with a brand mentor. On elimination day, students pitched their product concepts to the brand founders, showcasing their skills. Selected teams had to complete production within a tight deadline and sell their designs at four LOUDER stores during the Christmas peak season. The competition featured various awards testing creativity, salesmanship, and more, with the team earning the highest profit securing the ultimate grand prize!
Learning by Doing: Mentors Turn Challenges into Opportunities
On elimination day last September, each brand mentor selected one student team to guide on their entrepreneurial path. The production process was a series of hurdles overcome with resilience. For instance, Yuki Luk’s team (Traveller), chosen by Shiba Van Gogh, faced issues with T-shirt and tote bag prototypes, where colors deviated from their vision and printed text quality fell short. Similarly, Isaac Ng’s team (Isaac), selected by Someday Stationery, impressed judges with their humorous “Whirlwind Shiba Punch” notebook concept but struggled during production, lagging behind and initially failing to secure a manufacturer. With mentor guidance, both teams successfully launched their products.
JARDIN DES FONTAINES X Smart桐學
The other two brand mentors also offered critical advice. JARDIN DES FONTAINES selected Cheuk-lam Lin and Kai-tung Chung (Smart桐學), who designed multiple phone case concepts but faced budget constraints limiting production to just over a dozen units per design. Mentors Yoyo and Mon advised focusing on popular styles to maximize cost-efficiency. Likewise, due to time and budget limitations, Zixi Su and Keiyu Hung (Kei搞笑), working with Wulichacha, abandoned their initial earphone case idea, pivoting to produce luggage straps and tags. All four advancing teams successfully launched their products before the deadline, ready to test their retail and sales prowess.
Awards Announced: The Journey Reveals Strength, Winning Is Just the Start
The Christmas season is a retail battleground, and LOUDER leveraged this “golden period” to immerse students in fierce market competition. On launch day in mid-November, the four teams personally set up their products at LOUDER stores. Three LOUDER locations (The LOHAS, Telford Plaza, and The Wai) featured voting boxes for the “Favorite Christmas Gift Award,” where teams campaigned for two days, using their sales skills to win customer votes for a HK$10,000 MTR mall voucher prize. Who earned the first wave of acclaim? Drumroll, please—the “Favorite Christmas Gift Award” went to Kei搞笑! They also clinched the “Speak Up Entrepreneurial Spirit Award” via Instagram votes. Congratulations! Reflecting on their win, Zixi Su and Keiyu Hung of Kei搞笑 shared, “The key is daring to try! Trying opens opportunities!” As painting majors, they never imagined entrepreneurship would connect to their lives. “It was tough, but after diving in, we found it surprisingly fun. This experience opens new paths for us to create more.”
Additionally, during elimination day, judges Brian Chan and Sica Ho awarded the “Most Creative Marketing Strategy Award” to the Yushou team and the “Most Creative Product Design Award” to the Fairy Focus Group. Though neither advanced, their creativity left a lasting impression. Songxin Lu of Yushou said the award fuels her drive to pursue design, while Ying-tung Cheuk and Xiaoxin Chen of Fairy Focus Group called the win a confidence boost, empowering them to bring future concepts to life.
After a fierce Christmas sales battle, the “LOUDER Entrepreneurship” “Highest Profit Grand Prize” went to Yuki Luk’s Traveller team, proving their creativity and products won real market support. Yuki expressed disbelief: “I never thought we’d win—I was stunned hearing my name!” The award validated her, typically introverted, boosting her confidence to create boldly.
LOUDER Elevates Local Designers, Encouraging Support for Hong Kong Creations
“Hong Kong has many talented designers who often lack a platform to showcase their work,” said LOUDER General Manager Irene, explaining the initiative’s origins. With physical stores in high-traffic MTR malls, LOUDER offers a low-barrier platform for consignment sellers, increasing exposure for local designers—an ideal opportunity for aspiring design students.
LOUDER Deputy General Manager Tiffany added, “Seeing these students reminds us of ourselves starting out. Their passion and dedication to their original products inspire us to keep going.”
Want to support local design and original brands? Visit LOUDER to purchase unique creations by Hong Kong designers! Local brands produce in smaller quantities, making prices higher than mass-produced goods, but paying a bit more for a cherished original design is the best way to support local creativity. As they say, “Actions speak loudest”—so act on your inspiration!
Official Source: Hong Kong Economic Times - UHK Lifestyle
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