Brian Kwok is Associate Professor at the School of Design of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). He has more than a decade of teaching experience in design-related subjects, which includes ten years of post-qualification university teaching experience at PolyU. He is Programme Leader of Communication Design and a Lab Leader of the Information Design Lab of PolyU. Brian received his formal education in Visual Communication Design in US and obtained MA in Design from the PolyU, MA in Visual Culture Studies and MPhil in Communication from the Chinese University of Hong Kong respectively.
In 2011, Brian co-founded the Information Design Lab, which aims at conducting academic research as well as practical consulting projects of information design practice. The Lab is currently focusing its works on various projects such as the research of effective medicine label design, wayfinding and spatial representation in Hong Kong, information design for tourism and visual culture of neon signs.
Prior to joining PolyU, Brian was a senior user experience designer and worked in various multimedia design firms and advertising agencies for years such as Yahoo! Ltd. (Asia region), Centro Digital Pictures Ltd., New World Telecommunications Ltd., OgilvyOne Interactive Hong Kong, BBDO Advertising Agency and Radio Television Hong Kong.
Information Design Lab
Hong Kong Neon Archive
Peer Reviewed Journals
Kwok, B. S. H. (2021). Vernacular Design: a History of Hong Kong Neon Signs, Journal of Design History, epab017. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1093/jdh/epab017
Kwok, B. S. H. (2020). The Imageable City – Visual language of Hong Kong neon lights deconstructed. The Design Journal, 23(4), 625–645. doi: 10.1080/14606925.2020.1768770. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2020.1768770
Kwok, B. S. H. (2019). Spatial Tactics of Hong Kong Street Hawkers: A Case Study of Fa Yuen Street. Visual Ethnography, 8(1), 44–61. doi: 10.12835/ve2019.1-0121. Retrieved from http://www.vejournal.org/index.php/vejournal/article/view/189
Kwok, B. S. H. (2018). Landscape of Light: Chinese Typography and Visual Communication on Hong Kong's Neon Signs. Hong Kong Journal of Social Science, 52, 73–97.
Kwok, B. S. H. (2018). Accessibility and Legibility for the Elderly in Hong Kong: An Empirical Study of Chinese Typographic Cues on Prescribed Medicine Labelling. The Design Journal, 21(4), 625–645. doi: 10.1080/14606925.2018.1469330.
Kwok, B. S. H., & Coppoolse, A. (2018). Hues on a Shell: Cyber-Dystopia and the Hong Kong Façade in the Cinematic City. WiderScreen Journal. Retreived from http://hdl.handle.net/10397/76929
Kwok, B. S. H., & Coppoolse, A. (2018). Hong Kong Skins: Signs and Screens in a Changing Cityscape. Visual Communication, 17(1), 71–90. doi: 10.1177/1470357217723210.
Kwok, B. S. H. (2017). Legibility of medicine labels: user studies on Chinese typefaces and font size for senior citizens in Hong Kong. Information Design Journal, 22(3), 202–220. doi: 10.1075/idj.22.3.02kwo.
Kwok, B. S. H., & Coppoolse, A. (2017). Illuminography: A Survey of the Pictorial Language of Hong Kong’s Neon Signs. Visible Language, 51(1), 88–111. Retreived from http://visiblelanguagejournal.com/issue/242/article/1622
Kwok, B. S. H. (2015). Visual representation of patriotism: a case study of Chinese national education television advertisements in Hong Kong. Visual Communication, 14(4), 397–422. doi: 10.1177/1470357215593846.
Publications
Kwok, B. S. H. (Forthcoming). The Sewing Techniques of Hong Kong-style Cheongsam and Kwan Kwa Wedding Costume [Tentative Title]《雲想衣裳 —香港中式長衫與裙褂的工藝和美學傳承》.
Kwok, B. S. H. (Forthcoming). Illuminating Neon — The craftsmanship and aesthetics of Hong Kong neon signs [Tentative Title]《閃爍霓虹 —香港霓虹招牌工藝與美學》.
Kwok, B. S. H. (Forthcoming). Fading Neon Lights: An Archive of Hong Kong’s Visual Culture. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press.
Kwok, B. S. H. (2020). City of Scripts – The Craftsmanship of Vernacular lettering in Hong Kong《字型城市 —— 香港造字匠》. Funded by the Hong Kong Art Development Council. Hong Kong: Joint Publishing (HK) Co. Ltd. ISBN: 9789620446702
Kwok, B. S. H. (2018). Fading of Neon Lights: Documentation of Hong Kong Streets’ Visual Culture [Translated title]《霓虹黯色 —— 香港街道視覺文化記錄》. Funded by the Hong Kong Art Development Council. Hong Kong: Joint Publishing (HK) Co. Ltd. ISBN: 9789620443770
Kwok, B. S. H. (2016). I am a Street Ethnologist: Street Culture in Fa Yuen Street [Translated title]《我是街道觀察員 —— 花園街的文化地景》. Funded by the Hong Kong Art Development Council. Hong Kong: Joint Publishing (HK) Co. Ltd. ISBN: 9789620439759
Peer Reviewed Conferences and Proceedings
Kwok, B. S. H. (2019). From Observing Beans to Serving the Elderly: Prototyping Medication Administration for The Elderly in Hong Kong. Presented at DRS Learn X Design 2019: Fifth International Conference for Design Education Researchers, Ankara, Turkey, 9–12 July 2019.
Kwok, B. S. H., & Tang, G. K.Y. (2019). How does the visual communication of cigarette warning labels matter? An investigation of the effectiveness of different frames and pictorial warnings labels on cigarette package. Presented at The 7th International Conference on Typography & Visual Communication (ICTVC), Patras, Greece, 19–21 June 2019.
Kwok, B. S. H. (2019). Dis/re-appearance of vernacular Chinese letterform of Beiwei Kaishu in Hong Kong. Presented at Typoday Conference 2019, Mumbai, India, 2–4 March 2019.
Kwok, B. S. H., & Coppoolse, A. (2017). Illuminography: A Survey of the Pictorial Language of Hong Kong’s Neon Signs. Presented at the 2016/2017 Hong Kong Studies Annual Conference, Hong Kong, 8 December 2017.
Kwok, B. S. H. (2017). Communication Design Project: Re-designing Medicine Administration. Presented at Design 4 Health Conference 2017, Melbourne, Australia, 4–7 December 2017.
Kwok, B. S. H. (2017). Spatial tactics of Hong Kong street hawkers: A case study of Fa Yuen Street. Presented at Visualising the City: The 5th International Visual Methods Conference, Singapore, 16–18 August 2017.
Kwok, B. S. H. & Coppoolse, A. (2017). Hong Kong Highlights: a story of signs and streets, told through pictorial imagery. Presented at Visualising the City: The 5th International Visual Methods Conference, Singapore, 16–18 August 2017.
Kwok, B. S. H. (2017). Exploring the diversity of Chinese typography of Hong Kong’s neon signs. Presented at Typoday Conference 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 23–25 February 2017.
Kwok, B. S. H., & Coppoolse, A. (2016). Signs of Desire: consumption and urban space in Hong Kong. Presented at Crossroads in Cultural Studies 2016, Sydney, Australia, 14–17 December 2016.
Kwok, B. S. H. (2016). Visual and spatial culture of Hong Kong Neon Signs. Presented at The 7th Conference on Hong Kong Culture and Society 2016, Hong Kong, 12 November 2016.
Kwok, B. S. H. (2016). Visual identity of Cosplay in Hong Kong. Presented at The 7th Conference on Hong Kong Culture and Society 2016, Hong Kong, 12 November 2016.
Kwok, B. S. H. (2016). Exploring the vernacular visual languages and typography of Hong Kong’s neon signs. Presented at The 6th International Conference on Typography & Visual Communication (ICTVC), Thessaloniki, Greece, 5–9 July 2016.
Kwok, B. S. H. (2016). Examining the legibility of Chinese typefaces in medicine labels for elderly people. Presented at Typoday Conference 2016, Bangalore, India, 25–27 February 2016.
Kwok, B. S. H. (2016). Exploring the visual representations of neon signs and its vernacular tacit knowledge of neon making. Presented at ICCVAD 2016: International Conference on Communication, Visual Arts and Design, Istanbul, Turkey, 15–16 February 2016.
Kwok, B. S. H. (2013). Advertising Patriotism on Television: the Comparison Study of National Anthem TV Campaign in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Presented at Annual Conference on Social Studies, Communication and Education (ACSSC), Okinawa, Japan, 21–23 November 2013.
Kwok, B. S. H. (2013). To Promote Patriotism and Enhance National Identity Through TV Advertisement: the Hong Kong Case of National Anthem TV Announcements in the Public Interest. Presented at International Conference on Communication, Visual Arts and Design (ICCVAD), Istanbul, Turkey, 20–21 June 2013.
Kwok, B. S. H. (2012). Spatial strategic and tactic at hawker stalls in Fa Yuen Street. Presented at Symposium on Hong Kong Culture and Society 2012, CUHK, Hong Kong, 12 November 2012.
Kwok, B. S. H. (2012). Typography on medicine labels: User studies on typeface, type size and spatial cueing for senior citizens in Hong Kong. Presented at The 56th edition of the AtypI International Conference, Hong Kong, 10–14 October 2012.
Kwok, B. S. H. (2012). Designing Effective Medicine Labels for Senior Citizens in Hong Kong. Presented at The 30th edition of the Information Design Conference, Greenwich, London, United Kingdom, 13 April 2012.