Cao Zhen caozhen0806@126.com AUSTRIAN graphic designer Henry Steiner, recognized as the “father of Hong Kong graphic design,” is exhibiting his exciting design works and collections at the “Henry Steiner • Graphic Communicator” exhibition in Sea World Culture and Arts Center in Shekou. Hosted by Design Society, the retrospective exhibition showcases 85 sets of brand designs including from HSBC, Hong Kong Jockey Club, Taikoo Cube Sugar and Hong Kong Hilton; around 90 books and magazines including Far Eastern Economic Review and Yale Literary Magazine; about 60 posters of events, such as Hong Kong International Music Festival and Vienna State Opera; and HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank’s banknotes, as well as a set of precious design manuscripts, all created by Steiner. Having been in Hong Kong for 58 years, Steiner is internationally acclaimed for incorporating Eastern cultural symbols into Western design. But at the opening of the exhibition Saturday, the humble designer repeatedly stressed that an ideal design solution should reflect the client’s personality, not the designer’s. “I hate the word ‘style.’ I prefer people saying ‘that’s HSBC’ or ‘that’s Standard Chartered Bank’ to saying ‘that’s whose design,’” said Steiner at a talk before the exhibition opened. “Designers should communicate with clients and analyze and solve their problems. As a profession, design is a modest one, useful but not terribly prestigious, somewhere between that of an architect and a tailor.” Born in 1934 in Vienna and growing up in the United States, Steiner studied painting at Hunter College in New York and then enrolled for a master’s degree in graphic design at Yale University to study with Paul Rand. He furthered his studies at Sorbonne University in Paris, France. He then returned to New York City and worked as design director for The Asia Magazine. In 1961, Steiner signed a nine-month contract for the magazine’s launch in Hong Kong and then stayed for more than half a century. He quoted his Yale classmate Alan Fletcher as saying that “A designer tries to solve his client’s problems, while an artist tries to solve his own problems.” “As a designer, I prefer receiving assignments to making them up. This explains my discomfort with painting. I have no message to offer the world. But I love to solve communication problems for others,” Steiner added. The exhibition’s curator Jumping He said that the significance of Steiner in Chinese contemporary graphic design is like that of Western imperial artists in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) who mixed Western painting styles with Chinese themes and taste. “People all over the world have enjoyed Steiner’s design works. In fact, his designs are part of Hong Kongers’ daily lives,” said Hong Kong graphic designer Stanley Wong. Small daily items from Steiner’s personal collections which have influenced his design are also on display. A number of interview documentaries are also screened at the exhibition. Dates: Until June 20 Tickets: 50 yuan Venue: Shenzhen UCCN Gallery, 2/F, Sea World Culture and Arts Center, Shekou, Nanshan District (南山区蛇口海上世界文化艺术中心二楼联合国教科文组织展馆) Metro: Line 2 to Sea World Station (海上世界站), Exit A | 