* DESIGNER OF
THE YEAR 2012
Hanson Ho is an award-winning creative director of Singapore-based design studio H55, which he founded in 1999. Since then, Mr Ho has created numerous visual identities, brand applications and publications that have represented Singapore at an international level. These include the visual identity design for the Singapore Pavilion at various Venice Biennales, and the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize.
Named one of the top graphic designers in Singapore in The Sunday Times, Mr Ho has received recognition and awards from some of the most prestigious international design competitions including the D&AD in London, Type Directors Club in New York and Tokyo, One Show Design, Creative Circle Awards, and the New York Art Directors Club.
Apart from the multiple roles he plays at H55, Mr Ho is also the curator for Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit Art in Transit programme for nine of the upcoming Downtown Line (DTL) stations, and is managing editor for The Design Society Journal.
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INDEPENDENCE: THE HISTORY OF GRAPHIC DESIGN IN SINGPORE SINCE THE 1960S
Book design.
A REPRESENTATION OF A SKETCH OF A STRIPED T-SHIRT
1000 SINGAPORES: VENICE BIENNALE
Logo and identity design.
LEE KUAN YEW WORLD CITY PRIZE
Logo and identity design.
NOISE SINGAPORE CAMPAIGN
Graphics and book design.
ONG SIEW MAY DISTINGUISHED LECTURE SERIES
Identity design, book series and poster.
RABBIT BOX SET, 2002
Packaging and booklet.
RABBIT: FILL-IN-THE-BLANKS T-SHIRT
RABBIT+RED FOX: RRRRRISKY ADVENTURES AT COMME DES GARÇONS GUERRILLA STORE +65
Character and packaging.
SNORE LOUDER IF YOU CAN
Book.
THE DESIGN SOCIETY JOURNAL
Covers and selected pages.
THE DESIGN SOCIETY JOURNAL
THE SANDWICH SHOP
Logo and identity design.
Insights from the Recipient
Advice to Emerging Designers
1. Be honest with yourself.
2. Be objective, focused, and purposeful.
3. Creativity is about constantly finding and understanding yourself.
4. Know what motivates and inspires you.
5. Understand your relationship with design, work and money, and what they ultimately mean to you.
6. Let go of your mental baggages and old mindsets and be progressive.
7. Take risks, displace yourself from time to time.
8. Do not be sentimental, embrace change.
9. Spend thousands of hours practising design.
10. Be in an environment that allows you to grow.
Citation
Jury Citation
Hanson Ho is one of the most articulate and intelligent designers practising today. He brings style, class, economy, purity and method to his work that few of his contemporaries can achieve.
Hanson’s body of work is consistently based on simple truth and logic. He expresses every element with simplicity, restraint and intelligence — very much in keeping with his personality.
Hanson sets a new standard for designers who wish to be nominated and recognised for the Designer of the Year.
VIEW JURORSNominator Citation
JUSTIN ZHUANG
WRITER
IN PLAIN WORDS
In his work as well as contributions to the country’s design landscape, Hanson has demonstrated to this small city-state that size is no limitation to good design and the impact it can exert. In fact, a good analogy for Hanson’s studio is Singapore itself. Both are small and lacking in resources, but with good governance, an independent spirit, and a keen awareness of the social, economic and cultural conditions one exists in, creativity can flourish and bear diverse offerings that are world standard. Hanson’s all encompassing approach — as a designer, a business owner, an administrator, a member of society and an individual — in any project he undertakes makes him a complete designer, and a deserving recipient of the President’s Design Award.
