Gabriella Lai
Hand written receipts from Kuang Tek Tang Dispensary, the predecessor of Louie Ming Chun in 1930-1940s. Courtesy of HKDI Graphic Archive.
Research Showcase of ‘Designing Well-beings: Everyday Consumption’ during the first HKDI Graphic Archive Symposium, Hong Kong Design Institute, 2025. Photo courtesy of Gabriella Lai.
Gabriella’s research explores how graphic design has shaped the everyday lives in Hong Kong in the realm of buying and selling from the 1940s to the 1980s. Consumption is an integral part of urban life, and over the decades the shifting consumer needs paralleled Hong Kong’s rapid economic and societal transformation. Artifacts accumulated in graphic archive, such as banknotes, bills, printed advertisements, and brand ephemera are examined to explore how they intersect to shape purchasing behaviors and expectations within their historical context. By exploring the origins and functions of design in everyday consumption, the project reveals how it enhances communication while interweaving social fabric and shaping visions of well-being.
Gabriella’s research explores how graphic design has shaped the everyday lives in Hong Kong in the realm of buying and selling from the 1940s to the 1980s. Consumption is an integral part of urban life, and over the decades the shifting consumer needs paralleled Hong Kong’s rapid economic and societal transformation. Artifacts accumulated in graphic archive, such as banknotes, bills, printed advertisements, and brand ephemera are examined to explore how they intersect to shape purchasing behaviors and expectations within their historical context. By exploring the origins and functions of design in everyday consumption, the project reveals how it enhances communication while interweaving social fabric and shaping visions of well-being.
- 2024
- Fellow: Gabriella Lai
Gabriella Lai is a graphic designer based in Hong Kong. Her expanded practice involves research and curation. Previously working with a design studio in Cape Town and an artist collective in Rotterdam, she is currently working with a curatorial institution on crafting cultural experiences. Besides design commissions, Gabriella explores food through conceptual thinking and cultural sensitivity. In 2020, she learned to make bamboo steamers from a local master and was an ambassador of Food Design Nation. She is also a contributor to Food Design Voices 2022. Gabriella holds a B.A. in Communication Design from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Design Trust Graphic Archive Research Fellowship examines the origins, emergence, and development of the graphic design profession in Hong Kong and the region between 1945 and 1985. Design Trust proudly partners with HKDI to support this fellowship which will culminate in an exhibition planned for 2028.
From 2024 to 2026, three fellowships will be awarded consecutively to conduct a portion of the research project under an overarching theme, focusing on the different aspects of or sub-themes of graphic design. Attached to HKDI’s Graphic Archive for six months, each Fellow will work independently on their assigned sub-theme, but also with HKDI staff and students, with opportunities to be mentored by a panel of world-renowned experts on the subject.