The first SND Hong Kong summit was held in the brand new South China Morning Post offices with attendees flying in from South and North America, Russia, Western Europe and of course, Asia.
There is clearly a thirst for knowledge about news design, particularly for infographics and the conference brought together some big names in visual journalism to share their insights.
Darren Long, Head of Graphics and Magazine Design for the SCMP and a director for SND Region 19- Asia, South-Pacific, organized the event with his talented team mates.
Darren Long, Head of Graphics and Magazine Design for the SCMP and a director for SND Region 19- Asia, South-Pacific
“We knew there was an appetite in the region’s design community to discuss visual journalism, but we had no idea just how hungry people were. To sell out the event, two weeks in advance for the workshop, was beyond our wildest dreams” says Long.
Speakers from National Geographic, Reuters, Graphic News, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, AFP and SCMP shared their experience and knowledge in a full day conference from 10 am to 7 pm. After the conference, a two-day workshop followed at the Journalism and Media Studie Centre at the University of Hong kong. Conducted by Adolfo Arranz, Marcelo Duhalde, Marco Hernandez, Pablo Robles and Dennis Wong the group divided into teams and worked together to build a visual story from field trips around the city.
The Friday conference kicked off with Adolfo Arranz from SCMP sharing his process of how his amazing graphics evolve from preparatory sketches into to the final product, step by step…
Simon Scarr from Reuters revealed how their multimedia graphics are produced; the challenges his team to deal with in areas like automation, the sources… everything.
Sung-hwan Jang from Seoul introduced his delightful infographic posters, which are creatively folded into a monthly magazine supplement.
The main impression from the summit was of sincere, open and honest talk about the daily routines of the speakers. Alberto Lucas Lopez from National Geographic talked about the challenges of working in that prestigious magazine, famous for some of the world’s best quality graphics. Never one to rest on his laurels he continues to excels with each new task the magazine throws his way
The conference was possible due to the generosity of the sponsors, South China Morning Post and the University of Hong Kong.
SND recognises the incredible work from the SNDHK organizers: Darren Long, Adolfo Arranz, Marcelo Duhalde, Marco Hernandez, Pablo Robles and Dennis Wong
What they say
I am engineer and I want start make graphics and maps and learn how to gathering data. The Hong Kong summit and conference was a good opportunity to meet professionals from the industry and learn more from them”
Kazunari Saitou, Techinical Director – Network and Digital News Division – NHK – Nippon Hoso Kyokai – Japan
I had a great time, I learn a lot at the summit, but the networking after the event was a really amazing experience to talk with the attendees and learn with them their work and life experiences.
Myoyoung Kim – Infographic designer, CEO, Vice Versa Design Studio, Korea
The workshop format was interesting, although quite long. My most important take way is the importance of sketching before the execution, don’t require technology for doing it and it’s helped a lot in the final process to deliver the final design.
Giorgio Olivero, Freelance designer based in Hong Kong
On the first day I learn a lot from different approaches from big to small data infographics and the workshop was a good experience to work together with different people.
Sandra Yang, Student – Taiwan
The Infographic Summit plus two days workshop was a very refreshing and inspiring experience for me. During these 3 days, I had a chance to meet the best infographic designers from around the world and learn from them. I’m already looking forward to the next summit if there’s a next one!”
Kit, OiKeat Lam, Senior Designer, Asian Scientist Magazine – Singapore
