Freeman Lau

Graphic Designer; Product/Industrial Designer / China / Kan & Lau Design Consultants, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Beijing

Freeman Lau’s Book List

When I was growing up in Hong Kong, books played a vital role in providing a glimpse of what life was like in mainland China. Back then, China was still a closed country and we had no photographs or visual reference points as to what life was like there. History books, for example, were composed of monotonous prose, which made history classes extremely boring. It was through publications like the Wuxia novels (traditional Chinese fiction centered on the martial arts) that we imagined the mountains of China, the scenery, and how people dwelled there. It was immensely fascinating for us.

Later on, I started to understand and appreciate design as a tool for learning. This is how and why I became a designer: the Wuxia novels raised an initial curiosity about Chinese culture, and design is a bridge between culture and creativity—an idea that has influenced me ever since.

I have recently developed an interest in Chinese tea and bamboo culture, which I am learning more about through locally sourced (Chinese and Taiwanese) books. The knowledge gathered from these books will be used to inform my upcoming design projects. Design and books for me, therefore, are intertwined entities.

劉小康的書單

我從小在香港長大，書是我了解中國內地生活的重要途徑。那時中國還未開放，沒有任何圖片或影像可供參考。比如歷史書，充斥着單調的文字敘述，歷史課因此十分枯燥無味。是各種出版物，比如武俠小說，打開了我們的想象，讓我們看到了中國的山水風景，以及人們的生活日常。大家都深深沈迷其中。

後來，我逐漸開始了解設計，欣賞設計，並將其作為學習工具。這就是我成為設計師的原因：武俠小說喚醒了我對中國文化的好奇，而設計是連接文化與創意的橋梁－它自此以後一直深深影響着我。

我最近對中國的茶和竹文化很有興趣，看了很多相關書籍，學到不少。這些領悟都將反映在我未來的設計項目中。設計和書對我來說，相輔相成，密不可分。

Chinese translation by Lynn Zhang.

Nonfiction, Reference

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Louis Kahn: The Importance of a Drawing

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Edited by Michael Merrill
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Published: October 2021

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