Clement Young: Changing the World through Design
/ Founder of Bdworkshop
by Christina Lauren | 26 Nov 2019
“A successful design is something that can draw your attention. It makes you want to spend the money to buy it when you see it in the shop”
When it comes to skillsets, Hong Kong-based designer Clement Young has got quite the track record. A multifaceted background, Young implements graphics, logo design, advertising, branding, and typography into his work-- which makes sense, as the creative director has been contributing his ideas to the design industry for over 15 years. Young graduated from the University of Lincoln with a solid education in Network Administration, yet for the graphics guru, it wasn’t enough.
“In the first four years of my career, I was working in Germany, UK, Hong Kong, and China and I did not attend any creative or design related school before becoming a designer,” Young says. Luckily, he continues, “creative thinking always helped a lot with my problem-solving in IT work, so in 2003, I decided to jump into another industry and change my career to Multimedia Design,” he says. It didn’t take long before the wide-eyed entrepreneur was forging his own business. “I founded my own company, Bdworkshop, in 2003 and over the past 16 years we’ve completed over 100 projects in different fields such as branding, packaging, advertising, and exhibition,” the designer tells us. “Now, we are providing our creative services to clientele in Hong Kong and China. We have been awarded many different honors worldwide over the past few years, and we will keep selling our best work to clients in the next 10, 20 and 30 years to come,” he adds.
Where did the road to success begin, and have origins played any significant role in Young’s journey? —we want to know. The designer identifies his roots with “a very small international city with traditional Chinese culture that gave me an international point of view, as well as the freedom to create what I want,” he explains. While climbing the career ladder, most feel muffled by a superior but not Young; in fact, early mentorship greatly impacted the designer’s future in design. “[I had] a former boss from the US who believed creative thinking was more important than skill... soon he employed me as a Multimedia Designer— [He] totally changed my career and my life,” the owner of Bdworkshop says. Speaking of shaping others, this sense of passion plays into his work as well. “I believe that designers are a group of lucky people who can use their creativity to change the world and make lives better. This is my daily motivation as a designer,” says Young.
For the Hong Kong designer, there are two things that fuel his creative mind: what makes him happy and wise words to live by. For the former, the utmost sense of pride and joy stems from how happy Young’s clients are upon seeing his work. To Young, there's no better fulfillment. As for advice he feels is worth repeating to others-- “A successful design is something that can draw your attention. It makes you want to spend the money to buy it when you see it in the shop,” he says.
When Young isn’t relying on his music player for inspiration or drafting a project through the simple steps of sketching, thinking, and testing… he’s asking his kids for advice. That’s right, when asked who’s had the most influence on the design approach, Young says: “My wife and my two kids. I started my own company with my wife; she is always a good listener and provides her point of view on my work from a non-designer point of view. As for my two kids, sometimes I think that they have more creative ideas than me and I like to share my work with them to seek their funny, imaginative comments,” he says. When Young isn’t feigning pride over his family, it’s his career. “To become a designer is the biggest thing I’m proud of,” says Young. Makes sense, as for him, being a designer goes hand in hand with making the world a better place. For example, when we asked: What kind of influences sway your way of thinking? He answered: Just “being a designer. I trust that every designer has a mission to make people’s lives better.” Well said, Young. We couldn’t agree more.
What can we hope to see more from Young in the future? The answer’s easy for someone who has been in the business as long as he has. “Produce more great TV commercials and work with different clientele from different industries on branding,” Bdworkshop’s founder says. Lastly, on his experience at the 2019 Indigo Award ceremony in Malaga, Spain, Young says: “I was happy to be there and meet with a lot of designers from around the world. It gave me a chance to visit this beautiful city which I have never been to. [All in all] A very good experience!” To learn more about Young and his wide-ranging achievements, visit www.bdworkshop.com.
