For more than 40 years, Alan Chan and his company Alan Chan Design have been at the forefront of Hong Kong’s creative industry. The artist and brand consultant looks back on his journey and teases a new arts club in the city
What was life like as a young man in Hong Kong?
I had a lovely childhood. I was born and raised here. My father is from mainland China and my mother is from Macau. I came from [nothing] and I didn’t have any family support. My father never went to school. My mother only had a primary school education. [My skills] are self-taught. I never really had a luxurious life, but I’m blessed. It’s because of [my upbringing] that I really treasure everything: the things I own, how I treat others and how they treat me.
How did your journey in design begin?
In the 1950s, my father owned a shop on Hennessy Road in Wan Chai selling imported fruits from the US, and I was his assistant. We lived behind the shop on the mezzanine floor [of the building]. My father worked hard and he was artistic too. He would join the leftover fruit crates together to make door panels, doors and art deco locking systems. Even the way he would display the fruits and vegetables was artistic. He was also skilled at Chinese calligraphy—he totally influenced my design aesthetic. The shop was five minutes away from the local cinema where all the Shaw Brothers’ movies were shown. In the cinema foyer, there were A4 posters of the movies playing displayed across the walls. I used to try to sketch [these posters] and even did my own original sketches. I was 15 and realised I loved to draw and design.
Did you ever think your work would take you this far?
I had no idea. I didn’t even know there was a word called “design” when I was younger. Back in the 1960s, there weren’t even [courses] at school that existed for design. I studied chemistry and biology. All my siblings were teachers and they would tell me about their steady salaries and pensions, so when I finished secondary school at age 19, I was sent to become a part-time teacher for pregnant women in government schools. I did this for ten months and I found it incredibly boring.
How did your early years working in creative agencies shape your designs?
[When I was younger,] I secretly applied to all the top creative agencies in town. I finally got a job at Grant Advertising International at Prince’s Building. They took me in as a trainee as I spoke reasonably good English. In the 1970s, all the art departments [of these companies] were run by middle-aged men who didn’t speak much English. I was hired to assist a very senior Australian art director and I learnt so much. He taught me how to appreciate the East from a western perspective.
The east-meets-west approach to your designs has become synonymous with your brand. What do you think makes it such a success?
There was such an influx of young expats in Hong Kong in the 1970s and 1980s from the US and Australia. They came for discovery and exploration, and were so enthusiastic about Hong Kong. What the locals took for granted, like dim sum baskets, chopsticks and bird cages, the expats loved. They took photos of it. All the things that we thought were clichéd were very exciting to them. It made me start looking at local things from a completely western perspective and I rediscovered their charm. So, I fine-tuned my designs in a way that spoke to westerners.
I’ve been working in Hong Kong, mainland China and Japan for the last 40 years and the reason my [clients have chosen me] is because [my work] is able to speak to the cultural heritage [of Asia] in a way the west can understand. The company has won 600 local and international awards, and even local designers are inspired by our work.
You have designed album covers for Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui, as well as iconic logos for brands like Canton Disco, Seiko, City’super and Fancl. Which project has left the biggest mark on you?
I started Alan Chan Design at 30. I’m an old man now—I’m 73. I don’t need to be too humble about what I’ve achieved in the past 43 years. There are so many projects that have left a mark on me. When I started Alan Chan Design after working at the agency, I had a lot of clients who still wanted to work with me. I loved fashion and I worked on many fashion campaigns for Joyce boutique, Boutique Bazaar and the Swank shop. This positioned me as a glamorous, high-society designer. Simultaneously, I worked on the visual identify for Canton Disco—even the younger generations know about that because of their parents. That was one of our most famous campaigns in the music industry. In the 1980s, I was also the stylist for Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung. Ninety per cent of their records and concert promotions were done by me. Those projects really put me in the mass market.
