1. Hello! Introduce yourself, who are you? What do you do?

I am Dickson Wong, a senior graphic designer at Marks London, and have been working in the industry for a little more than 12 years. I work on various parts of consumer branding projects, from concept creation to full pack layout and recently, an increasing amount of storyboarding.

2. Tell us more about your design practice and style? What forms of design do you enjoy the most?

I truly believe that good design always comes from good strategy, and that good strategy always starts with good research. I understand it is somewhat romantic to think that my work can be defined by a specific style, but as a designer - essentially a visual problem-solver - I try not to let my personal style get in the way when I navigate creative solutions. I think it is important to step out of my comfort zone and adapt to as many styles as I need to create something that is truly meaningful and unique for the brand that I work with. It’s challenging at times but also immensely rewarding.

I genuinely love all kinds of design, especially those that deal with forms and shapes - for example, industrial design and architecture. I’d like to think my love for packaging design comes from my interest in both graphics and structure.

3. You’re currently based in London – have you always been based there? How did you end up there?

I was born and raised in Hong Kong and had my high school and university education in Toronto, Canada. I majored in visual communication at Ontario College of Art and Design and graduated during the global financial crisis in the late 2000s - arguably the worst time possible to any newly graduated student. I couldn’t get hold of a job to stay in Canada at the time so I had to go back to Hong Kong to start from there.

When I was first starting out, I worked odd design jobs for small start-up companies and got paid next to nothing. However, through those works, I slowly gained exposure to some of the more high-profile design and branding agencies and eventually freelanced for them. At the time, I couldn’t refuse any work opportunity for financial reasons but at the same time it was an excellent opportunity for me to try out what I truly like in the world of graphic design. After a while, I found out that I really enjoy branding, especially consumer branding. Unfortunately, most branding agencies in Hong Kong at the time had a clear focus on corporate branding and that’s when I decided to come to London - a global design hub that I have now called home for seven years.

4. When did you first realise design’s diversity problem? How did it occur?

I think anyone who has ever set foot in a design agency in this country would notice this problem. I am hardly an expert on this subject matter but I suspect this is rooted in places that are far beyond the hiring process in design companies. There were very few ethnic minority students to start with when I was in art school. Lots of my peers chose to follow other seemingly more practical paths in their studies. Even my mother couldn’t understand what I was studying and worried I might not get a job after graduating - and she was right to worry. It just proves that there is a lack of clarity on what professional designers and creative talents do and who they are in our culture. In my opinion, it’s created a vicious cycle of exclusivity in this industry.

5. Do you feel like the industry is improving? What actionable steps can the industry take to reach a level where representation at all levels is the norm?

Yes, but slowly. The obvious actionable step the industry can take is to review the hiring process. A blind hiring process would ensure only relevant qualifications are considered to reduce unconscious bias against race/sex/age.

One thing we’ve benefited from during this horrible pandemic is that we now have a well-developed online infrastructure to enable us to work remotely. I think this provides us with a perfect opportunity to start looking for great talent beyond the big cities. There are many designers who can’t afford to move to big cities like London, New York and Tokyo. In my opinion, the bigger the candidate pool, the fairer the hiring process is.

Obviously, these steps are far from enough since they don’t necessarily improve the overall diversity in the candidate pool. Such a problem can only be resolved by changing the culture. For that, I believe representation and visibility is a good place to start. We need to see more talented designers of different races, ages and gender across different media to inspire our next generation of designers.

6. You’re currently working for Marks – a global branding and design agency. What insight can you provide to designers who are eager to be in your position someday? What's your day-to-day life like there?

Always be very critical of your own work and don’t ever believe good enough is good enough. Always be ready to articulate every detail and rationale in your design - that’s why thorough research is so crucial.

My day could be very different depending on what my brief is. Usually, it is comprised of lots of researching, sketching ideas (which could be pack concepts, layouts, icons and storyboards) and communicating within the team to make sure whatever we are doing is hitting the brief.

7. If you could give advice that applies to most design graduates today, what would you say?

There is one common theme that I have heard again and again over the years from new designers who are starting out - that they are complaining their portfolio is not exciting enough because they haven’t had a chance to work on an exciting project yet. One important lesson I learnt in my early career is that I don’t need to wait for anyone’s permission to start creating, whether it’s a reimagining of an existing design or an entirely new design project. In the beginning, those works are probably not going to be as polished as you would hope but the important thing is you are actively designing and that is the only way to improve your skills. In my experience, design agencies care about your design thinking and skills way more than whether your project in your portfolio is real or not.

8. How can others find your work?

Find me on LinkedIn and I will send you a copy :)

9. Finally, what’s next for you? Any upcoming projects you can tell us about?

All of the projects I’ve worked on recently haven’t yet hit the market so I can’t really disclose specific details about them. However, without being specific, one of our exciting new projects is to create a brand world for a new product in Japan. Working alongside our Japanese client, we have learnt so much about the consumer product culture in Japan. It’s an eye-opening experience since consumer product culture and design in Japan is so different from here in the UK. I’m so glad I’m in a profession and a company that allows me to work on projects from all over the world and be constantly surprised