PolyU School of Design: In-Depth Profile

Module: 01 Academics · Sub-file: Flagship Discipline In-Depth Profile — School of Design Last updated: 2 July 2026 This profile focuses on PolyU's School of Design: its design teaching traces back to 1964; in the 1980s it was named the Swire School of Design after a corporate donation; in 1994, when PolyU gained university status, it was renamed the School of Design. The School is known for its strengths across industrial/product, visual communication, environmental, interaction and social design, has long ranked among the leading schools in Asia and the world in the QS "Art and Design" subject ranking, and is housed in the Jockey Club Innovation Tower, designed by Zaha Hadid. For the School's contemporary disciplinary landscape and research laboratories, see the companion piece design-research-labs.md; for the School of Fashion and Textiles (historically related to the School of Design, now independent), see school-of-fashion-and-textiles.md. Sources are chiefly the School of Design's official history, PolyU press releases and publications, Wikipedia (whose footnotes provide primary sources), and QS subject rankings. All official figures carry their year and provenance.

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# 1. At a Glance

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# 2. Historical Trail: From Night-School Design Classes to Asia's Best

According to the School's official history and Wikipedia, PolyU design teaching traces its origins to 1964, when the Hong Kong Technical College already offered design-related courses. In 1972, after the Hong Kong Polytechnic was established, the Department of Design was formed, offering Higher Diploma programmes. Per the School's official history, in the 1970s the department joined the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID)'s "World Design Schools Service", staged the first Polydesign Show, and produced its first cohort of roughly 30 Higher Diploma graduates^※.

In the 1980s, the department was renamed the Swire School of Design and scaled up its teaching to bachelor's degree level, covering specialisms including graphic, industrial, fashion and interior design (per Wikipedia's history). This period cemented PolyU design's "multi-disciplinary, application-oriented" character. In 1994, when PolyU gained university status, the School was renamed the School of Design, and introduced master's programmes including the MA in Design, along with new directions such as photographic design and multimedia (per Wikipedia's history).

2000s: A succession of master's programmes followed, including the MDes (2004) and specialisms in design strategy and interaction design (around 2007). 2006–2007: per the School's official history, BusinessWeek listed the School of Design as one of the Top Design Schools in the world^※. 2014: The School celebrated its 50th anniversary and marked the grand opening of its new home, the Jockey Club Innovation Tower (per the School's official history). 2024: The School celebrated its 60th anniversary, its portfolio having grown to nine design specialisms and multiple research centres (per the School's official history).

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# 3. Deans / Directors

Per Wikipedia and public School materials, the sequence of Deans over the past two decades is as follows:

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# 4. International Standing: QS Art and Design Rankings

PolyU design has long held a leading position in Asia in the QS "Art and Design" subject ranking: in 2015, per the School's official history, in the first QS World University Rankings by Subject, PolyU design ranked 1st in Asia and 24th in the world^※ in the Art and Design category; in 2020, per Wikipedia, it ranked 2nd in Asia and 15th in the world^※ in the same category.

The School's self-proclaimed motto is "Make possibilities endless", and its positioning stresses "connecting Asian innovation to global opportunities". For the full year-by-year QS ranking trajectory, see the companion piece design-research-labs.md.

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# 5. Landmark: The Jockey Club Innovation Tower

The Jockey Club Innovation Tower is the home of the PolyU School of Design, and the first permanent building in Hong Kong by the late architect Zaha Hadid.

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# 6. Notable Alumni (Selected)

PolyU design alumni are active across fashion, animation, product, automotive, film, jewellery, lighting and branding. The following selection draws on Wikipedia and PolyU's alumni pages (all are public, neutral, positive facts, recorded as such):

The alumni listed above are drawn from Wikipedia's PolyU School of Design alumni section^※ and PolyU's alumni pages; all are public positive facts, recorded as such. For a fuller portrait of notable alumni, see ../06-people/.

Below are more detailed profiles of several representative alumni:

Vivienne Tam: To date the most internationally famous PolyU School of Design alumna. She received a design Higher Diploma from PolyU in 1978^※, then moved to the United States, where she founded her eponymous label "Vivienne Tam". Her 1995 "Mao" collection sparked wide debate in the international fashion world over the use of Chinese cultural symbols, cementing her brand's positioning as a "visual dialogue between East and West". Her work has been exhibited in the fashion department of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Raman Hui: A veteran director and animator at DreamWorks Animation, who worked on major parts of the Shrek franchise and co-directed Chinese-language content around Kung Fu Panda. He is the PolyU design alumnus with the most representative presence in Hollywood's animation industry.

Freeman Lau: A prominent Hong Kong visual and branding designer, and one of the core figures behind the visual identity for Hong Kong's 1996 Handover countdown celebrations. He has received the HKDA Designer's Award and multiple Asia-Pacific design awards, and has long served as an adviser to the School of Design's alumni association.

Anthony Lo: An internationally recognised automotive designer who served as chief designer at Britain's Rover and, from 2019 to 2022, as Vice President of Design at the Renault Group — a representative case of a PolyU design alumnus breaking into mainstream European automotive industry.

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# 7. Programme Structure: From Bachelor's to Doctorate

Per the School of Design's undergraduate admissions page^※, undergraduates are not admitted separately by specialism. Instead, all enter through the unified BA (Hons) Scheme in Design, and at the end of Year 1 are streamed — on the basis of personal preference, portfolio review, interview performance and grades — into nine specialisms: Advertising Design, Environmental Design, Information Design, Interaction Design, Interior Design, Immersive Media and Game Design (a reorganisation of the former Media Design specialism, pending approval), Product Design, Service Design, and Social Design. Two secondary majors are also available: Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics (the latter open to students in Product Design and Interaction Design).

At the taught postgraduate level, the MDes (Master of Design) is PolyU's most widely known design postgraduate degree, with several specialisations (including Interactive Media Design, Service Design, and Brand Communication); the MA in Design is an earlier, more research-oriented master's programme. For research postgraduate study, the School offers the MPhil and PhD, with research areas spanning design culture and history, human-centred design, social innovation design, and sustainable design, among other cross-cutting topics.

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# 8. Industry Links: How the School Works with the Profession

The School's industry engagement runs along three main tracks. The Graduation Show — the annual graduate exhibition, where design departments, product companies and advertising/communication firms send scouts looking for new talent. The Capstone industry projects — design projects run with real corporate partners, in which student teams work directly with company stakeholders (see the industry collaboration section of the companion piece design-research-labs.md). And knowledge transfer and patents — some research outcomes, particularly in assisted-medical design, smart packaging and human–machine interface design, are patented and licensed through the PolyU Technology and Consultancy Company (PTTC).

On the international awards front, School of Design staff and students regularly produce and win work in competitions including the iF Product Design Award (iF International Forum Design, Hannover), the Red Dot Design Award, the Hong Kong Design Award (HKDA), and the James Dyson Award.

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# 9. Relationship with the School of Fashion and Textiles

Before 2022, fashion design had an academic kinship with the School of Design (textile, fashion and design teaching all began within the same early departmental framework). In 2022, the School of Fashion and Textiles was formally established as an independent school, and the two have since diverged in their curricula — the School of Design focuses on product, environmental, visual, interaction and social design, while the School of Fashion and Textiles concentrates on fashion design, textile technology and fashion media. The two schools maintain informal collaboration in cross-cutting areas such as sustainable design, fibrous material innovation and digital fashion. For the full history of the School of Fashion and Textiles, see school-of-fashion-and-textiles.md.

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# 10. Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: How does the PolyU School of Design differ from other design departments in Hong Kong?

The School of Design is the oldest higher-education design unit in Hong Kong: its design teaching reaches back to 1964, earlier than any other design department among Hong Kong's universities. In the QS "Art and Design" subject ranking, PolyU has long held first place in Hong Kong and a top-three position in Asia. Its programme coverage is the most complete of any local school (product, visual, interior, multimedia and social design offered side by side), and it occupies a purpose-built building designed by Zaha Hadid.

Q2: When was the Jockey Club Innovation Tower completed, and why is it called the "Innovation Tower"?

Per Wikipedia^※, the Innovation Tower was designed by Zaha Hadid; construction was completed around 2014, the same year as its opening ceremony, which coincided with the School of Design's 50th anniversary (1964–2014). It carries the name "Jockey Club Innovation Tower" because the Hong Kong Jockey Club donated approximately HK$249 million in July 2011^※ to support its construction, and the "Jockey Club" name was attached in recognition. The "Innovation Tower" element echoes PolyU's positioning on innovative education.

Q3: What is the highest QS ranking the PolyU School of Design has ever achieved?

Per Wikipedia's citation of QS 2020 data, the School of Design reached 15th in the world and 2nd in Asia^※ in the Art and Design category — its historic high. In the latest 2026 release it ranked 24th globally (per PolyU's 2026 press release^※).

Q4: Does the PolyU School of Design offer doctoral programmes?

Yes. The School offers research postgraduate programmes at MPhil and PhD level, with research areas including design culture and history, human-centred design, social innovation and sustainable design, and interaction design. Postgraduate researchers are co-supervised by Chair Professors and full-time faculty, and their work is tied into the research projects of the School's centres — per the School of Design's research centres and labs page^※, current centres include the Centre for Cultural and Arts Technology (CAT), the Future (Caring) Mobility Research Centre, and the PolyU–NVIDIA Joint Research Centre.

Q5: Is the name "Swire School of Design" still in use?

No. "Swire School of Design" was the name adopted in the 1980s, in recognition of a donation from the Swire Group. After PolyU gained university status as The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 1994, the School was renamed "School of Design", and the Swire name ceased to be used. Today there is no official "Swire School of Design", though the historical name still surfaces occasionally in literature searches and informal accounts.

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