In 1997, Steve Leung established Steve Leung Designers Ltd., subsequently opening branches in Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing. He works on a wide spectrum of hotel, restaurant, retail, and office design projects. In 2001, Leung branched out into furniture design, creating unique collections such as "i-chi", "cube," "ling-long," and "tenchi."

For the sixth time, Leung won the Best Interior Designers Worldwide award in the Andrew Martin International Awards 2006, the Oscars of design. His creations won the highest accolades in several categories of the Asia Pacific Interior Design awards for four consecutive years and are highly credited in international hospitality design awards, like Gold Key Awards and Hospitality Awards in the United States. He has been credited with over 50 personal and design awards in Asia Pacific region and worldwide.

What do you consider to be your greatest professional achievement?
I used to plan a lot, and I pursued the preset goals step by step. More than a decade ago, I believed that specialization in architecture and interior design would do justice to my dedication and respect towards the two professions. Hence, I restructured my consultancy into Steve Leung Architects Ltd. and Steve Leung Designers Ltd. I have a strong belief in building up a professional design brand, and I found that 1997 was a perfect time to execute this plan since we could foresee the opening-up of China as a great trading nation and the coming-of-age of Hong Kong as a center for the design industry within Greater China and beyond.

What is the most fulfilling part of your job?
It's all about design challenges and problem solving. Design is what I like the most, so it forms the major part of my satisfaction. Yet, simply doing the design is not the most difficult job. Rather, it is sustaining up-to-standard quality control (QC) that matters in a project. QC is a tool to polish and maintain my branding. Steve Leung is not only a designer but it is also a brand—a professional label that ensures high quality works and top services.

What are the biggest challenges facing designers today?
Globalization is the key challenge. It refers to the increasing global connectivity, integration, and interdependence in the economic, social, technological, cultural, political, and ecological spheres. The boundaries between countries and cities are blurred. Designers have to try hard to retain their uniqueness while using a more global perspective. They have to understand the global trends as well as their own cultural identities and strategically position themselves in a right way. As a designer, it's no longer enough to simply design, but also you need to do strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT) analysis in order to survive in this competitive world.

What is the best thing you've learned in the past 10 years?
I first set foot in Shanghai in 1997. Subsequently, I opened offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Having completed hundreds of projects on the mainland, I witnessed the development of its design industry. At a time when the classical style dominated design in Hong Kong—as evidenced by the large number of classic furniture stores that opened in the territory—Steve Leung introduced contrasting modernistic and minimalist styles from the West. In the past 10 years, I've been trained to have good eyes to know the trends and see the opportunities; these skills are very important to my design career.

What advice would you give to design students or those just starting out in the field?
Design students in Hong Kong have pretty good support these days. People give more respect to our professional, and also we've got plenty of channels to get in touch with the international scenes. As designers, we cannot detach from the global environment and trends, so I would recommend trying your best to know more about the global trends and designs. It helps to develop an international sense and insight, hence developing your own style and learning how to position yourself under different circumstances. Besides, the opening up of China provides so many opportunities to young designers. Bright futures await them.

What advice would you give to clients on how to create a successful project?
First, find a suitable person for the job; each designer has his own style, and you can trace it from his past portfolio. It's better to know one's subordinates well enough, so then you can actually assign them jobs that are commensurate with their specialties. Do not ask a western chef to cook a traditional Chinese dishes—even if he can, he won't make it better than a traditional Chinese chef would.

Second, it comes down to communication skills. Deliver your key message clearly to the designer from the very beginning, and keep doing follow-up and reviews afterwards in order to minimize problems.

How do you foresee the future of design changing?
I am sure contemporary style will still be the mainstream of the global trend.
However, the style differences among various countries were blurred in recent years due to globalization, which is why adding local elements to the contemporary design is an important technique for designers to generate their own characteristics and uniqueness.

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