News and Media

Published: Jul 8, 2010

Nearly two dozen collections created by SCAD students, professors and alumni featured in SCAD “pop-up store” at G.O.D. Peak Galleria

HONG KONG—Just in time for the summer entertaining season, SCAD, the most comprehensive art and design university in the world, and celebrated retailer G.O.D. (Goods of Desire) have partnered to bring nearly two dozen innovative and creative home décor collections to Hong Kong. The products—now available in a pop-up store at the retailer’s Peak Galleria location—include pillows, lamps, clocks, frames, dinnerware, kitchen textiles, gift bags and boxes, and stationery, all designed by talented SCAD students, alumni and professors through the university’s Working Class Studio.

“G.O.D. is pleased to partner with SCAD and their Working Class Studio to launch these inventive products here in Hong Kong,” said Douglas Young, founder and CEO of G.O.D. “The quality of work and ingenuity demonstrated in these items is indicative of the level of work offered by SCAD students, professors and alumni. I’m looking forward to seeing how SCAD Hong Kong artists will contribute in meaningful ways to the local art and design community.”

Working Class Studio is a product development venture of SCAD that cultivates and promotes the work of talented SCAD students, alumni and professors. Each academic quarter, students from various programs of study work collaboratively to design and create products that are sold in the marketplace. The studio also regularly works with professors and alumni to produce its wide array of lifestyle and home interior goods. “Collaborating with Working Class Studio has provided me with a profound understanding and insight into the all-important business aspect of design,” said Tucker Waugh (B.F.A., furniture design, 2010), designer of the Tucker Collection lamp. “This unique program has afforded me a great opportunity to showcase my work to a worldwide audience.”

SCAD alumna Sarah Mandernacht (B.F.A., illustration, 2009) agreed that interning with Working Class Studio was one of the formative experiences provided by SCAD that helped prepare her for a professional career as an artist and designer. “My experience as an intern with Working Class Studio gave me valuable insight into how design can be put to use in a practical way. It is not enough to just have these artistic ideas in your head if you are not going to do something with them. Working Class Studio gave me an opportunity to share my ideas and creativity with people from all over.”

SCAD enhances student learning through real-world collaborative initiatives with organizations and potential employers, better preparing students to successfully participate in the marketplace. In addition to G.O.D., SCAD has collaborated with Hong Kong-area companies and organizations such as VTech, a worldwide leader in telephones and electronic learning products; Kids II, one of the world’s fastest growing baby product companies; and Map Office, an interdisciplinary design and research platform.

“Working with G.O.D. has been one of our most exciting collaborations to date in Asia,” said Jonathan Osborne, director of SCAD’s Working Class Studio. “As SCAD Hong Kong prepares to open this September, we’re looking forward to discovering the talent that SCAD Hong Kong students, professors and alumni will bring to our line and to future collaborations with such venerable partners as G.O.D.”

The Working Class Studio pop-up store, designed by SCAD Senior Vice President for College Resources Glenn Wallace and associate designer Cortney Corden (B.F.A., interior design, 2005), plays on the look of an old slat house that is commonly found in gardens in the southern United States to provide shade from the summer sun. The structure harkens back to a nostalgic time in history, yet it is reinterpreted with a modern twist at the G.O.D. Peak Galleria store with a bright egg yolk-colored paint.

SCAD is opening SCAD Hong Kong at the former North Kowloon Magistracy Building in September. SCAD Hong Kong courses of study are registered with the Hong Kong Education Bureau, and the university is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. SCAD Hong Kong will offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees, pending U.S. approval from the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Applications are now being accepted.

SCAD media inquiries may be directed to Flora To at 2523 7666. G.O.D. media inquiries may be directed to Cherry Ma at 2542 8528.

About Working Class Studio

Working Class Studio is a product development venture of SCAD that cultivates and promotes the work of talented SCAD students, alumni and professors. Each academic quarter, students from various programs of study work collaboratively to design and create products that are sold in the marketplace. The studio also regularly works with professors and alumni to produce its wide array of lifestyle and home interior goods.

In addition to producing its own internal line of branded products, the studio also forms design teams for custom development projects with major industry and corporate partners. These partners have included such renowned companies as Barnes & Noble, Henri Bendel, Showtime and west elm.

An innovative concept for an educational institution, Working Class Studio marries function with fine art to deliver a well-curated, ever-expanding mix of original stationery and home décor lines sold in retail stores across the United States, internationally online, and now at Lane Crawford in Hong Kong.

About G.O.D.

G.O.D.—Goods of Desire—is the phonetic sound of the Cantonese slang “to live better,” because to live better is a basic human desire in Hong Kong, Asia and the world. With the rise of Asia as a significant economic force, the world will also show increasing interest in Asian lifestyle and culture. G.O.D. intends to capitalize on this phenomenon by providing an Eastern-derived lifestyle concept. By exploring age-old Oriental traditions and updating them with modern consumers in mind, G.O.D. wants to demonstrate that the techniques and wisdom of past generations in the east still have a place in the future world.