The last two decades have seen extraordinarily rapid changes in the political, economic, social and cultural environment in which we live, globally as well as locally in Hong Kong. The rise of the Internet, the emergence of ‘smart technology’, and the broader phenomenon of ‘globalisation’ have led to significant changes in the structure of national economies around the world and have given rise to ‘creative and cultural industries’ in which ‘creativity’ is the key resource in continuous business innovation and economic development.

However, it’s within the very nature of ‘creativity’ that conventional strategies of developing ideas, products and/or markets may not apply. Instead – as economist Günter Faltin says – “doing business with an artist’s mind” may be the more appropriate approach. Such approach has been adopted most successfully by David E. Kelley to adapt the Design Thinking methodology to a larger business context; other creative practices may apply in similar ways, in particular where it comes to turning social and/or cultural issues into business opportunities that may also initiate change.

Accordingly, this course looks at the possibilities and potentials of doing business consciously and creatively, i.e. in new, original and un-expected ways, through a hands-on approach inspired by creative practices. This does not (necessarily) imply that students will produce any works of visual arts; instead they will apply the thinking of visual artists to creatively developing ideas for sustainable for-profit and/or not-for-profit businesses.