1. LARS MAEHLER

Age: 22

Nationality: German

Education: 2nd year Global Business and Management at HKUST

Company/Organisation: Sakka Charity & Rezonance Entertainment

Busy is the best way to describe this ambitious bee. How many people do you know who whilst still at university, start up and maintain extra-curricular adventure camps (read: piss-ups), organise prestigious and successful fundraisers for the charity that they also manage and promote and idolise two giants of business, Richard Branson and Donald Trump? We know of one. What influenced you to start Sakka? My inspiration to do good came from experience. I helped out at the tsunami relief programs and that’s when I first felt that type of reward. Ever since, I’ve been using that as my fundamental guideline; that gratitude is better than financial reward.

What is your ultimate goal?

To hold a huge reggae party or rave at the convention centre. I’d love to just throw an awesome party that people won’t forget on a yearly basis!

What’s been your best experience so far?

In one week, with sleep deprivation, the team and I managed to pull off the Shut Down On Safari party last Halloween with a 300 plus turn up.

Are you living off your own earnings yet?

Partially actually. I still need mum and dad’s help here and there. University tuition fees…

Does being an entrepreneur get you chicks?

I wish it did but not really. I’m always too busy for chicks.

Can you grow a beard yet?

I’m obviously trying too hard right now. I’m growing it till December and going for the Santa look.

Is what you’re doing related to what your parents do?

Not at all. My dad is an engineer and mum is just a house mum. She’s caring.

What are you listening to right now?

Jah Cure. A reggae god!

Would you rather be a wizard, a fairy, a sniper, a werewolf, a velociraptor or a stool?

A stool, depending on which bar.

Would you ever take on interns?

Definitely. I’d teach them the ropes.

What’s your favourite Cantonese word?

Mh goi! It’s just a nice word. Not naughty.

What do you think you’d be called if you were a lady?

Helga. That’s just the way I roll.

2. DAN NEVILLE

Age: 20

Nationality: Britsh

Education: A-Level Art & Graphic Design

Company/organization: OZUKHK

With the goal of creating a hub for young creative minds, Dan started by working towards hosting a ‘live arts’ event which allows artists to design and create on the spot and then display and sell their creations. Six years into designing, spurred on from a childhood passion for all things eye-pleasing, Dan sources his inspiration from his mixed geographical background, with both local and international styles colouring his work.

What are your influences?

I’m patriotic towards Kong Kong, despite me not being from here. It gives me a different sort of connection; an awareness of the subculture instead of being too immersed. Through subculture, you look through different avenues. I’m emotionally and physically attached to Hong Kong’s environment and I use that to create my stuff, which I think comes across as local and has almost a shock factor when people see it and then realise I’m a foreigner. I’d be a reverse Siu Mai – white on the outside, yellow on the inside.

What’s been your best experience so far?

Designing, managing and producing a global marketing meeting for a big shoe company. It was a challenge but the outcome was successful.

Are you living off your own earnings yet?

Yes! Whether my parents like it or not, I’ve been funding my own lifestyle. Well…not everything.

Does being an entrepreneur get you chicks?

Not so much. I’ve got nothing to show for it. No cash in the bank.

Can you grow a beard yet?

Yes I can, but it’s ginger.

Is what you’re doing related to what your parents do?

Very much so. My mum is a floral/cake decorator at Floral Floral. I support her and she supports me.

What is your ultimate goal?

Ultimately to boost public involvement by starting a creative urban centre for kids. Right now there is no real hub for designers and artists. It will give artists a chance to meet and mingle.

Would you ever take on interns?

Definitely, because you’ll never get anywhere if you don’t meet people.

What are you listening to right now?

Dub FX.

Would you rather be a wizard, a fairy, a sniper, a werewolf, a velociraptor or a stool?

A what? As in a chair? Wh….

What’s your favourite Cantonese word?

The other day I was looking for the word ‘sausage’, so cheung zai.

What do you think you’d be called if you were a lady?

………

3. HUGHIE DOHERTY

Age: 20

Nationality: Hong Kong/British

Education: A-Level Art, Design & Technology, Mathematics

Company/Organisation: Third Square

Over the sound of a pricking tattoo needle, Hughie tells (with the occasional pause to wince) how he and partner Luke Halsall started their ‘branding identity & commissioned artwork’  company. Looking to avoid the embarrassment of handing a client a receipt signed ‘Hughie & Luke’, they decided to go professional and create Third Square.

What are your influences?

I guess what influenced us to start out was when we found out it was cheap and fairly easy to create a company. We also figured we’d be doing what we like and thought we might as well be making money whilst doing it.

What is your ultimate goal?

To go to university. We’d keep the company registration, put it on hold and hopefully, depending on its success, come back to it.

What’s your best experience so far?

It’s always when I show a client my work and see them happy.

Are you living off your own earnings yet?

Ish…sort of…getting there. I don’t take much help but little bits here and there.

Does being an entrepreneur get you chicks?

No. I’ve got a long term girlfriend.

Can you grow a beard yet?

Nah, but I blame it on the fact that I’m Asian.

Is what you’re doing related to what your parents do?

My mum is an artist. She has her own studio called The Studio. It’s not a design company but it’s still in the art business.

What are you listening to right now?

‘Up, Up and Away’ by Kid Cudi.

Would you rather be a wizard, a fairy, a sniper, a werewolf, a velociraptor or a stool?

… What kind of fairy? Probably the werewolf.

Would you ever take on interns?

Yeah!

What’s your favourite Cantonese word?

I don’t really know Cantonese.. Jyun Jo?

What do you think you’d be called if you were a lady?

Oh my god I don’t know! Um..Mrs. Doherty?

Great creative talent might be found anywhere – and even in abundance – but it is simply locating these artists that can often prove challenging for businesses looking to commission work. All the while, Hong Kong’s talented creatives are having an equally difficult time surfacing and taking flight to cross the paths of businesses. This is where mother hen steps in.

Mother hen, or Hatch.hk, is a young illustration agency that aims to promote local artists to commercial industries. Its philosophy and ambition is shared by parent company Start Creative and the long-established London-based sister site, Breed, leads by example. Hatch.hk Artist Manager Krisdean Law sums up that philosophy and ambition: “Basically, what Hatch wants to do is to bridge artists with commercial operators. We’re trying to bring artistic sense to commercial work and at the same time, we want to create a medium that will work with the clients. We can actually execute and form different styles. It could be an illustration for animation in a movie, a magazine head or cover, or a shop window or packaging design.”

Krisdean has helped nurture the company from its hatchling days, along with the two directors Jonathan Cummings and Michael Dorrain (Managing Director and Creative Director respectively). Instigating the original signing of their artists on their roster (officially eight as listed on their website) as well as organising the launch party, Krisdean has done her fair share of egg sitting. “The idea hatched from our parent company

and from Jonathan,” she says, smiling slightly at her pun. “He was aware of there being so much talent in Hong Kong that shouldn’t be missed so he started Hatch in December last year.”

Their impressive artist roster prompted the question of how difficult it was to find them. “With finding talent, you just have to know the first one. It’s a small society here and they all know each other well. So basically, when you know one, there will be a group of others.” So artists, live by the safetyin- numbers rule too. It is by virtue of the closeness of the city, perhaps, that friends find each other through shared passions. The problem, according to Krisdean, is that there is not much of a platform for creative minds in Hong Kong to band together, making that initial find more problematic.

Hatch.hk’s artists are, by and large, represented individually.There is, though, one exception . Two artists have come together under the name PikPik Zoo and it is evident, as Krisdean shows us their portfolio, that the two are not only talented, but are also something special in the eyes of their manager. “PikPik Zoo is a very special one because they had this idea of creating this cartoon panda together and it’s a thing that also shows how friendship collaborates and creates.” Not to say that the other Hatch artists don’t get a special hug from big mama’s feathery arms.

It doesn’t matter whether it is a group or an individual – the key is the mindset. “There is an importance in diversity. We want each one to come up with

their own styles, which makes our range of artists more diverse for when we show them as a collective online.” When asked whether the culture here better lends itself to individual or collaborative initiatives, Krisdean goes against the grain of supposed dichotomy taught in schools around Hong Kong, stating that groups or individuals in the artistic world are not a viable cultural distinction.

“I think that many Hong Kong people actually indulge in many different cultures and if it happens that a group of people work together, it is more likely because they may have a shared passion they want to develop. This is a collective, right?” The point is well made – that the pursuit of art and creativity exists above that which divides us.

“Illustration is an international language,” enthuses Krisdean. “It can impact people and create strong memories. It immediately communicates to people in a clear way. It’s a great way to deliver a message.”

Communication between peers with shared interests is one thing, but how does the agency market its artists to potentialclients? The expected response was – Hatch.hk looks to make life easy for both artist and client. If the client has a clear idea of which artist they want, Hatch will make the arrangements. If a client is unsure or torn between two choices, Hatch will come to the rescue.