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Journal of Design History 2005 18(4):357-369; doi:10.1093/jdh/epi053
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© The Author [2005]. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Design History Society. All rights reserved.

Globalizing Corporate Identity in Hong Kong:

Rebranding Two Banks

D. J. Huppatz

Monash University

By close semiological analysis of the corporate identity programmes of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank and the Bank of China in the 1980s, this article maps the multifaceted role of design as a mechanism of global branding. The graphic design makeover of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank by Henry Steiner and that of the Bank of China by Kan Tai-Keung work in tandem with the new architectural icons designed by Norman Foster (Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank) and I. M. Pei (Bank of China) to create new identities for their respective corporations. These rebranding operations are analysed in the context of late colonial Hong Kong, the tense period leading up to the 1997 handover. Although the design activity takes place in Hong Kong, local identity is suppressed in both cases and the city remains a ‘neutral’ space in which such corporate makeovers can occur, suggesting a new role for the city as an increasingly important global design centre.

Key Words: branding • corporate design • Foster, Norman • Hong Kong • Kan, Tai-Keung • Pei, I. M. • Steiner, Henry


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