Coloring our World Through Volunteering | Adam Newbold, Swire Trust Go-Givers of 2022

Together with Time Auction, the Swire Trust Go-Givers Program encourages skilled volunteers for Swire Trust NGO partners from 2020 to 2022. 10 outstanding volunteers will be selected annually as the “Swire Trust Go-Givers of the Year” with special rewards & recognition. Meet our 10 Go-Givers of 2022!

Meet Adam

“There are three responses to a piece of design - yes, no, and WOW! Wow is the one to aim for.” Those were the words of Milton Glaser, a renowned graphic designer. Indeed, the same could also be said about volunteering: yes, no, and wow! For Adam Newbold, his volunteering experience was definitely a “wow” one!

Making space for volunteering

As the founder of a local design company, Adam is a graphic designer with experience in developing typography, logos, exhibition booths, websites, and print publications. Not only does he have to manage the company and satisfy his clients, but he also has another ball in his juggle: volunteering.

In fact, volunteering is not a new addition to Adam’s life. Since he moved to Hong Kong ten years ago, he has continuously volunteered in various roles. For example, he mentored underprivileged children and distributed essentials to the homeless. 

This year, Adam took his volunteer commitments to the next level. Having come across ImpactHK’s post on Time Auction, he saw the perfect opportunity to utilize his professional skills by becoming a graphic designer for ImpactHK, which aims to help homeless people, including settling in a safe home, restoring overall wellbeing, rebuilding self-esteem, and increasing social capital. Simultaneously, the NGO also seeks to raise public awareness, build community connections, and address systemic causes. 

Molding shapes of perception

As the issue of homelessness is often short on visual appeal, ImpactHK needed a graphic designer to deliver its core messages in creative, effective, and engaging ways. For this project focused on My Kinda Cafe, which is a non-profit social enterprise located inside a bank’s office in the IFC, Adam helped build the brand by creating attractive marketing materials and visual merchandise. 

From the general store design to the specific gift cards, from the big menu boards to the small promotional posters, from the built-in signages to the takeaway coffee bags, Adam has thoroughly pondered over every single detail to ensure that it captivates the hearts of benefactors. Using his professional skills, Adam strategically selected a comfortable blend of color saturations and curvy patterns to create an inviting atmosphere in the office space, where the staff would want to go to the cafe, not only because it is an act of charity, but also because they are genuinely drawn to it.

Having the customers coming into the cafe means that the NGO is going out into the community. With the expertise of skilled-volunteers like Adam, local NGOs are able to reach and promote their causes to a broader audience. For example, ImpactHK wishes to “present hope and focus on the strength of our clients (the homeless population) instead of struggles,” explained Mani Chan, the Communications Manager. “Adam perfectly delivers our values and needs with graphics and colors.”

Expanding boundaries for all

While this is a volunteer opportunity that wonderfully combines Adam’s passion and profession, one may wonder if he was ever worried about blurring the boundaries between salaried work and pro-bono work. The answer is that this was never an issue for him. Instead, he was simply driven to give his best and to “make it as awesome as possible.” With pro-bono work, Adam reflected that he “still wanted to provide that same level of professionalism” but understood that it would be “appreciated in a different way.” Evidently, he refused to compromise the quality of his designs just because it is not paid for.

“The effort involved in this project is huge, yet he never complains. He didn't only provide the designs according to our requests, but always came up with a few more options for our reference [and] presented [us] with a decent design concept proposal.”

— Mani Chan, Communications Manager

With the unreserved effort that he gave to create a more harmonious community, Adam is awarded as one of the Swire Trust Go-Givers of the Year. Towards this recognition, he felt “honored, grateful, surprised” and thought that this “added bonus” would make it more attractive for prospective volunteers. 

Indeed, giving back to society and making our world better can be done through skilled-volunteering. And not just any old volunteer opportunity, but a volunteer experience that is at the “wow” level - in Adam’s words, a project that “lights up my brain with excitement.” Wow!

Thank you so much to Adam for contributing 62 volunteer hours & beyond at ImpactHK!

To see details of the Swire Trust Go-Givers Program and support their NGO partners, head over to Time Auction website.

Written by Margaret Ng, Volunteer Copywriter