A Spartan handshake isn’t exactly what you would expect when meeting Henry Steiner. Rather than taking your hand, the nonagenarian will graspw your forearm and urge you to do the same. It’s a gesture said to have been conceived during ancient Greek times (or, at least, that’s how it’s portrayed in the film 300), symbolising peace, with the added function of proving the greeter hasn’t concealed a weapon up his sleeves. It’s apt for Steiner, who looks for meaning and purpose in symbols and gestures. This constant search is also one of the reasons he never pursued a career in art.
Long before he came to be known as the “father of Hong Kong design”, Steiner studied visual art, the culmination of which was a painting he’d rather forget. “It began with a dog and ended with a grand piano, or something ridiculous like that,” he recalls. “It was really terrible. There
