INTERACTIVE TOY & PRODUCT DESIGN · HONG KONG
PRETTY USELESS CLUB
Pretty Useless Club began from a very personal experience with stress. After the founder’s husband experienced a panic attack during Hong Kong rush hour, the couple started thinking more seriously about how overwhelming everyday life can feel and what small things might help make those moments a little lighter.
One idea that stayed with them was surprisingly simple: something cute, physical and satisfying to click. It did not need to solve everything. It just needed to give your hands and attention somewhere else to go for a moment. That idea gradually became a growing family of designer clicker toys.
From there, almost anything familiar could become part of the Pretty Useless Club world. Breakfast, cats, dim sum, Hong Kong snacks, sports and festive objects have all been translated into playful little things you can pick up and press. The humour is immediate, and the interaction is deliberately simple. You do not need instructions to understand what to do.
The name Pretty Useless Club captures that attitude well. These objects are not trying to prove their value through productivity. Sometimes the point is simply that something feels good to click, is fun to look at or makes someone smile. Being a little useless can be part of the charm.
That same philosophy makes the brand naturally collaborative. Rather than simply putting someone else’s logo onto an existing product, Pretty Useless Club can reinterpret a brand, character, place or cultural reference through its own tactile design language. The result still feels like Pretty Useless Club, but gives people a completely new way to interact with the original idea.
Find them · @prettyuseless.club
The world
Pretty Useless Club does not operate like a conventional character universe with one hero and a fixed storyline. Its world is held together by a shared design philosophy: small, tactile and slightly unnecessary objects that invite interaction. Food, animals, local culture, everyday situations, sports and collaborations can all enter that world as long as the result feels playful, approachable and satisfying to use. The repeated clicker interaction gives different collections a common behaviour, while the visual ideas are free to change from project to project. That flexibility makes the brand particularly suited to collaboration, because a partner’s idea can be reinterpreted through Pretty Useless Club’s own sense of humour rather than simply added as decoration.
Why we work together
We collaborate with Pretty Useless Club on selected projects because they think about products as interactions rather than only as graphics or characters. People immediately know what to do: pick it up, click it and play.
We like how flexible that simple interaction becomes. The same product logic can be used to reinterpret culture, characters, events and brand ideas without every project feeling the same.
For Glowing Star, the right project is one where Pretty Useless Club’s playful product thinking adds something meaningful, whether that means introducing the work to a new audience, bringing two creative worlds together or turning an idea into something people genuinely want to touch and keep.
Selected work
Kiehl’s · Sunny Egg
A Kiehl’s collaboration that turned sunscreen into a playful Sunny Egg clicker, including a sun-reactive colour-change detail.
Brand Collaboration · Interactive Product
7-Eleven · Hong Kong Snack Blind Box
Familiar Hong Kong snacks were reimagined as collectible clicker keychains, turning everyday local food references into small interactive objects.
Brand Collaboration · Hong Kong Culture
Hong Kong International Airport
An interactive workshop experience where travellers could create Hong Kong-inspired souvenir keychains rather than simply purchase a finished product.
Workshop · Cultural Experience
More from this creator
Work with PRETTY USELESS CLUB
Brands, retailers and organisers interested in a collaboration, licensing or a show with PRETTY USELESS CLUB can start the conversation here.