Technology helps Chinese designers make good progress

The new wave of high-end technology is having a significant impact on people's lives, and is providing new opportunities to Chinese designers, according to experts at the recent 2013 China Red Star design award.

Chen Dongliang, executive chairman of the award committee, says high-end technology along with changes in lifestyles put designers around the world on the same starting line.

Industrial design was an area previously dominated by Western countries.

"In terms of market scale, and with our number of designers and China's long history, we should build up our confidence in industrial design," Chen says.

Modeled after the prestigious German Red Dot design award, the 2013 China Red Star design award attracted a record number of applicants with more than 5,500 candidates from home and abroad, a significant increase from about 400 Chinese company candidates eight years ago when the design award was launched.

The 2013 Best of the Gold prize went to the inter-city high-speed train with a speed of 250 kilometers per hour designed by Tangshan Railway Vehicle Company. Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi won two gold prizes for its Xiaomi TV box and its phone.

The potential of industrial design is huge. In 2012, design revenue in Beijing reached 120 billion yuan ($19.84 billion). In 2013, near half a million graduates majoring in design entered the job market, according to Chen, who has closely monitored the industry for decades.

The executive chairman points out that the concept of design has changed over the years, not only in terms of appearance, color and material, but also interface and service designs, which engage users to take part in the design process.

It's no wonder the international jury of the China Red Star design award has awarded the gold prize to Xiaomi Inc, a smartphone maker that invites its users to take part in the design process.

Massimo Mini, co-founder of designboom.com, an Italian website covering fields of industrial design, architecture and art, agrees that in the future, interface and service designs will be very important. But they need designers' vision and passion to drive the innovation.

The Italian website recently cooperated with the design award to help promote Chinese designs worldwide.

"China has a huge market, that's a very important reason why we are here this year," Mini says.

"I believe in 10 years, there will be a Chinese company producing the dream phone."

In the past decade, Chinese design has attracted increasing attention on the international stage, with more Chinese designers winning influential honors like the Red Dot award and iF product design award.

"It's wrong to say that China has no design. We neglected the importance of design. But we have woken up, moving from 'made in China' to 'designed by China'," says Zhu Tao, president of China Industrial Design Association.

The Great Wall and the Forbidden City are good examples of Chinese design in ancient times. But Chinese companies' obsession with producing large quantity of products made them blind to product design, Zhu adds.

dengzhangyu@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 01/08/2014 page19)