Cai Yingbo
BRITISH graphic designer Don Parker believes a good Chinese designer should take tradition and move forward by taking the benefits of the past into the future.
A leader of the BA program in Advertising Design at the University of Wales in Britain, Parker said he had planned to visit Shenzhen after receiving an invitation from Shenzhen University three months ago, and the final decision to visit Shenzhen was made after the “China Design Now” exhibition was held at Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London.
“I got the chance to see Chinese design for the first time at the exhibition,” Parker said in an interview with the Shenzhen Daily.
“I used to think many products made in China were copied from European countries, but I am amazed by some Chinese graphic design works at the exhibition, which took the Chinese tradition, and moved forward by taking the benefits of the past into future,” said Parker.
Parker said he was particularly impressed by a poster with a Chinese character. “From the caption of the work, I found the word meant chicken feet,” said Parker. “It was fantastic. The work used Chinese traditional elements like black ink and characters, and it also used the language to explain something meaningful.”
“That’s really something that I want to explore,” said Parker excitedly. “I want to learn the structure of Chinese characters. Although it is difficult, it is not impossible.”
Parker said he felt very fortunate to have met Chinese designers, including Han Jiaying and Chen Shaohua, whose graphic design works were shown at the “China Design Now” exhibition in London.
“I was impressed by their works. It is important for designers to have independent thinking, and know exactly what they are doing and what to do next,” said Parker.
Parker said it was also important for Chinese designers to go out into the world and promote Chinese design. However, he cautioned designers against removing traditional elements from advertising and graphic design. He reiterated that Chinese designers should use traditional elements in their works. “It is incredibly important to see China as a brand, and to promote China’s unique identity,” said Parker.
During his two weeks in Shenzhen, Parker said he had not encountered much of a culture shock as he saw McDonald’s, Starbucks and other Western brands everywhere in Shenzhen. However he said it was important for Shenzhen to maintain its own cultural identity.
“Shenzhen is a new city, and people come from all over China. It seems that Shenzhen is trying to explain and define the city in various ways, but I think it is more significant for Shenzhen to focus on thinking about what is Shenzhen first. The city needs a cultural identity to link people together, and that’s also what Shenzhen designers should work towards,” said Parker.