The outstanding art of the ordinary

They cover not only household items such as scissors, wrenches, pins, matches and cotton swabs, but also fruit, such as durian, persimmons, pears, strawberries and watermelon.

"I have basically used all the household items I see around me," Wei says.

The fruit will be enjoyed after serving its purpose.

Wei is now running a design company and helps to make strategic plans for brands.

To him, making posters is not for money.

"It's mainly for my own interest, and I'll squeeze in time to make a poster every day," he says.

To date, he has developed more than 600 posters, each of which has a backstory.

On May 22, he posted Enjoy the Cool Under the Grass and Dream of a Life of One Meter, which pays tribute to "the father of hybrid rice "Yuan Longping, who passed away a year to the day.

He was inspired while scrolling through his WeChat moments, where he saw some of his friends at Yuan's memorial hall.

"It touched my heart seeing Yuan's photos," he recalls.

Consequently, he took out some grains and made a poster featuring a rice-paved road and the silhouette of a figure bending and toiling away on the side.

It didn't mention Yuan's name, but his audience cottoned on to the theme.

The poster raked in more than 3 million views and many reposted it to show their respect to Yuan.

Wei has also made a point to call more attention to the "empty nesters", old people who are left alone at home.

He used red threads and needles to form the Chinese characters for "mother", because his mother used to work in a sewing factory.

"My family's living conditions were not very good during my childhood. My clothes were torn, my mother would sew and mend them with the treadle sewing machine at home, and she would also knit sweaters," Wei says.

He also created posters based on his grandfather, who he thought was lonely living on his own after his grandmother passed away in 2020.

Wei feels guilty that he cannot go back home often to see his parents because of work, and he hopes more people, including himself, can see their family as much as possible.

"If we can't, we should call them more often," he says.

Speaking about why his works are so popular, Wei thinks it might be because his ideas are simple and fun.

"Everyone can understand, and the bar is not that high," he says, adding that the content is all from life, which anyone can easily relate to.

As for his future plans, Wei says he will continue to create posters and invite more professionals to share their understanding of creative design, thus enriching his works.

"The small goal is to deliver 1,000 posters," Wei says.

"Everyone living in society can feel love, friendship or pressure from daily life, and I hope my works can evoke more public empathy."