Views and hues

Designer talks about her creation and inspiration

As you teach design in a German university, what do you see the difference in art education between China and the West?

I do think that as to the knowledge the teachers would like to pass on to the students, everywhere is the same. When students react differently to the same knowledge, which is natural, it’s the starting point from which the Chinese and Western teachers would handle the students’ feedbacks, in sharply different ways.

To me, the most important thing is not about the knowledge, but about building independent characters and knowing what kind of people the students turn out to be.

What’re the differences between art and design?

Graphic design is a tool of visual communication, reflecting on the actual society. Contemporary art is more conceptual — many thoughts of artists are partly philosophical.

Graphic design should be understood. Arts are not prepared for the audience, neither should it be expected to be understood. Many artworks will be understood many decades later.

How do you see today’s Chinese design?

Currently Chinese graphic designers prefer complexity rather than simplicity — the opposite of traditional Chinese culture.

China’s fast economic development has not given its art and design enough time to thrive. As a result many talents don’t have a chance to fully discover their real strength.

What’re your inspirations for the China Guest of Honor logos at key international book fairs?

It was a very complex project. There was many content to be included. The client wanted to present a China in various aspects. We wanted to create a key visual, which was unique, traditional, innovative and very Chinese.

The unique symbol for the Chinese culture is the Chinese letters. We want to reduce the colors to the most necessary, but the most symbolic for China — black-white and red, as in the traditional Chinese paintings.