I started searching for this from an early age.
I am the only child in my family, both my parents are engineers, they were busy as always. So most of the time, I stayed outside, or together with my grandparents.
It was more almost 20 years ago, when everything was easy and simple - technology has not been overly-developed yet, we as human - still had a lot space to breathe in our spare time. There still used to be a lot nature around our small village - apricot trees, peach trees and a small pond lying behind of our buildings. 5 years later, the pond was filled in over one night.
We are gaining a lot, but at the same time we are - and have lost a lot that we never noticed. With the occupance of smart devices and over-production, people are becoming more and more anxious and impatient. The urge of creating a nice simple piece of object out of pure love - is becoming something ‘competetive’, it’s been contaminated by utilitarianism. But to be honest, this shouldn’t be something that complicated.
Part 1: Shanghai
2019 - 2020 In Phoenix design working as a UIUX design intern
The time I spent at Phoenix Design could be called as a turning point. At that moment I was not sure what I really wanted, so in order to get into a better school called Tongji University, I decided to change my direction from Industrial Design to Service Design. The reason of taking change is because - I was more driven to some abstract terms like “design, in the end doesn’t need to be a tangible object but it can also be something more abstract, like a system. As long as it can slove the problem. “ I was deeply convinced by it. But with time passing by, I started to find out that in China, we’ve already had a lot useful and efficient systems, but still I was not enjoying in them at all - more systems added on more complexity. Before I only need one or two apps each day, but now I have to use several steps of procedure to accomplish a simple task. This is not what I want.
Part 2: North Europe
2023.8- 2023.12 Industrial Design intern, Propeller Design AB, Stockholm
2024.1- 2024.7 Industrial Design intern, Holscher Design, Copenhagen
This is when I got contact with what is ‘Nordic’ design - by using as less as material to save the cost, and make the design ‘democratic’. Similar to the idea behind IKEA. It’s not only about elegant form, but also the reason and thinking behind it.
During Propeller I was able to join one project related with the smart key box - which the car stores used to put outside, so when people bought car, they go outside and pick their keys in the key box. What I was expected was: First start with user observation - investigate carefully into how do people interact with their current products, then find the painpoints, then design it. I was naively thinking all the designs should be like this. Turned out we just brought up about 3 different forms (there was no user experience considers which makes me quite disappointed).
Other than the keybox, I was able to carry a project on my own.
Nature is non-binary, so will be our furture lives. We were so used to live in a world with answers that are certain, but in the future we need to learn to embrace randomness, in order to be more open for opportunities. Design for human - will not be the single topic any more.
Harmut Esslinger: “In my book a fine line I described different kinds of designers - classic designers such as Dieter Rams, Kenji Ekuan, Mario Bellini and Ettore Sottsass, whose work is known for both beauty and high performance; artistic designers such as Phillips Starck, Karim Rashid, and Ross Lovegrove, who are known most for the visual appeal of their designs; and the vast army of unrecognized corporate designers, whose low-profile work fuels the output of companies and agencies around the world. Today I would like to add a fourth group to the mix, that of the Strategic designers - the designers whose work truly commands worldwide influence. Some, such as Apple’s Jonathan Ive, Volkswagen’s Walter DaSilva, or former Phillips’ and now Electrolux’s Stefano Marzano, hold high-level executive positions within their corporations.
different brands - stories behind
Gold Circle
design is always about ‘looking forward’
Backing to Umea, thing are becoming fast.