An interesting and insightful interview with Jia Wei, director of LKK Design. Read the complete interview at visionunion.
Q: How do you view the current state of Chinese design?
A: We’re not short of good designers in China, nor good design agencies and good clients. What we do lack is a systematic approach to design, a design process with a particular cultural basis. I’ve always believed that it’s the underlying economic foundation that determines what can be built. The current boom in the Chinese art market is a result of the expansion of the economy.
I am convinced we will soon be seeing a similar boom in Chinese design. The important thing for a designer is to be able to use economic, artistic, cultural and scientific methods to make design something three-dimensional. Design that only considers artistic or scientific aspects is not good design. So many designers now fail to use this three-dimensional approach when they design a product. They only consider aesthetic aspects and try to copy that clean European look. That is someone else’s creation and they’ve been developing the style for decades now. Even if we do design like that really well, that’s not being creative, it’s just continuing what’s gone before. We ought to be creating an age of three-dimensional design
that is our own thing.
Q: What kind of designer would you like to become?
A: I don’t think China is short of good designers, what it does lack is professional ones. There are no professional standards by which you can measure this industry. I think a professional designer needs to have passion for design, a sense of responsibility and sincerity in their job, and the will to learn. Design is like digging a well. If you haven’t found water it’s because you haven’t dug deep enough. All you have to do is keep on digging deeper and eventually you’ll find fresh water.
Q: Do you have any advice for young designers?
A: Study. Keep at it. Love life. A designer should be a person who really knows how to live.
via visionunion
