Mixing beauty of Chinese characters with modern design

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The curtain fell for "The Beauty of Chinese Characters" Global Youth Design Contest 2018 as the award ceremony was held at the 77 Theatre in Beijing on Friday, featuring an exhibition of the excellent works run through September 29 as one of the highlight events during the 2018 Beijing International Design Week.

Launched at the UNESCO headquarters in 2015 by Beijing Institute of Culture Innovation and Communication, the biennale global design contest opened its second edition in March this year at the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, California with a new topic word of "Jia" ("home," 家).

The award ceremony of The Beauty of Chinese Characters Global Youth Design Contest 2018 was held at the 77 Theatre in Beijing on September 28, 2018. /Courtesy of the organizer

Under the theme of "Harmony in the Family is the Basis for Success in Any Undertaking," contestants created their works based on an appendix of thirty Chinese characters sharing the common component of "Mian" ("roof," 宀) including the topic character "Jia."

Seventeen significant awards were unveiled at the closing ceremony including one gold award, five silvers and ten bronzes awards, as well as one grand prize going to young designer Song Song for his design "The beauty of Chinese Characters: Basic necessities of life", which showcases four items - a hanger, a pair of tureens, a bed lamp and a bag.

Grand prize goes for the design "The beauty of Chinese Characters: Basic necessities of life" by Song Song. /Courtesy of the organizer

Song shared the story behind his creation with CGTN, noting that he tried to "integrate the cultural notion of 'home' into the creation." Instead of merely pursuing a beautiful look, he hoped it would be the cultural embodiment that is both aesthetically pleasing and highly functional.

According to Yu Dan, dean of the Beijing Institute of Culture Innovation and Communication and the general convener of "The Beauty of Chinese Characters," the award-winning original designs embrace high aesthetic values and great potential for daily use, through which the designers presented their unique artistic concepts and deep understanding of the selected Chinese characters and the cultural connotations behind them.

The contest's general convener Yu Dan, the dean of the Beijing Institute of Culture Innovation and Communication, delivers a speech at the award ceremony of The Beauty of Chinese Characters Global Youth Design Contest 2018 on September 28, 2018. /Courtesy of the organizer

Yu also talked about the highlights of this year's campaign in the interview with CGTN, emphasizing that more foreign designers participated in the competition and brought some "brilliant ideas" with their own interpretation of Chinese characters and Chinese culture.

In addition, the increasing number of designs in technology and the Internet were another surprise, which proved "a perfect blend of cutting-edge techniques and traditional Chinese culture."

Gold award goes for the design "Philosophical Sound Fan Desk Lamp" by Song Haiyong. /Courtesy of the organizer

The gold award winning design "Philosophical Sound Fan Desk Lamp" is a perfect example. The designer Song Haiyong introduced his creative work – a voice-activated desk lamp that brings the haunting sound of the wind chimes when the breeze blows – and the core creative concept that he believed the design must be "interactive and user-friendly."

Undoubtedly, for foreign designers, there are other obstacles to be tackled in the course of design. Aaron Gutierrez, a silver-award winner for his design of a rice cooker named "Yan" ("banquet," 宴) admitted that it was not easy to "incorporating the shape language into the design."

Aaron Gutierrez (R2) and other American contestants attend the award ceremony on September 28, 2018. /CGTN Photo

"Like my interpretation and Chinese interpretation of the symbols, balancing the two would be the biggest challenge," said Gutierrez, the promising sophomore major in Design and Digital Media in Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD). He added that the experience opened up his understanding of the language, the culture and the overall picture of the world.

'Rainbow' across distinct cultural spheres

An exhibit shows a calligraphic style of Chinese characters at the exhibition on September 28, 2018. /CGTN Photo

The closing ceremony also features two seminars where renowned designers, sinologists, and experts in cultural study and industry at home and abroad reviewed the development of Chinese characters, discussing its presentation in contemporary creativity and design as well as its worldwide promotion.

They all pointed out the uniqueness of Chinese characters and promised its great potential to be the core elements contained in a wider range of designs. As the pictographic ideograms, each Chinese character, in essence, different from the phonetic alphabets, is a cultural symbol embodying vivid stories and rich information passed down by many generations.

The design named "The Room" is showcased at the exhibition on September 28, 2018. /CGTN Photo

As a new judge of the competition this year, Lee Yong-ping, former deputy mayor of Taipei City and Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner, expressed her excitement to see the contestants expand the beauty of Chinese characters into every facet of life, addressing that "Chinese characters originated from daily life and return to the ordinary life in new ways thanks to the extraordinary designs."

"I really hope the brilliant ideas can quickly transition into practical products," said the first female deputy mayor of Taipei City. She revealed that her favorite piece of work was the ceiling lamp named "The Room." It - made of crisscross unit lamps, the entire design presents two different Chinese characters "home" and "room" when viewed from the front and the left - in her words "achieves Chinese ideographical expression through delicate details of western lines."

Amamura Yuiji, dean of School of International Relations at Fukuoka International University, introduces the design of "Yan" rice cooker to CGTN's reporter. /CGTN Photo

Amamura Yuiji, a renowned sinologist and dean of School of International Relations in Fukuoka International University, described the "Beauty of Chinese Characters" as a beautiful "rainbow" across the two distinct cultural spheres of Chinese characters and alphabets.

The two-edition Japanese judge told CGTN that he had never expected that people from the alphabetic cultural sphere can understand Chinese characters and their cultural connotations so deeply and also shared several of his favorites including a bento-like rice cooker, a Japanese-style work designed by an American who was inspired by the Chinese character of "Yan" ("banquet", 宴).

Visitors look at the "Beauty of Chinese Characters" exhibition during the 2018 Beijing International Design Week, September 28, 2018. /CGTN Photo

This year's campaign received about 2,300 outstanding entries from more than ten countries and regions around the world including China, the US, South Korea, France and Malaysia. They covered various aspects that range from visual design and jewelry design to home design and fashion design. A total of 94 design works were selected for the final and the global exhibition tour in the future.

(Video by Wang Dawei and Xu Haiquan; Cover image by Jia Jieqiong; Logo of the contest by Chen Nan)

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