Pioneers

The role of “designer” is a new concept in post-reform China.

In Chairman Mao’s era, there was merely a handful of meigong, or artist-workers, operating as designers in state-owned companies and institutes. And until the late 1990s, only a few Chinese universities even offered design courses.

But in the late 1980s and early 1990s, pioneering young professionals and university graduates were brave enough to give up their “iron rice bowls” (the job security of state-run enterprises) to live as independent designers. These first Shenzhen practitioners effectively promoted the concept of graphic design in China and fostered its international status. They set up the country’s first independent design association and organized competitions with international designers as jury members.

Posters were a primary means for these designers to establish a presence in the wider world, first in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and then in Europe, Japan, and the United States. As dialogue with the international design community grew, Chinese designers increasingly sought to develop a graphic language that both maintained China’s traditions and incorporated international influences, often through experimentation with typography.

Independent Cultures & Collectives

From the mid-1990s, new cultural trends embracing alternative viewpoints and individual freedoms began to exert an influence on Chinese graphic design.

Avant-garde art forms—poetry, music, film, video, performance, and installation art—emerged from the underground and became part of the urban cultural landscape. Graphic designers took up these art forms, producing low-budget independent magazines, CD covers, flyers, music videos, and animations.

More recently, a number of art and design collectives have appeared whose primary purpose is not commercial success. Instead, they are driven by a shared belief in interdisciplinary design and the cross-fertilization of creative ideas.

The more traditional collectives tend to be small design studios, with two or three members, such as the Beijing-based graphic design studio MEWE Design Alliance and the Shanghai team Perk. Other groups, such as the art and design collective Green School, are formed more as a loose network of individuals. They come together through exhibitions, small gatherings, and self-published magazines, or through the Internet.

Going Global

The younger generation of graphic designers is influenced by global youth-lifestyle trends as well as by traditional Chinese culture.

Their youth products range from toys and dolls to skateboards, sneakers, and T-shirts. Many have a strong graphic element. The designers often see themselves as part of a global design community, collaborating with international brands while also setting up their own labels. Bringing a Chinese sensibility to their products, they hope to contribute to global design trends and build a market for cult youth objects in China.

Four Great Things

During the last few decades, the “Four Great Things”— a term for products that embody the good life in China—have changed dramatically.

During the 1960s and 1970s, bicycles, sewing machines, watches, and radios were the “Four Great Things” (sidajian). In the 1980s, color televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, and radio–cassette recorders took on this role.

In recent years, there has been a dazzling proliferation of new products and consumer choices. Despite this, there remain “Four Great Things” that symbolize success and affluence in today’s China: houses, cars, computers, and mobile phones. What makes these different from their predecessors is that they give ordinary Chinese people a degree of personal freedom and autonomy. But they also bring with them social and environmental problems, from class envy to the pollution and congestion caused by car ownership.

Fashion Forward

Following the period of economic reform, people in China began to dress more freely and to demand a wider choice of clothing.

In response, the fashion industry grew dramatically. Fashion schools, competitions, and events sprang up to nurture the new industry.

Over the last few years, a small but growing number of local fashion designers have emerged in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and other Chinese cities. These designers create clothes for more alternative urban professionals and youth, aiming to balance commercial success with a strong creative vision.

Ma Ke, Wang Yiyang, and Zhang Da are outstanding examples of this trend. Each designer has launched experimental labels as well as more commercially successful diffusion ready-to-wear lines. Stylistically, their work absorbs influences from international avant-garde designers, including Martin Margiela and Rei Kawakubo, alongside personal interpretations of Chinese history, culture, and traditions of dress.

Local Practices

Private architectural firms are new in China. It was only in the early 1990s that architects were allowed to set up and run their own independent practices.

Previously, all architects were affiliated with state-owned institutions. Now, however, even official institutions have begun to create separate studios for commercial architectural and urban planning projects.

Many Chinese architects began their training in China and then continued their studies overseas, usually in the United States. It is common for architects to work for a few years in international firms before returning to China to practice privately, as was the case with Yung Ho Chang and Ma Qingyun.

Though very different in their approaches, today’s architects are working to develop an architectural language that suits the unique conditions of contemporary China without rejecting traditional and vernacular elements.

Urban Futures

Nearly half of China’s population now lives in urban areas. While the move to the cities is unstoppable, the impact on limited natural resources and the environment has been tremendous and cannot be sustained.

Over the last few years, researchers have observed, documented, and analyzed China’s urban realities. This process has involved architects and university academics as well as journalists, artists, and local governments.

With the growing awareness of problems related to urban growth, alternative and sustainable design projects are emerging in cities throughout the country’s different regions. Some are state-led; others operate at a grassroots level. There is growing consensus in today’s China that the best cities foster harmonious living in a humane environment.