The worst of things and the best of things...

I just saw the flag art posted on cph127...really nice work from a brazilian artist Icaro Doria.You can see more here.

It brought back the dilemmas one faces when dealing with China. I recall a visit to a small factory outside Shanghai where pieces of antique furniture salvaged from all over China by furniture traders on behalf of largely foreign dealers were reconstructed back into into "antiques" for the foreign market. For example a chair that is sold as antique may actually only have one leg that is original. The furniture workers, some as young as 7 years old [my estimate], cleverly create the illusion of age through special techniques [like burying the pieces after finishing them].

The working conditions were appalling. The air was thick with sawdust and thinners. They worked on apparently oblivious. I was really shocked. This was say, 20 km from downtowm Shanghai.

Such is the dilemma of values. If they did not work their families would be even poorer. I can only say that I think are improving. Generally life appears better now for the average person.

I can contrast this with my visit to the Volvo factory in Pudong also in 2003 where I saw an immaculate, safe workplace where workers were encouraged to develop themselves and their skills in a supportive and productive environment.



The ethics and principles of Volvo in regard to the workplace, safety, the environment and the people were clearly implimented in a transparent manner. My hope is that this is the real direction. It was evidence enough in itself.

From a different place

Such contrasts in the perspective we hold...A friend recently me sent a cd from the "Get it Louder" exhibition that was/is being held in China at present. As I showed some colleagues it was pointed out that the video style was very "eighties" in feel. Having seen the situation inside China I did not have that perspective. My feeling is that it is quite contemporary, and in a sense, that eighties thing is still somewhat "now" if we look at pop trends.

The other thing that struck me was the way the presentation was coded - as a VCD. Since I returned from Asia I have not encountered this format at all. At first we couldn't make the cd work - then I remembered it would work in Quicktime - just a different way of doing things. that sums up a lot for me about the way we perceive this place that we know so little about but don't realise that.

The contrast thing is a theme I think I will return to for several reasons. Firstly and most obviously the contrasts within China are enormous. More importantly, within the context of the overall nature of the material presented here, the contrast in eastern values vs western values I have alluded to, is not to be underestimated in any way. One could argue that there is almost a polar opposite in approaches. The more pleasing analogy is the idea of a yin yang dichotomy that is complimentary. that would be the diection I would go in based in what I have seen and experienced so far. I know others will/would disagree.

These images are of Puxi [top] and Pudong [below]. The old and the new Shanghai. Rich/poor; dense/space; ancient/futuristic; rough/smooth; dirty/clean; brown/blue; warm/cold; heritage/real estate; displaced/official; lo-rize/hi-rize; amazing/amazing!



The "lowai" is apt to feel that things have been turned upside down. The "businesman" is likely to be lulled into an initial but false sense of security. The person who appears to be least influential in the meeting is actually leading the process. You will need to put time into developing "guanxi" and to guard against losing "mianzi". Yes you are a long way from home toto. Enjoy the ride and learn as much as possible. There is no other way. Your values don't apply.

...and that is actually a very good thing for you to experience.

Irony and the communist state...

Ok, picture this...I've been dilligently adding material to this blog for several days and decide it is time to alert a range of people about it. Of course given that China is a big focus for - and a lot of my network is inside China I contact friends, colleagues and associates there.

Imagine my surprise and then bemusement this mornign to learn that Blogspot is a site that is banned by the Chinese government. I should have realised.

Reality bites...ironic given my positive take on China...

Logical response is to look at alternative means to get my material out and in the long run that will mean developing my own blog interface. A nice learning curve for me :)

It's also a wonderful example of the challenges China presents the unsuspecting foreigner.

A gold rush is a deceptive notion...

NextD is asking for people to take part in their research about opportunities and challenges for designers in the current market.

As far as China is concerned there appears to be myriad opportunites - almost a gold rush. but also incredible challenge...





Undoubtedly, China is a place of incredible extremes, futuristic and medieval at once, culturally deep and perplexing. Business culture is perhaps the single most challenging obstacle because the will of Chinese people is there to embrace change - but on their terms I think. Westerners often have difficulty with this.

Personal exploration vs "the client"

Reflecting on this topic I am concluding that mostly students will create work of a personal nature - at least that's what I've experienced. Even when there is an imperative to conform the the brief, meet the client's needs etc...



It's what students do and in fact what they should do...

This work [left] is from a group of Chinese students given the problem of selecting and articulating a range of design principles through form generation or performance. The point is that these same students are now very effectively working in industry fulfilling client needs having developed a palette of creative strategies through experimentation during their studies.

Design education programs should of course be delivering learning outcomes that create awareness of industry expectations but a balance should be struck to give students the time to explore...

It ain't neccessarily so...

I've referred below to what many already know, namely that so much of what we hear about China is negative propaganda designed to create fear in western populations. This article related to recent media stirrings about the rise of China's nuclear threat is illuminating, and might further indicate that although China should definitely be on your mind it might not really what you imagine...

I'm not so naive to think that all is perfect in the east - in fact there are immense problems to be overcome - I simply put this forward as food for thought.

Opportunity or threat?

The following is an extract from a recent post on cph 127 ...

There is no doubt that a massive change is ongoing in China. Not a single Newspaper wouldn’t allow it self not writing about this incredible transformation. Not only for China itself, but for the world economy in general.

The major headlines is about moving production capacity to China, but isn’t it a fact that huge parts of the creative industry also will be – is - moving east?


Pleasingly it seems to take the view that this is in fact a potentially MASSIVE opportunity for the creative industries. We just need to be open to it...My own response to this entry included the following:

The reality of modern China is shocking to the senses and the imagination. Culturally, including in terms of business cultures there are challenges that cannot be conceived of unless one experiences it. It is medieval and futuristic at once. The emerging panic expressed in the west about jobs etc...is only partly warranted. China is a deeply traditional society. This has a moderating effect particularly outside the major eastern cities.

Being "scared" is probably a response that will not yield much benefit. Innovative approaches and a long term outlook that factors in the rise of China [and India too] are required. Of course there are no easy answers to this. That is why I think actual experience and a "hands-on" response to researching the background and the potentials is a good first step. Florida et al seem to be on the right track and our western "creative industries" do have a lot to offer in Asia where innovative thinking and divergent thinking have traditionally been discouraged.

More broadly, education in the west [and in China] needs to reorientate to the new paradigms emerging. We are a long way off that yet.

It is complex to say the least...but fascinating :)


I include the comments again here to provide more contextual reference for establishing discussion.

Students will be students

Further to the issues raises on Design Observer referred to in the previous post...

Students will in my experience always try to produce what they see a "cool" work. Work that is inevitably based on their own interests and backgrounds. I think this is generally a very positive thing. On purely pedagogical grounds one can argue that this is a desirable thing - they learn more and better in this way.

Realistically if we are trying to foster creativity then surely anything goes really - it's a process of discovery. Setting benchmarks of performance based on what "clients" may require is not neccessarily the best way to develop creative processes.

Students will inevitably come to terms with the "real world" of design practice very quickly after graduations. The opportunity to play as a student with one's creativity will rarely be given again and so I maintain that it is important to allow students in creative fields to make the most of this opportunity to explore.

It si likely our best chance of innovation for the future...

A true paradox

Today I found a post by Jessica Helfand that had resulted in many comments on the Design Observer blog.

The posts debated with gusto the question of design students creating personal works as opposed to educators providing design briefs with tight content to emulate and instill the values of corporate clients. It is a interesting and insightful read...One post right at the the long list of entries really got my attention and I quote it here...

Sometimes it's really hard to stomach what I read on this site. All the 'designers' here seem so caught up in what they do that they can't even realize that the entire profession revolves around superficiality. Designers cater to the needs of making crap look good. Information designers just need to organize data so it's properly communicative. Other than that, it's just a bunch of snobby hipsters trying to make themselves sound important by rehashing old ideas becaus they can't think of anything new for themselves.

Maybe all you need is a real purpose, I don't know, but most of this banter is disgusting. I never used to comment on the stuff I read on this website for fear someone would visit my website and realize I was just a 'student'; well, guess what, students generally have better ideas than professionals because we don't have to cater to the same rules established designers do.

It's quite disturbing to watch the idealists crumble before the mighty hand of capitalism and 'necessity', when really design itself is unnecessary. Good design is not communication, it's convienence (in a modern setting). It's making the user be able to discern information in less time so they can have more time to spend money and watch television. We design a rushed world, we design a shallow and trend filled society that needs seasonal upgrades to their closets, cars, and computers. It's our fault and you not only endorse this but even embrace it.

And I can see it now; everyone reading this and thinking how naive I must be. Sure, I probably am, but at least I'm not wasting my time trying to figure out how to make people adopt to more of a conformist attitude.

Posted by: Colin Smith at June 3, 2005 06:12 PM

Colin's point was not lost on me. It forcefully puts forth a view that this particular debate may be missing the point of what is really important for designers, educators and students in the contemporary context.

I like Colin's spirit and wish I saw it more in my own students.

But really what is important for us at present?

Job Flight

A collegue spoke to me this morning about the problems faced by the film and television industries in Australia after the signing of the Free Trade Agreement with America recently. At the public screening of a film that she has been working on in Sydney it waas discussed that a lot of the engineering and production behind films that would have normally been done here in Australia is now being carried out in China. To exacerbate matters further much of the content of film and television shown in Australia now comes from America. Studios there are outsourcing production facilties in China, and the damage is being felt here by the local industry.

I think this will become a familiar cry across the developed world not only in the entertainment industries but ALL industries. We need to be clever about this but, as noted elsewhere, people are quite rightly scared of this development...how to be clever - that is the question.

And what to do if funding is being withdrawn from educational institutions across the country. This is a complex of issues that I want to try to work through...hopefully getting words down will give insight through reflection.

The Sage Commander

The chief impediment to knowing...is fixation. Instead of being the water cascading through the ravine, we are our own enemy, impeding its flow. We hold to a diminished view, a small part within the larger movement, rather than movig fluidly through it. We can become fixated in many ways. One is a matter of habit, ancient patterns of thought, like rivulets in the sand through which our thoughts always run. Good habits can be as limiting as bad...

Resolved to die, one can be killed.
Resolved to live, one can be captured.
Quick to anger, one can be goaded.
Pure and honest, one can be shamed.
Loving the people, one can be aggravated.

From the Art of War, Sun Tzu [Denma translation]

Get over it!

It's been two years since I left China. I thought at the time,"... ok, time to move on...you've been here almost three years, it's been amazing but "paradise" bekons." I actually said that!

That paradise was Byron Bay. You have probably heard of it, maybe even been here. Australia's most easterly point. The place for whale and dolphin watching. It never gets cold here - no guys you DON"T have a winter...and of course there is the beautiful beach. Truly this is the best thing about Byron. On a good day in summer you can be forgiven for thinking this is paradise. The water is warm and clear, the people are beautiful and life is laid back...

That may actually be the problem for me though. Everyone is laid back. Complacent even...ignorant probably. Ignorant of what is happening elsewhere. I am well aware this is contentious [and partly the result of incessant and painfully persistent reverse culture-shock]. The result is a soporific indulgence that in all probability is not sustainable. Sustainable - now there is a word for you. You here it a lot around here. The state of the environment appears high on the agenda in press, television, in conversation, and in the workplace...



What's the problem? It all sounds like things are good, going in the right direction...no problems. Well there are a lot of problems out there actually, and as a [for want of a beter term]creative generalist | designer, I get to thinking about this a lot...

What about China? Well you haven't seen pollution and environmental problems until you've visited. And that's where they have the human rights problems isn't it. That's where the the evil communist hourdes live isn't it? Oh, it's changing now, and our jobs are going there...it goes on and on - but what has China got to do with Byron? What is going on? AND - why is it relevant to design?

Well, I am also an educationalist - and there's the rub...See I think that teaching design is important, really important for us all. I am passionate about it. I am good at it - actually very good at it. But what I think is REALLY, REALLY important is teaching design to Chinese students, and Indian students, and African students, if we can get to them. That's what is important in the design world.

It can be argued that there is already an oversaturation of the market in terms of how many design students are churned out of western colleges and universities every year. The west is awash with aspiring designers, mid career designers, whizz kid designers, legendary designers - of all persuasions and disciplines...Guess what! There is so many designers there isn't enough work for them all! We got design in the west! We got design! Lot's of mediocre design too [ but that's another blog].

But think about it. It was designers who helped in a really big way to create so many of the problems we face as societies across this ever diminishing globe...ok, wait I'm getting to the crux of it. Western societies [and designers] have made many mistakes in how we have developed since the Industrial revolution set us off in search of design nirvana. But not everyone was invited to the party. It's only now that countries like China and India are reaching that point of critical mass in their development that we can see that there are things to sort out looming on the horizon.

We can't say, "Hey you guys, you can't have all we got because the demand is going to tip us over the edge in terms of global warming, petrol consumption, fossil fuels, environmental disasters, not to mention you wanna take all our jobs etc... etc..." Well, some will probably try, but essentially that would be reprehensible...Not that that has stopped certain quarters in the past, recent past, present day, um...

The point is that these rapidly developing nations [hate that word ;)] need to really develop - and fast! Faster than western countries did, they need to design and develop better, smarter, cleaner and on their own terms - not neccessarily replicating western models of "democracy", consumption, social structures and the like. If they do follow our lead in those things we are all in big trouble. Look at the mess we have made of it so far.

No, China and India need to leapfrog over our technological achievements [and disasters] and forge new forms based on what has gone before. If inovation comes from combining already existing forms and ideas in new combinations to create the "new", then there are real possibilities for progress. The minds of young designers and design students from these cultures are the key. Fortunately for us, they are dead keen to do just that.

As a designer and educationalist I wanna be part of that! That's why I can't get China out of my head. That's why I can't get over it...There is no more important task.

Gaining Perspective...

I think one of the biggest challenges facing the west in regard to China is developing an understanding of the context of the present changes. For so long all we have heard about China is mostly negative "propaganda' and retoric from the usual sources of information which are very filtered to protect the dominant ideologies of state and corporate interests...Now the groundrules are changing and as things change there is confusion.

“We must carry on tradition while creating something new…”

These words of a young 24 year old Chinese ballet dancer from Hubei Province, featured on mainland China’s international, English speaking television station CCTV9 [5/10/02], seem to embody the outlook of many students I encountered teaching design in Shanghai.

One of the oldest cultures on the planet, China is complex and mysterious. On a daily basis it is frustrating and challenging at all levels to the “alien” as both professional and resident. The undertaking of this research is valuable for a range of reasons outlined in this paper. There is an implicit responsibility attached to teaching the design process in a rapidly developing country perceived by the world – and itself, as a rising superpower of the 21st Century. As a design educationalist, it is important to develop an awareness of the past in order to understand both historical precedents and goals for the future.

This is equally true for industry professionals...

Motivation | Rationale

Design is coming to China. I have seen elsewhere [I'll post the links as I progress into this project]a lot of debate and comment about the importance of becoming aware about the issues of creativity in China. the content often alludes to a certain level of fear about the potentially negative implications for industry and more precicely for design professionals in the west.

It is important to communicate about this and to realise that there are as many opportunities and there are perceived threats.

One of my major frustrations in terms of this particular debate and also more generally the kind of "information" that is disemminated about China is the level of discrepency between what I read and hear and what I have actually experienced, and continue to experience in communications with mainland Chinese people. There is much to be said about this and much to be done to educate the West about what China is and what it is becoming...Maybe some of that work can be done here. It needs to be a cross cultural debate and it needs to be open and non judgemental.

Gettting started...

Blogging is not new to me, I've had the aiffhead site for quite a while now. However that particular site is more a means of personal and creative expression for my audio projects and to communicate with friends and other interested parties in the form of a diary-like structure.

This blog is intended to form a more credible means for reference and participation in professional discussions such as cfh127 and the like. I hope to focus on issues I am working with in my role as design educationalist and design professional.