Industrial design took root in Taiwan in the 1960s, but is coming into its prime in the 21st century as a new generation of designers reflects the challenges of advanced technology and changing times.
Designers often derive ideas from their experience of the numerous facets of big city life, including culture, history, customs and entertainment. According to Liou Wei-gong, commissioner of the Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs, “A city’s greatest competitive potential lies in its creativity.”
Liou believes that people are the crucial element in design, and his agency hopes to assist designers in entering the market. To this end, the DOCA co-organizes or otherwise supports events such as Taiwan Designers’ Week, the 2011 Taipei World Design Expo and Taiwan International Cultural and Creative Industry Expo.
Among the young talent connecting design with urban life at this year’s Taiwan Designers’ Week Sept. 14-23 was Lee Wei-lang. Amazed by commuters’ fascination with compact mobile devices such as smartphones, Lee proposed attaching a cellphone to the rear view mirror of a motorbike to give directions and record the route taken, circumventing the prohibition against the use of mobile devices by anyone operating a vehicle.
After observing many people incessantly checking messages and sliding their fingers across their touch screens, Pao Hsiang-lin came up with Finger Blocker, a hanging cage in which they can lock up their smartphones and thus spend more quality time with friends.
Wu Hsieh-heng, a director with Balance Wu Design Co. Ltd., seeks to improve the quality of life through organic design. The firm’s donut-shaped MP3 speaker, PulPOP, is made of recycled pulp and is so simple to use that customers need no instructions. It amplifies sound through the vibration inside the speaker’s hollow space.
“We want to promote spontaneous intuition in design without beating around the bush,” he said.
Young designer Pili Wu takes the approach of linking design with personal experience. In his chair called Plastic Classic, he blends the plastic stools seen everywhere in Taiwan at food stands and outdoor banquets with the back and arms of an elegant Ming dynasty chair, setting up a dialogue between mass-produced, anonymous contemporary design and traditional crafts.
The Ministry of Culture has also launched several campaigns to promote up-and-coming designers by sponsoring their participation in major expos worldwide, including Fresh Taiwan: GIFTEX World 2012 in Tokyo, Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano, TENT London, Interior Lifestyle China 2012 in Shanghai and the Taiwan Trade Fair in Qingdao.
Artilize Worldwide Co. Ltd., specializing in ornamental stone wall decor, dinnerware, lighting and other indoor accessories, often takes part in exhibitions abroad. CEO Tony Tseng is dedicated to establishing a platform for the cultural and creative industry by providing new business models coordinating product design, art licensing, brand planning and sales strategizing.
“We bring together professionals in various fields to facilitate production and promotion,” he said. In this approach, designers can focus on creating, while a sales team handles all marketing tasks.
Because of the limited resources of Taiwan’s design industry, most designers start out in small studios on their own and gradually develop into branding if business fortunately proves steady enough. Tseng wants to circumvent this long and time-consuming process, inviting designers to join the Taiwan Cultural and Creative Industry Association, whose main task is to boost the industrialization of creative work and enhance the exchange of information among members.
Other designers, not content to sit at the drafting table, are looking to traditional crafts and businesses for inspiration, techniques and materials. Helen Chen and Lin Wan-shan of a.m ideas, for example, traveled to Yuanli Township in Miaoli County and Dajia District, Taichung City, to learn to weave triangle rush grass from a group of grandmothers. The pair has applied the material, traditionally used to make mats and hats, to pillows, backpacks, lampshades and plant pots.
“The fragrance of the plant is very appealing,” Lin said. “The natural material gives one a feeling of home.”
Products made of rushes used to require extensive labor, supplied primarily by women, which inevitably led to the decline of the industry in recent times. The two designers have not only adapted the grass to new items to attract young consumers, but have also mixed it with other materials to extend product life cycles.
Chen and Lin are helping preserve traditional techniques and exposing more people to local crafts and culture, thereby demonstrating the sense of social responsibility with which Taiwan’s young designers treat their life and work. (THN)
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