Taiwan Today

As the Republic of China (ROC) prepares to celebrate its 100th birthday this October, about 3,000 elite designers from 60 countries are getting ready for a trip to Taipei to take part in the inaugural International Design Alliance (IDA) Congress, the leading cross-disciplinary forum for the global design community.

At a countdown ceremony for the congress in April this year, Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) praised the host city’s achievements in design, such as the EcoArk, a building that was created for the 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo. “We have taken pride in presenting this structure to the world at the Flora Expo. It reflects Taiwan’s design power as it is the world’s first fully functional [large-scale] zero carbon building made from plastic bottles,” he said. “It is a great honor for Taiwan to have gained the opportunity to showcase the creativity of our people first at the Flora Expo, and then again at this year’s IDA meeting, which is set to take place in Taipei [this October].”

The meeting is the primary event for the IDA, a strategic partnership created by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design and the International Council of Graphic Design Associations in 2003, with the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers joining in 2008. A month-long exhibition, the 2011 Taipei World Design Expo, and a five-day workshop for young designers will be held alongside the congress. It is also the climax for Taiwan’s “Year of Design,” as the ROC government has designated this year, with 33 design- and art-related activities leading up to the meeting.

As an IDA member, the Taiwan Design Center (TDC), a government initiative set up in 2003 to promote the design industry, chose Taipei to represent Taiwan and joined the 2006 bidding to organize the landmark conference. Coming through five rounds of voting, in 2007 Taipei emerged from a list of 18 other cities from 12 countries as the host, defeating metropolises including Paris, France, Melbourne, Australia and Montreal, Canada.

“Winning the bid to host the meeting is a significant acknowledgement of Taiwan’s emerging strength in the design industry,” says Tony K.M. Chang (張光民), CEO of the TDC. He says Taiwan’s growing design prowess is reflected in the increasing number of trophies local designers have picked up in the world’s four biggest design competitions—the German-based iF Design and red dot awards, Japan’s Good Design Awards, or G Mark, and the US-based International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). In 2003, Taiwan grabbed a total of 16 honors at these competitions, with the number jumping to 260 in 2010, Chang says. According to the Cultural and Creative Industries Annual Report 2009 compiled by the Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA), the production value of the design industry reached NT$71.23 billion (US$2.26 billion) in 2008, more than three times the amount in 2002. “A flourishing design scene has made this year the perfect time to bring Taiwan’s design sector more in line with international standards and practices through hosting a notable event like this,” Chang says.

“The government’s all-out support played an important role in Taiwan’s hosting the meeting,” Chang says. By June this year, more than NT$500 million (US$17.24 million) had been earmarked to hold the congress and its parallel activities. The majority of the funding is provided by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and to a lesser degree the Taipei City Government (TCG), which have partnered with the TDC to host the event. Also providing assistance is the Taiwan Design Alliance (TDA), a joint venture of the TDC and various design associations that was established in 2008 to elevate the importance of design within Taiwan. “The [October] event will showcase a collaborative effort between industry, government and academia,” says Chou Neng-chuan (周能傳), deputy director-general of the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB), the main agency handling the event for the MOEA.

The theme of the 2011 IDA Congress is “Design at the Edges,” referring to challenging the boundaries of design and encouraging dialogues between different disciplines. “The subject matter refers to breaking the boundaries between design and non-design industries, the boundaries between various design disciplines and the boundaries that limit visionary ideas,” Chang says. “Design has long been considered a field only for professional designers,” the TDC head explains.  “But we hope this year’s meeting can change that [stereotype] and attract more participants from different lines of work.”

Therefore, Chang says, five renowned speakers—all from non-design fields—have been invited to deliver keynote speeches at the main congress, which will run from October 24 to 26 at the Taipei International Convention Center. Esko Aho, executive vice president of Corporate Relations and Responsibility for Finland-based Nokia Corp., is scheduled to talk about the experience of companies in northern Europe in achieving sustainable economic development. Barry Lam (林百里), chairman and CEO of Taiwan-based Quanta Computer Inc., is set to address the challenge of making technology work for culture and humanity, with an emphasis on incorporating cloud computing, connectivity and client devices into the Internet of the future. Vandana Shiva, a philosopher, physicist, environmental activist and eco-feminist from India, will share her views on Earth democracy, while Peter Bishop, a former deputy CEO and group director of the London Development Agency, will explore examples of cities tackling urban issues such as transportation, climate change, housing and public space. Canadian Bob Elton, a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on the Skills Gap, is set to speak on opportunities resulting from international migration.

Pushing the Boundaries

“For each session, the keynote speaker will have 30 minutes to deliver their speech, and then a panel of three designers, representing the areas of industrial, graphic and interior design, will have the chance to respond and field questions to the speaker,” Chang says. “The idea is to push the boundaries of design and stimulate innovative ideas across disciplines,” he explains, adding that many great designs have borrowed ideas from other fields. In addition, several supporting sessions will be offered in conjunction with the five keynote sessions to broaden the range of topics covered.

One of the two parallel events, the 2011 Young Designers Workshop, will consist of 30 workshops aiming to give design students and young designers from all over the world the opportunity to brainstorm for creative ideas on various topics. These include explorations of Chinese calligraphy and written characters, the impact of transportation design on lifestyle and culture, and a project to remodel a Taipei night market, just to name a few.

The main event alongside the congress, however, is the 2011 Taipei World Design Expo. Organizers anticipate some 1 million visits to the show during its run from September 30 to October 30. Covering a total area of 46,860 square meters, the mega fair will take place at three locations in Taipei—the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, Taipei World Trade Center and Nangang Exhibition Hall. The expo is slated to showcase works from some 105 businesses, 26 schools and 43 design organizations from 18 countries. It will incorporate 18 exhibition areas, each featuring different fields of design such as industrial design, interior design, graphic design, craft design, multimedia design and creations from young designers, says Connie Chang (張惠娟), director of the promotion office of the 2011 IDA Congress and a senior specialist from the IDB.

“The concept of ‘beneficent design’ will represent the most important quality of design works from Taiwan at the expo,” the IDB’s Chou Neng-chuan says. “The notion refers to creating solutions and products that best meet the needs of users and are environmentally friendly at the same time,” he says.

Tony Chang highlights the role of the “Design Magic Bus”—one part of 33 activities in the nine-month run-up to the congress and expo. The bus is a unique means for sharing the idea of beneficent design, or design for well-being, with the general public, he says. It is scheduled to take a collection of such works to 15 locations around the island between February and October this year. “The tour aims to give people the opportunity to experience and appreciate the convenient and comfortable living environment that can be created by design,” Tony Chang says, adding that some of the best designs are often inspired by daily life and personal experience.

The expo also promises an innovative experience for visitors on a number of levels. “A remarkable feature of the Taipei Design Expo is that all the visitors will be fully guided by exhibition guides,” Connie Chang says. “The IDB has injected more than NT$1.7 million (US$58,620) into training more than 1,000 docents for the event.” Though declining to give specifics,  she says the presentation style of each exhibit should be as interesting as the works on display, since all the exhibition spaces are to be set up by prominent local designers instead of event organizers as is usually the case. “Our goal is to give visitors a fresh experience, unlike any of the usual design trade shows,” she says, adding that the designers who are taking part in the project include Yao Cheng-chong (姚政仲), former chairman of Taiwan’s Chinese Society of Interior Designers, Sean C.S. Hu (胡朝聖), founder of Hu’s Art Co. and chairman of the Association of the Visual Arts in Taiwan, as well as Chen Jun-liang (陳俊良), winner of the 2002 Grand Prix Savignac at the Paris-based International Poster Salon.

MOEA Minister Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) has called the congress and expo an opportunity to review Taiwan’s progress in the field of design. The government’s support has played an integral part in spurring the growth of this valuable segment of the economy, the IDB’s Chou says. He pegs the first government effort in promoting the design sector to the establishment of the Product Design Department under the state-funded Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) in 1979. Since Taiwan was an export-oriented economy at the time, the department was set up mainly to help exporters differentiate their products from low-price competitors by improving the quality of goods and packaging via design.

In the following years, the sector was boosted further as the government implemented three five-year plans from 1989 to 2004 to increase the country’s design capacity and upgrade the image of products manufactured in Taiwan. The first five-year plan (1989 to 1994) focused on promoting the value of design to local businesses. At this stage, the IDB conducted research on trends and developments in industrial design in the Asia-Pacific region and also developed a product grading system based on design, which evolved into the Good Design Product Mark (GD Mark) program in 2001. The scheme now awards the GD Mark to about 100 products annually.

“The most notable result of the second five-year plan (1995–1999) was the establishment of several design centers abroad,” Chou says. The facilities, some of which are still in operation today, were tasked with analyzing consumer tastes in major overseas markets and then using the information they collect to help businesses in Taiwan come up with their own original designs so that their products would be more appealing to consumers in Japan, Europe and the United States.

Establishing a Network

In launching the TDC as part of the most recent five-year plan (2000–2004), the government reached a significant milestone in its efforts to strengthen the design sector. As a national resource center, the TDC functions as a platform offering integrated services, such as consultation, networking and financial assistance to businesses that are seeking a competitive edge by upgrading their products through design. “The organization has been dedicated to promoting international exchanges by assisting and sponsoring participants in international design competitions and running an overseas internship program for interested local designers,” Tony Chang says. “The TDC selects and funds 10 applicants each year for a stay of up to six months in Europe or the United States,” he explains. “During their stay, they intern at renowned international design companies. By working and living there, they get to experience the local culture in person and gain more insights into global design trends,” he adds.

Since 2003, the annual Taiwan Design Expo has offered the general public a closer encounter with Taiwanese design along with a platform for designers, buyers and investors to interact, attracting more than 2 million visits in the past eight years.

While the MOEA’s IDB promotes design as a potential economic driver that can do much to add value to a product, the design sector has also gradually begun receiving attention as an important component of the cultural and creative industry. The establishment of the Taiwan Design Center was part of the MOEA’s plan to transform Taiwan’s original equipment manufacturers into original design manufacturers. It also fell in line with Challenge 2008, a six-year national development plan founded in 2002 that targeted the cultural and creative industry as one of the emerging business areas for intensive development by the government. Challenge 2008 was considered Taiwan’s initial effort to strengthen the cultural and creative sector, according to Fang Jy-shiuh (方芷絮), director of the First Department under the Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA).

The cultural and creative industry as a whole continued to be prioritized in the i-Taiwan 12 Projects after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in 2008, and the design sector was further boosted after industrial design and handicrafts were selected as two of the six flagship projects in the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Plan unveiled in May 2009. In February 2010, the Cultural and Creative Industry Development Act came into force, expanding the six flagship projects to cover another nine sectors including visual communications and architectural design.

“The promulgation of the law is especially important as it stipulates that individuals are now entitled to various forms of government financial assistance and tax benefits that used to be offered only to registered companies,” Fang says. In fact, Fang says that the CCA has been redoubling its efforts to assist individual designers and artists, as well as small companies in the cultural and creative sector. For example, she says, in 2010, the council launched a program that subsidizes individuals who want to begin their own cultural and creative business. “Initially NT$50,000 (US$1,700) is offered to each artist to help them develop their preliminary business ideas or products,” she says. “Then, after a review by the CCA, qualified projects can each receive another NT$450,000 (US$15,500) in start-up funds.” In 2010, the CCA funded a total of 55 projects through the program, which saw 52 of the applicants form registered companies by July 2010. The businesses ranged from those producing accessories and stationery items to the inception of a quarterly publication focusing on the ecology of Taiwan’s outlying island of Kinmen. Fang says the agency continues to support these businesses by such means as offering favorable interest rates on loans and rent subsidies at the five creative and cultural parks around the island.

“All the activities in the cultural and creative industry are in fact closely interconnected,” Fang points out. “The prosperity of one segment can often help other segments flourish.” An example is television programs, says Fang, explaining that if a TV series becomes popular, the clothes, accessories and other objects that have been used as props in the show will also gain more exposure, benefitting those who originally designed the products.

‘Shortcuts’ to Recognition

The IDB’s Chou Neng-chuan considers participation in international contests another such “shortcut” for individual designers and small design companies to gain wider recognition. In one of the most successful examples cited by the bureau, Rooster Lighting Co. Ltd., a medium-sized enterprise that manufactures solar panels and traditional and LED (light-emitting diode) lights, received product orders worth some NT$50 million (US$1.5 million) after one of its solar panels grabbed a red dot product design award in 2008. According to the IDB, the amount was equal to roughly half of the company’s total revenue in 2009.

Kuo Jieh-cheng (郭介誠), chairman of the Chinese Industrial Designers Association, however, believes there is still much that could be done to make original design part of the regular business practice of local manufacturers, especially small firms. “The outstanding performance in the international arena has proven that Taiwan has abundant design talent,” says Kuo, who is also a lecturer in the Department of Industrial Design at Da-Yeh University in central Taiwan. The problem is that “many small businesses are still hesitant to invest their already scarce resources into improving their products by design despite government aid,” he says. Therefore, instead of handing out subsidies and offering referral services, Kuo believes that the government should consider giving tax reductions to businesses that hire their own in-house designers. “If each company had its own designer, it’d be only natural for design to become a common part of their operations,” he says.

As to linking design more closely to everyday life, Kuo suggests the public sector should become the biggest buyer for the design industry. “Whether an item has incorporated design principles should become one of the selection criteria for all government procurement,” he says. “In addition, the government should take into consideration the aesthetic value and design features of a structure in awarding public construction contracts to the private sector, instead of giving the contracts to the lowest bidder [as in most cases currently].” Unlike the design of products, Kuo says, the design of infrastructure has a much longer influence, often for generations, and can play a big role in one’s daily life.

Actually, “hosting the IDA Congress is a great opportunity for the government to reexamine its policy in promoting design and reorganize resources among [relevant] agencies,” says Hsieh Hsiao-yun (謝小韞), who served as commissioner of the TCG’s Department of Cultural Affairs from March 2010 until August this year. “All the departments within the city government have begun identifying areas that can be improved to make Taipei a more attractive and comfortable place to live,” Hsieh says. Some of the issues that have been pinpointed include the design and construction of more public housing, better street planning and flood control measures, as well as the design of better transportation systems and traffic signs.

Actually, Hsieh calls the preparatory work for the IDA meeting only a starting point, explaining that Taipei is aiming for the title of World Design Capital (WDC) in 2016. The WDC award was set up by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design to recognize the role of design in a city’s development. Established in 2008, the title designates one city every other year as having made remarkable progress in revitalizing the environment by using design tools and principles. “The city is set to campaign on its convenient living environment and the friendliness of its people,” Hsieh says, adding that Taipei offers easy access to virtually everything a person needs.

To showcase Taipei’s vibrant cultural scene, Hsieh says, as the IDA Congress takes place, six streets and their surrounding areas in the capital are set to each hold an activity that can display the neighborhood’s creative vibe. “In a street quarter in Zhongshan District, for example, the theme of the activity is to ‘take a seat,’ so that each participating shop will design and present a special chair as street furniture in the area,” Hsieh says. In the eastern area of Taipei City, on the other hand, the event will center on the various ways of serving tea. “The stores [that take part in the activity] will either prepare a special drink or design the serving utensils for the beverage,” she explains. Another example is Minsheng Community in eastern Taipei, which is home to nearly 220 registered design and art businesses and studios. The shops that plan to join in the event will design creative storefront window displays in the months leading up to and during the congress.

“The design industry is expected to receive more integrated and comprehensive support services from the public sector after the IDB is expanded [in 2012] to assist companies in their marketing strategies as part of the government restructuring plan,” the IDB’s Chou says. “Just as the IDB has joined forces with the Taipei City Government in hosting the IDA meeting this year, the bureau will step up efforts in collaborating with county and city governments throughout Taiwan to help make design a part of everyone’s living environment,” Chou says. “After all, design or art shouldn’t remain a luxury item or something out of reach for the public. It should be used in everyday life.”

Write to Audrey Wang at audrey@mail.gio.gov.tw