Chen Hsin-yu is a graphic designer from Taipei. After completing a postgraduate degree in Visual Communication at Yunlin Tech, he went on to work for a company called Dentsu before founding his own studio, which he now manages as Creative Director. Chen Hsin-yu was recently a Golden Pin Design Award 2016 Design Mark Recipient, presented for his project, The Pictogram Design for Taiwan’s 100 Tourist Attractions. Design China founder Zara Arshad sat down with the designer in Taipei to find out more.
Tell us a bit about yourself – how did you start your design career?
I actually got into design by accident – when I was in college, my major was in media; it wasn’t until I got to Yunlin Tech that I entered the design field. While there I worked on a number of government-initiated projects, which entailed re-designing packaging for farmer’s products, or even the road signs in Tainan city. It was after working for Dentsu that I set up my own studio. I have also taught at Taiwan Tech and National Taipei University of Business, and continue to teach at Chang Jung Christian University.
What projects are you currently working on?
One of our most recent commissions is from a Chinese wedding cake company called Alina, which is around 40 years old. There is a huge top-down emphasis on sustainable practice in Taipei at the moment; therefore, I was brought in by the company to re-design their packaging in order to meet these new standards. The changes I introduced were minimal, but crucial. The company’s old packaging, for instance, made use of highly-textured materials that were not eco-friendly at all. I swapped these out for materials with a smoother finish, and refined the logo, using lines to create finer detail. We have been working on this project for about a month now.
How do you start a body of work – what does the process entail?
Right now, we have three people in our design team – a designer, a photographer and a project manager. The project manager deals with our clients, therefore, they are tasked with finding out about the message of the project. I will then brief our design team, who then usually go away and start brainstorming initial ideas. I also encourage those outside of the design team (our studio is formed of nine people in total) to pitch in ideas, too. Of course, I also offer my own opinions and thoughts in this process. Once these ideas have been developed, we present them to the client.
Can you tell us a bit more about your project, The Pictogram Design for Taiwan’s 100 Tourist Attractions?
In recent years, the tourism industry in Taiwan has enjoyed a good international reputation. However, many of the travel guides and websites on offer for tourists do not support each other in a collaborative way, which can inconvenience travellers. When it comes to upgrading the current tourism communication climate, it was important to create a cohesive visual language that could cross language, cultural, and local institutional barriers. By creating a clear graphic system for Taiwan’s top one hundred tourist attractions and sites and allocating each place an individual symbol, tourists are able to easily identify and travel to the attractions they are particularly interested in visiting.
For me, it is critical that non-designers are able to understand design, and I think symbols play a very important role in this. Tourists that travel to Taiwan, for example, may not understand road signs, so pictorial representations become crucial in how these groups of people navigate the city. Consequently, when I initiated this body of work, I conducted three surveys (both on- and offline) with random groups of people of all ages and backgrounds, both local and non-locals, revising my design solution after each stage.
Finally, when the design was eventually released, the government (specifically, the Ministry for Transportation and Communication) was very enthusiastic. Unfortunately, however, they did not have the necessary budget to implement the system. At first, I was going to let the ministry use my work for free, but I decided against this in the end because it would undervalue the design, and the work we had put into it. The project was later picked up by a Japanese company, who have now released it as a product – as paper tape, sold in Eslite bookstore. I do hope though that the Taiwanese government decides to adopt this visual system, and that they hire a dedicated team to assist with its implementation.
What role do local institutions, like the Taiwan Design Center (TDC), play in promoting the design industry? What do they do well, and what can they do better?
As a student, I often participated in the numerous competitions organised by the Taiwan Design Center, which helped me to improve my own abilities. One aspect that they could work on, however, is with their programming – the center organises many exhibitions, talks and forums, but I feel that they could involve designers more actively in the planning of these kinds of events. The TDC, which tends to focus on industry, should also work collaboratively with the government to promote design to a wider, more general audience, both locally as well as abroad. TDC should be a bridge between the government and the general public.
What do you think the World Design Capital (WDC) 2016 status has brought to Taipei?
There have been many instances of Taiwanese residents expressing indifference towards World Design Capital 2016 Taipei, but this is not surprising when projects have focused on re-designing transformer boxes or rubbish bins that sit on the side of the street. These elements are not very close to people’s everyday life. Designers should instead seek to create positive change around the real inconveniences that people in Taipei face, such as the poor signage system found in our train stations, which is very confusing and needs to be re-thought.
Some workshops have already initiated conversation around improving the MRT (subway), including re-thinking signage and ticketing services. The sessions were attended by both designers and citizens; they also involved inviting a group of designers from Japan who were involved in a similar project in their home country. I think this is a good and positive project to emerge from WDC 2016 Taipei.
Where do you hope to take your studio in the future?
The main goal is to communicate with and serve our clients as best as we can. For my personal projects, I would like to engage with designing for the public more; once my company is more stable, I would like to start more not-for-profit projects. Finally, though I have had projects in China, Japan and Thailand, I have never really worked with designers from outside of Taiwan before. It would be great to work with designers from different backgrounds in the future.
With thanks to Golden Pin Design Award for organising and offering interpretation during the interview; edited by Design China.
Syndicated from Design China
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