Entrepreneurs have designs on the future

New generation of creative people is emerging, finding outlets for talent

After being the world's factory for decades, China is stepping up its game by increasing innovation, especially by independent designers.

"Made in China is dead. Designed in China killed it," Diana Tsai said as she founded the world's first online design shop BUNDSHOP.COM in Shanghai, to feature products designed in China.

Since late October, BUNDSHOP has been showcasing one new design product every 24 hours to the world, by designers from the bustling metropolises of Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong to the peaceful coastal cities of Hangzhou and Xiamen.

Even though we just started sales on Nov 22, we are already seeing some works gaining popularity. These include SOZEN's bamboo vases, John Meng's innovative wine bottle lamps and Carl Liu's Shanghai fans, said Stephany Zoo, marketing director.

BUNDSHOP is to export the products and stories behind independent designers and brands in China. Tsai said she and three co-founders from the United States and Shanghai together built the platform to publicize the emerging generation of creative and innovative brands that are shifting China from Made in China to Designed by China.

Based on their roots back in the US, Tsai and her team members are trying to introduce the best design works from China to the whole world. They ship to 90 countries, almost all over the globe.

Born and raised in the US, Tsai never thought she would be involved with a design circle before. She was interested in policy making and went to Georgetown University to study international political economy.

However, she was inspired a lot during her trips to Shanghai - the hometown of her mother. When she started seeing many emerging designs but few opportunities for their creators to exhibit or sell their work at home or abroad, she thought it was an opportunity to exploit.

"We kept hearing the same complaint from designers all over China - that their only way to reach the international world were platforms like eBay or Etsy, nothing customized or branded, no company that actively promoted their design inspirations," said local Shanghai cofounder Donnie Yu.

UK veteran

Tsai is not the only person from outside China detecting the emerging design market. Tim Lindsey, a veteran of the design industry, came to Shanghai from the United Kingdom in October to see if he can attract more local designers to join his organization, D&AD, one of the world's most prestigious prizes for advertising and design.

"The design work we see coming out of China is going from strength to strength, and it will only improve as the domestic market continues to develop its taste for quality products and experiences," said Lindsay, chief executive officer of D&AD.

D&AD Awards has given 11 awards to China this year.

Although it is a quite small share of the total 638 awards given to works from 48 countries, it meant something for designers from China.

Chinese porcelain used to stun the world with its unique design and exquisite craftsmanship. In modern times, the country is often referred to as the world's factory and famed for its cheap manufacturing costs.

However, things have started to change in recent years. From the Warrior sports shoes selling in London's Sefridges, to Great Wall vans running on the highways of Adelaide, Chinese products are winning a reputation for their features, rather than cheap prices.

As people get richer and demand a higher quality of life, designers see their role as improving people's lives, whether it means designing a more comfortable chair or creating a public space that encourages people to socialize and interact more freely.

"We see everything from graphic design to new product concepts from China, but most of our entries come from the developed eastern cities - Beijing, Shanghai. What I'd really like to see from China is work coming out of the regions and smaller cities - I want to know what designers are creating in Harbin in Northeast China or Lanzhou in Northwest China.

Designer

"Every city and population will have different needs that designers will be responding to. I'd love to know what creative ideas are popping up in China as a result," Lindsay said.

John Meng, designer of innovative wine bottle lamps, said the design industry is still fairly new to Chinese society and designers are desperate for opportunities."

The self-taught independent designer created his own design brand this year, and debuts his first line of products internationally with BUNDSHOP, a series of recycled wine bottle lamps. He has already sold several within a month through this platform.

With Chinese people becoming more affluent, it is natural that they pursue better taste in their lives and that provides great opportunities for designers, Meng added.

But Chinese designers still have a lot to learn from their counterparts in the West about how to integrate ideas and everyday life and find the right market for themselves, he added.

Zhang Junjie, who created SOZEN, a design brand for vases and lights made with carved and crafted bamboo, is also cooperating with BUNDSHOP.

For the past decade, Zhang has been teaching industrial design at China Academy of Arts.

The progress he's seen is unbelievable.

"Each year advances beyond the previous years. If you compare the quality of industrial designers from 10 years ago to nowwell, there is no comparison. The gap is so large," he said. Ten years ago product design was barely a major. Now you have more than 400 schools and 10,000 graduates each year, he added.

But one intriguing element of this rapid development is that the current generation of designers are trained with a purely Western eye for design.

The result of this is that the designers that started their careers in the late 90s have a unique style. Their grasp of Classical Chinese artistic training combined with studies of Western design lend to a fusion style of design that is lost among the postmillennial generation of Chinese designers.

This window of designers, now in their 30s to 40s, offers the world a glimpse at the first designs born from China's opening-up to the rest of the world. It will likely be decades before this style happens again, when people from the younger generation are ready to become more introspective and turn from Western design to their roots to find original inspiration, Zhang said