| THE AWARD |
| CATEGORIES |
| REGISTRATION |
| SUBMIT YOUR WORK |
| ENTRY INSTRUCTIONS |
| TERMS & CONDITIONS |
| PUBLICATIONS |
| DATES & FEES |
| METHODOLOGY |
| CONTACT |
| WINNERS |
| PRESS ROOM |
| GET INVOLVED |
| DESIGN PRIZE |
| DESIGN STORE |
| THE AWARD | JURY | CATEGORIES | REGISTRATION | PRESS | WINNERS | PUBLICATIONS | ENTRY INSTRUCTIONS |
Interview with Jin Zhang |
Home > Designer Interviews > Jin Zhang |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Jin Zhang (JZ) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Jin Zhang by clicking here.
FS: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
JZ: I have been engaged in design work since 2008, and have done automobile publicity design, real estate promotion design, and in recent years, I have focused on the overall design and packaging design of the brand. Seeing the beautiful visual performance of products can make me feel very comfortable, which also attracted me to join the design industry, hoping that the works I design can bring people a better experience.
FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
JZ: My studio name is: Wuhan SANBU Brand Design, we are in China, is an extremely small studio, I am the founder and chief designer, all the design works are completed by myself as the main designer. The studio mainly does brand design and packaging design, involving many industries, such as food, wine, tea, coffee, dairy products, catering, education and training, clothing, automobile and so on.
FS: What is "design" for you?
JZ: I think design is a very broad term, not just using design software to design graphics or fonts, but from the meaning of the product, how to enhance the experience of the product, how to create an emotional connection with consumers, how to express the personality of the brand and other multi-dimensional to solve some business problems, design is a systematic project. Of course, the final need to impress consumers is a successful design.
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
JZ: I prefer the most common products in people's daily life, whether it is eating, drinking or playing. Only the products that most ordinary people can buy, through our design to enhance the visual performance and experience, so that people can live in the environment of high-quality goods, the design is truly meaningful.
FS: When do you feel the most creative?
JZ: I like to think and create alone in a very quiet environment. The time is not fixed, but most of the time tends to be in the morning and late at night.
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
JZ: The current design is very rich and colorful, but compared to the expression, I pay more attention to the emotion conveyed by the design, because I firmly believe that a good design must be able to impress consumers for a long time and have an intersection with consumer emotions.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
JZ: At the beginning of the design, it is relatively cumbersome at the beginning of the design. I need to understand the product-related information as much as possible. The design process will become more and more clear and exciting. When our creativity is satisfied by Party A, we will only smile and face the relative calm. During the design process, it is most exciting to turn ideas into reality.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
JZ: When my design goes from the design draft on the computer to the production of the actual product, I will be very proud, and I will share it with my friends in a timely manner. I also hope that more people can enjoy this product. In short, I am excited.
FS: What makes a design successful?
JZ: It is difficult to use a unified standard to measure whether the design is successful or not. Of course, sales volume will be one of the measurement standards, but sales volume will be affected by many factors such as price, sales channels, and the brand's own popularity. And I think that the key to the success of a design is whether the user is attracted and whether they will take the initiative to share with friends around them. Only if more people spontaneously share because they like the design, then the design will be successful.
FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
JZ: The difference between good design and bad design will be very large due to people's own artistic accomplishment, so there will be no uniform standard. When I look at the design, the first thing I have to do is to see if it can attract me to take a few more glances. Whether it is because of color, or graphics, the first thing is to attract the eye; the second is to see what the design wants to express, and whether it is clearly expressed; and the last is whether it is practical and whether there is excessive waste.
FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
JZ: I think that people's living standards have been continuously improving, and people's requirements for all aspects of goods are also increasing. As designers, we have the responsibility to take a lot of products that are not good enough, and let them bring a better experience to people through design, and reduce waste and pollution through design, so that our resources can be used more rationally.
FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
JZ: Design will change with the development of the times, because design is to serve people. From the need for functionality from the very beginning, the design slowly needs to reflect the brand value, and now we need more to reflect the connection between the consumer's self-worth and the brand, so that every group can be respected. Design will always be people-oriented and increasingly personalized to develop.
FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
JZ: Before each design, I will go to the supermarket for a walk. Sometimes I will take the bus to see the people and shops on the street. This will allow me to feel in the living environment. When I am a consumer myself, I will buy what kind of designed goods. This can restore the consumer psychology to the greatest extent. It can also break the original design ideas of the product and achieve breakthrough changes.
FS: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
JZ: I don't have a fixed design style. If I have to say what style, I may personally prefer the Chinese style, because I like Chinese traditional culture. Although I know very little, when I do design, I will learn more interesting Chinese culture and world culture through different projects. It is very interesting to transform and integrate through design.
FS: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
JZ: I am from Wuhan, China. Chinese culture is profound and profound, and its influence on my design is very great. I like Chinese culture very much. There will be many interesting cultures in different regions. It may take hundreds of years to fully understand, so it will always have a fresh feeling.
FS: How do you work with companies?
JZ: We have several principles for cooperation with Party A: 1. Do not participate in any form of comparison; 2. We need to pay before we start designing; 3. You must meet the brand manager or founder for in-depth communication.
FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
JZ: making designs that convey feelings
FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
JZ: I think the most important thing for designers is "empathy," and we need to think about ourselves as consumers, not as brands, because ultimately it is the consumer who pays the bill. And we need to tap the potential needs of consumers, and surpass the products that consumers expect, in order to survive longer. Software skills are also important, but those can be developed with practice.
FS: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
JZ: In order to make better works, our studio only accepts about 10 cases each year, and controls the number of projects as much as possible to ensure the quality of design. Although this will lose a lot of economic benefits, we still do it, because only good works can make us decide to be worthy of our own hearts.
FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
JZ: The time required for different projects is also different, such as a product packaging, generally we need one month to two months to complete.
FS: What was your most important job experience?
JZ: The most important and most difficult work experience is that I founded my own studio, and everything needs to be done by myself, including connecting contracts, finance and so on. However, it also made me grow a lot, especially in the ability outside of design. It also made me know that it is very difficult to be a brand. It also made me have better tenacity.
FS: Who are some of your clients?
JZ: My customers are basically concentrated in Hubei Province, China. For example, Wuhan's most famous scenic spots: the Yellow Crane Tower; Hubei's largest brewery: Jinlongquan Beer; China's number one beer: Tsingtao; Hubei's largest decoration company: Aohua Decoration; Hubei liquor brand: Jiang Jun Hong; Hubei children's milk brand: Cool My Dairy; Hainan Shan Lan Wine Brand: Lijiang
FS: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
JZ: Continue the current steps, and only do about 10 projects every year to ensure the quality of design, speak with solid works, and let more brands see us and choose us. We only do brand design and packaging design.
FS: How can people contact you?
JZ: If you want to contact us, you can email a59345@qq.com. You can also call 13207121305 in China. Or follow our wechat official number: SANBU-BrandDesign
FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.
A’ Design Award and Competitions grants rights to press members and bloggers to use parts of this interview. This interview is provided as it is; DesignPRWire and A' Design Award and Competitions cannot be held responsible for the answers given by participating designers.
Press Members: Register and login to request a custom interview with Jin Zhang.
| SOCIAL |
| + Add to Likes / Favorites | Send to My Email | Comment | Testimonials |
