As a Mainland Chinese Industrial Designer studying for my degree in the US, I've noticed that many designers around the world turn their attention to China these days. But I have to point out that manufacturing shifting to China does not necessarily means that design is shifting as well. In most cases, China is only the MANUFACTURER, not the designer. When Nike has Chinese factories made its shoes, it is Nike in Portland making the design decisions, not the Chinese designers. As Dr. Chiodo stated, there is little environmental concerns involved in Chinese design process because there is no incentive for designers to do so. But again, who is making the decision here? Probably not Chinese designers but Western investment behind the manufacturing. I believe if the consumers push hard enough, government will regulate the environmental aspects of product design, like many European governments started to do, and the wind will change all over the world. I think it's unfair to blame it all on China, there is a much bigger picture that encompasses design, economy, and politics.
The price of design in China is sometimes as low as the quality of the products, which the western designers can't accept. Just ask O'Connell from Conran and Partners, UK, who has been working in Beijing since 2003. Quite frankly, I don't see why people should feel so threatened by China if China continues to compete on a low technology, low labor cost, and low design price/quality level.
Language should NOT be the major concern here. Design research, not like other social science, relies heavily on visual communication instead of written language. Besides, other than language, there are many cultural differences. Many researchers study German modernism without understanding German. English is the dominating language in research and it won't change even when there are 6,000 product designers graduate every year in China. After all, very few of these graduates will become researchers.
China is producing for the world at the cost of its own environment and sustainability, which is horrifying to me. That's why I'm working on sustainable design and design education in China. The problem is ever pressing.
First post on this list. Thanks.
Tao Huang
PhD student
Architecture + Design
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Homepage: http://filebox.vt.edu/users/taohuang/index.htm
Blog: http://spaces.msn.com/members/taohuang/
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