Interview with "New Design List" - Han Zhanning: Dialogue between Jiang Hua and Pan Yu

Han: Two are good! Finally caught the two to catch up.

Jiang: This is also something we are very happy about.

Han: To tell the truth, I used to learn more about Jiang Hua. I didn't invite Pan Yi this time. Then I asked Teacher Wang Xu. He said that both are good and worthy of his recommendation. So I looked for some Pan Yu's design work. It was really good, and the two worked together. The design views had many similarities, so I invited them together.

Pan: It's not a good thing to have a chance to communicate. You said that there are many similarities between the two of us.

Han: Can you talk about that?

Jiang: If we think that the concept of design should be simple, concise and direct is the most effective way. Here, simpleness does not mean that it is simple in form, but the complexity of the form does not necessarily mean that it is not simple. Many images that are very complex in form, if its concept is simple enough, he is always a simple expression. . Just like Ralph Schraivogel of Switzerland, who created the most dazzling and most fashionable complex image poster by hand, in his works, what we see is his rigorous, simple and concise concept. The design should have a clear Concepts convey and influence people. Such viewpoints come from our daily discussion. Apart from our work, there are many conversations and exchanges on design and art. Almost every night, we put down our work for a day and we talk about what we are interested in very relaxedly. Many of our concepts and creations are like this. At the same time, there will be many works for cooperation in the talks. This way of working is very important to us.

Pan: Yes, this interaction is very important. The wisdom of two people is always better than one person's. I and Jiang Hua each took charge of their own projects and also cooperated on certain projects, bringing many conceptual collisions and interacting in style. I joked we are "left and right."

Han: In fact, I have this experience, and I often talk with friends in the design circle. I will talk a lot and sometimes I can clearly feel the progress brought by this discussion. In fact, all designers need such exchanges and discussions.

Jiang: Because the design work is not only for designers to appreciate, but also involves many other aspects, such as the most essential communication and communication, involving basic principles and techniques, involving customers and audiences, because the design itself It is a business activity that requires communication between designers and others.

Han: Your friendship is precious. Most of the designers like to be alone, and they are all conceited. Don't know how you got together?

Jiang: In fact, we didn't work together at the earliest. Although the two were in the same school, there was less communication. I taught at Ningbo University in 1996. After two years of depression, I had less communication with everyone. In 1998, the establishment of the Shanghai Graphic Designers Professional Committee in Shanghai was very touched and I saw that they had achieved the design. As a result, I feel that I am depriving myself of my favorite designs.

Pan: After several twists and turns, with other Ningbo graphic design colleagues, in 1998 established the Ningbo Graphic Designers Association, and has held several graphic design exhibitions.

Han: It is really gratifying for you to get involved because of design.

Jiang: In this kind of interactive work, we gradually got amazing agreement on the design point of view. Pan’s favorite designer is also my favorite designer, such as Ralph Schraivogel, James Victore, Uwe Loesch, Niklaus Troxler, Alan. Flecher and so on, as well as Mr. Wang Xu, his works have a great influence on us. I remember in the autumn of 1998, we went to Guangzhou to visit Mr. Wang Xu for the association. He sent us some posters for each of them. NO.13 is one of them. I like Pan and I like it very much. We found that there was an identical evaluation of the poster between each other. Mr. Wang Xu's "NO.13" has always been one of our most cherished collections.

Pan: The concept's intervention is accurate and wonderful. It is unique and appropriate. At the same time, he is particularly careful in post-production (such as material selection, printing process, etc.).

Jiang: This amazingly consistent view is also reflected in many aspects. For example, the study of masters and the study of the history of design, we think this is not a simple slogan. We believe that the designer's life should be a life of continuous learning, one of which It is the continuous learning of design history.

Han: There are fewer ways to do this. Everyone seems to be eager to learn about certain styles or techniques. You rarely study design history like you do. Why did you do this?

Pan: At present, many design elites have their thoughts and progress, and have broken through traditions. Their design ideas and cutting-edge design work have also appeared frequently in many media. After a short period of stimulation, you will feel inexplicable sadness because you have already discovered them. Too many problems, such as the communication of information on graphic design, the involvement of concepts, the handling of graphics and fonts, etc.

Jiang: Finding the problem is one of our methods. These problems and these problems are ultimately due to the lack of awareness of graphics or typefaces. For example, people think that the Swiss style is too rigid, but the true Swiss style and Yale school are not fully understood. The classic style has its value. Do not understand, but also talk about how to break? I remember Mr. Wang Xu's editor's book “Design History of Graphic Designers” in the series: “In order to move forward, you must review history!” (Art Chantry). After graduating from college, I worked in colleges and found that our design education was empty and shallow for Western design. The peoples of the East, whether Japan or China, are far from understanding, learning and inheriting Western design concepts. For every designer who grew up in China in the 1980s, it is necessary to learn such Western activities. For example, how many People understand the international style, understand the Western font processing, editing technology? We have too much work to do on this. At least for now, studying international design or disseminating Western design concepts is absolutely something we must do. Nationalization or localization is a very vague concept. We don't understand Western modern design, and there is no in-depth study of indigenous art. Localization?

Han: It can be said that learning makes the designer mature. So how do you do it?

Pan: We often discuss some classic design works, such as Alan Flecher's "D&AD 21st Anniversary Commemoration Poster". We discussed many issues. This is Alan Flecher's masterpiece. Its text and graphic processing has its own uniqueness. The bold figures and slender fonts in the posters are boldly combined. While highlighting the figures, he also handles important thematic words so well that the contours of the characters and characters are highly harmonious. The alignment of text and graphics is also very particular, reflecting the master's rigorous design.

Han: You are really very careful, and you are still on the road with your master's collection and studying it seriously. I admire it.

Pan: People often find it difficult to see the dark side of their work. They always feel complacent about what they have achieved, and the people around them will see clearly. And this feeling is kind of staged. You may also have this feeling. Sometimes you feel that your work is good and you feel good. In fact, your feelings are numb. This is a terrible thing. State, the greatest benefit of both of us can remind each other at this crucial moment.

Jiang: After all, the discussion between the two people was too narrow, so they often came out and communicated with the designer friends outside. Every time you go out and go back, you will have a lot of gains. Looking at your own work will reveal a lot of problems. Finding the problem is the key to solving the problem. This kind of communication is especially for designers in countries where information is not very developed. Particularly important.

Han: It can be seen that you are very understanding together. I think the process of your two learning is actually the process of your design growth. Can you talk about your design growth process?

Jiang: I was relatively late to Ningbo. It was about 96 years ago. Before I went to school at Wuxi University of Light Industry, there was a professor G. Matthias from the Department of Graphic Design at Kassel Art University in Germany. He gave us After a month of poster design for posters, he brought us not only the idea of ​​a German poster design course, but also more than 3,000 slides that were broadcast every month for a month. In a month, I met from the pentagonal design. , Pushpin Studio to the Polish School, the Swiss School, the New York School and many other Western design styles and concepts! He later distributed these slides to each of our classmates. These slides are actually a history of design. The content starts from the Bauhaus in Germany and even earlier in the early period of the French posters, until the latest European designers. The works have had a great influence on me. After seeing these works, I know their ins and outs and have deeper impressions. Another time is to do graduation design. The three groups of us are doing public poster design topics. The theme is the return of Hong Kong, a total of 18, including the piece of "double happiness", and finally screen printing. The most important thing in this process is long. After three or four months of drawing and thinking, we thought a lot of ideas and we did not print it out completely.

Han: This poster seems to have won an award for you.

Jiang: The significance of this work for me is not awards, but some of the feelings that come from it: a theme can have many in-depth ideas and ideas, as well as a variety of ways of expression. Later, in preparation for the Ningbo Graphic Designers Association in 1997, the first major event in the preparation process was the Ningbo designer's southward journey to Guangzhou, Shenzhen and witnessed the work of the local designers and visited the Guangzhou Wang Xu Design Co., Ltd.