Friday, 27 December 2013

EAST VS WEST - 'GOOD DESIGN'

I have just moved back to the UK after living in China for almost a year and a half.
Even though sometimes working 12 hour days for 6 days a week, I would still find time to include design into my life.
I lived near Shanghai so finding my fix of international design wasn't too much of a challenge.
I did however notice the huge differences between the east and the west in terms of what they both consider, 'good design'.
I feel as if in the west, especially the UK, white is alright. How often do we see successful pieces of art or design that is one big cluttered mess? Not since the early 90's. I feel as if in the UK, if you want to get noticed, be as minimal as possible when it comes to your designs, pick a good font and you're laughing.
In contrast, I noticed that China is toying between being minimal but also embracing full on clutterness and surprisingly, it works.
I have found some examples in which reflect the traditional modernness of the new and up and coming Chinese design field which can be viewed below.

Typical Chinese design examples















Typical British design examples

Review:
As you can see, the major differences between the two is; colour, space and font. 
I personally think that British design is one of the leaders in the world, and I am expecting the British design industry to take huge influence from Chinese design. As we all know, China is taking over the world, and that includes the design world, too.
I think it's only a matter of time before the western design world begins to mimik some of the way that the Chinese designers work by being more bold, making a statement and breaking the minimalistic rules.

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