Shenzhen, The Third "Capital Of Design" In The World?

Richard Florida, an American economist, said in his book "theriseofthecreativeclass of the creative class" in 2002 that the rise of creativity in the contemporary economy indicates the rise of a professional class, so that the society can be divided into four main occupational groups: the agricultural class, the industrial class, the service class and the creative class.

He said the creative class includes a "super creative core", which is made up of people from science and engineering, architecture and design, education, art, music and entertainment.

Some scholars believe that although the creative class in China has not yet been formed, publishers, designers, advertisers, brokers, architectural designers, journalists and other cultural groups will complete their pformation of their roles, and the first batch will enter the real sense of the creative class.

In recent years, the creative class represented by designers in Shenzhen has also emerged as a result of its role in society and economy.

A certain scale of creative class will lead a city to "creative city".

In 2004, Shenzhen put forward the idea of creating a "city of design", that is, since the beginning of this year, UNESCO has designated 6 cities around the world as "creative cities". They have become part of the United Nations Global Creative City Alliance.

They are: "the capital of design" - Berlin, Argentina, Buenos Aires, and "capital of folk art" - Aswan and Santa Fe in the USA, the capital of cooking, Columbia, and the capital of literature, Edinburgh, England.

Although the UNESCO's "creative city" standard is not the only criterion, it provides us with valuable reference at least.

We can take a look at its elements to see how far the design capital of Shenzhen is from Berlin and Buenos Aires.

A city that relies on design and spirituality.

There are 10 thousand and 400 people in Berlin who specialize in design, and there are many freelancers who work on design.

The more than 600 companies in Berlin's design industry earn 1 billion 400 million euros a year.

Buenos Aires has been an important commercial, financial, scientific, cultural and artistic center in South America since ancient times. It is known as "Paris of South America".

Buenos Aires today ranks among the world's mega cities. Through public-private partnerships, the design industry has become a major element in promoting the local economy, which also affects the whole country and even the international market.

According to incomplete statistics, the total output value of Shenzhen's design industry has reached 12 billion 200 million yuan in 2004.

At present, there are more than 400 graphic design companies and more than 20000 graphic designers in Shenzhen, far higher than any other city in China.

From these figures, the design output of Shenzhen is close to Berlin, and the designer population is much larger than that of Berlin.

If you add fashion designers, interior designers, etc., the number of design companies in Shenzhen will also exceed that of Berlin.

So what are these hard targets?

The level of design education is not rich enough.

There are 4 universities in Berlin offering design courses, and many other vocational schools offer design courses.

The German Bauhaus design school, which pioneered world modern design, moved to Berlin during World War II.

Education, as the cradle of design, provides intellectual support for the city's creativity.

Although there are design departments in Shenzhen and higher vocational colleges in Shenzhen, Wang Yuefei, a graphic designer in the industry, said: "there is a lack of hierarchy in the design education in Shenzhen." Shenzhen

There is no design school for young people or secondary schools in Shenzhen, although there is a large school of design, but it is a high threshold, and there are many schools specially designed for some kind of design, such as poster schools, packaging schools, etc., and the training time will not be very long. Those who are interested can go in to study.

Shenzhen's design vocational education is not enough.

The social consciousness of design needs to be cultivated.

Reporters have met many designers, and they all share a common feeling: designers' ideas are not easily recognized by business owners, and many enterprises do not know enough about the role of industrial design.

Han Jiaying, chairman of Shenzhen Graphic Design Association, said: "one design, some enterprises are willing to pay 500 thousand yuan, and the same design, some enterprises only willing to pay 50 thousand yuan."

Most enterprises understand industrial design simply by drawing a picture and designing a shell.

In fact, industrial design is a very systematic work. It involves two fields.

One is the technical field, which provides solutions for the application environment of enterprise products; the other is the aesthetic field, and designs products according to people's cultural background and aesthetic trend.

Han Jiaying said, "every day you have to" encounter "design, and bad design is a kind of visual violence. The aesthetics of Shenzhen entrepreneurs and the aesthetic appreciation of citizens need to be cultivated and improved.

At the end of last month, Hao Boyi, an old Heilongjiang painter who came to Shenzhen to attend the Guanlan edition exhibition, told reporters that Chinese prints are better selling in Japan, because Japanese know printmaking.

Before the new year, Japanese housewives decided to buy some prints and hang them in the room.

Can primary and secondary schools in Shenzhen also offer design appreciation lessons, and develop aesthetic consciousness from childhood?

Wang Yuefei even suggested that it is necessary for Shenzhen to set up a design museum specializing in the collection of design works.

Reporters learned that Guan Shan Yue Art Museum has designed as one of the academic directions, began to consciously collect and display design works, Shenzhen students and entrepreneurs can enter the art museum to feel the beauty of design.

Low rent housing is an ecological wetland designed by young people.

In Berlin where the rent is low and there are lots of vacant places, young people can find free space to try new ideas.

From the national opera house to the deserted subway station, they are the stage to display their design talent.

Beijing Songzhuang Artist Village and the 798 art community were attracted by artists because they were cheap.

The same is true of Dafen Oil Painting Village in Shenzhen.

To attract young designers to start businesses in Shenzhen, low rent housing is their ecological wetland.

Waiting for the above conditions to mature will take time, especially when designing social consciousness.

But the goal of the design capital is getting closer and closer to us.