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Haibao idea born in a cafe
By Xie Zuocan and Lin Xu |
January 25, 2009, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ABOUT 7am on April 18, 2007, Wu Yongjian, a professor at the College of Digital Arts with Shanghai University, went to his favorite cafe.
After a cup of cappuccino, the idea of Haibao occurred to Wu. Haibao, which literally means the treasure of the sea, was unveiled as the mascot of World Expo 2010 Shanghai on December 18, 2007.
In Wu's opinion, Chinese culture needed to be the essential element to embody the spirit of World Expo 2010. "A large number of mascot designs to express Chinese culture were inspired by images of pandas, monkeys and dragons, etc," says Wu. "What I did was try to find another way to interpret China, a more abstract way."
In fact, the official symbol of World Expo 2010 had been already decided back then. As it was inspired by a Chinese character, Wu thought it a good idea to echo this inspiration by designing the mascot based on character as well.
On that morning in the cafe, Wu wrote the character da, meaning big, on the back of a receipt. He casually added two eyes and a smiling mouth and found it an interesting little person-like image.
He headed back to his studio right after having breakfast in the cafe. In his studio, he further polished his little buddy by adding color. On May 31, a mascot design based on the Chinese character da was submitted to the official recruitment office.
Wu was informed that his idea was selected, but that official thought it would be better to change the character da to ren, meaning people, to more accurately echo the spirit of World Expo 2010.
Wu didn't mind that the character had been changed.
"The ultimate purpose of a World Expo is to make people's lives better and the essence of a World Expo is the harmony between people, nature, and society. As long as the changes can make the mascot better accomplish its functions, I will be supportive," Wu said.
The final design of mascot is called Haibao in ocean blue. Like an ocean, Haibao symbolically represents a city where all values and ideologies can coexist
Among more than 100 awards in the design world, Wu treasures Haibao the most since designing a mascot for a significant event has long been his dream.
He missed the chance to design a mascot for the Beijing Olympic Games because his grandfather died at that time. When the opportunity came for Expo 2010, he finally fulfilled his dream.
"One hundred years ago, Liang Qichao, a Chinese scholar, journalist, philosopher and reformist during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), had already dreamed of holding a World Expo in Shanghai," Wu said. "I am so proud of getting myself involved in realizing this great century-long dream."
After a cup of cappuccino, the idea of Haibao occurred to Wu. Haibao, which literally means the treasure of the sea, was unveiled as the mascot of World Expo 2010 Shanghai on December 18, 2007.
In Wu's opinion, Chinese culture needed to be the essential element to embody the spirit of World Expo 2010. "A large number of mascot designs to express Chinese culture were inspired by images of pandas, monkeys and dragons, etc," says Wu. "What I did was try to find another way to interpret China, a more abstract way."
In fact, the official symbol of World Expo 2010 had been already decided back then. As it was inspired by a Chinese character, Wu thought it a good idea to echo this inspiration by designing the mascot based on character as well.
On that morning in the cafe, Wu wrote the character da, meaning big, on the back of a receipt. He casually added two eyes and a smiling mouth and found it an interesting little person-like image.
He headed back to his studio right after having breakfast in the cafe. In his studio, he further polished his little buddy by adding color. On May 31, a mascot design based on the Chinese character da was submitted to the official recruitment office.
Wu was informed that his idea was selected, but that official thought it would be better to change the character da to ren, meaning people, to more accurately echo the spirit of World Expo 2010.
Wu didn't mind that the character had been changed.
"The ultimate purpose of a World Expo is to make people's lives better and the essence of a World Expo is the harmony between people, nature, and society. As long as the changes can make the mascot better accomplish its functions, I will be supportive," Wu said.
The final design of mascot is called Haibao in ocean blue. Like an ocean, Haibao symbolically represents a city where all values and ideologies can coexist
Among more than 100 awards in the design world, Wu treasures Haibao the most since designing a mascot for a significant event has long been his dream.
He missed the chance to design a mascot for the Beijing Olympic Games because his grandfather died at that time. When the opportunity came for Expo 2010, he finally fulfilled his dream.
"One hundred years ago, Liang Qichao, a Chinese scholar, journalist, philosopher and reformist during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), had already dreamed of holding a World Expo in Shanghai," Wu said. "I am so proud of getting myself involved in realizing this great century-long dream."
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