Related News
Home » Sunday » Home and Design
Shanghai native says it’s all about simplicity, cleverness
Print Edition
Who is he?
François Yang, native Shanghainese, graduated from Tongji University with a bachelor’s degree of design and Domus Academy Italy with a master’s. He used to work in France and Italy as an industrial designer. He is involved with different design projects and has developed his own MiniShanghai, a collection of metal model kits.
Tell us some of your works and name the one you are most proud of.
My personal favorite is the switch hook. One day, I was brushing my teeth and took a look at a wall socket. Since in China 99 percent of the wall sockets are 88mm standard, we can use the socket as a base to hang the hook. Normally the first two things you do when you come home is switch on the light and put away the keys, so with this hook I combined the two actions. Next time you leave home, it’s pretty hard to forget the keys.
Are you currently involved with any project?
Xintiandi asked me to make a metal model kit out of their “ONE XinTianDi” club. There are also a couple of packaging design projects and an industrial park visual guidance system. I’m planning the second collection of MiniShanghai. For the first collection, architectural creations and sights that have played indispensable roles in the history of Shanghai have been selected and reproduced using metal etching.
Describe your design style.
I always try to make something simple and clever.
Simple is not only to look clean but also simple to use, simple to remember. Usually it takes more energy to create something simple than the other way around. I have to spend a lot of time to take away the things that don’t belong in the final product. Design is something to make life easily and happier. If you want trouble or to cry you can find a girlfriend or go to the theater, but that’s not what design is about.
Clever means how you achieve the final goal. Everything we design has a goal and it is what defines design. Whether it’s a home appliance or a package it always has its goal or else nobody will pay. So there are thousands and even millions of different ways to achieve the goal and there are a lot of criteria to judge.
What does your home mean to you?
Somewhere you feel comfortable and relaxed. I don’t know if it’s only me — as soon as I open my door and sit down, I feel much better. Maybe it’s the smell, the environment, the familiarity or something else.
What do you collect?
The bright side is that I collect CDs. I mean, MP3s and CDs are two totally different things. Maybe I value the feeling of touching it, and also you can enjoy the design the booklet and so on. The dark side of the force is smoking pipes. I prefer British products, simple and elegant. I smoke all of them since they are smoking tools. They have to be used!
Where would you like to go most in Shanghai?
As a native, I know Shanghai has lot of faces, so normally I choose to go somewhere that fits my mood.
What will be the next big design trend?
I believe there are some everlasting values like honesty. It’s what I try to achieve in my work. I prefer green design to be the trend, things that help us waste less and less. I think we throw away things too easily and too often, sometimes just to replace them with newer things, but is that really necessary?
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
