Interview with Nancy Zhang

Nancy Zhang ("NZ") interviewed on Monday, 31 October.

Could you please tell us about your experience as a designer, artist, architect or creator?

NZ : After I graduated from Beijing film academy, I decided to come to Berlin for working. As a Visual artist, illustrator, writer and graphic designer, I have been engaging in the industry since 14 years ago.

How did you become a designer?

NZ : Being a designer/creator wasn’t a big decision but a natural heritage from my family, both of my parents used to be designers. Ever since I was a little child, I started to read my father’s textile pattern book references as the children’s book. And these memories are in my blood no matter which path I would choose.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

NZ : First priority is the concept, which information want to deliver to the costumers, would it be helpful for people? Styles and techniques are equally important, new techniques could make some style ideas become true or make it easier. I accept all kinds of new technology, Techniques are like grammars for speaking, style is like how you speak, but most importantly is what you want to say.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

NZ : Designing is a new meditation for me. Usually I was quite focused while I was creating, detached from the reality.

What particular aspects of your background shaped you as a designer?

NZ : My major used to be animation making in the academy. animation film making, painting, illustrating…all these experiences helped me to understand what design really is. Design is a way to combine art and our daily lives together. Design contents endless knowledges, my exploring journey of design is still at the beginning .

What is your growth path? What are your future plans? What is your dream design project?

NZ : As I mentioned above I comes from a designer family. Despite my parents, almost all the other family members could paint well also although some of them chose other occupations. They have influenced my aesthetics and always push me to be a better creator.

What are your advices to designers who are at the beginning of their career?

NZ : Emotional stability is important. Design is a team work, we need to communicate with each other a lot to achieve the same goal. I still remembered what my colleague said to me many years ago, “ We have to keep a calm, professional attitude to deal with changes. “

You are truly successful as a designer, what do you suggest to fellow designers, artists and architects?

NZ : I always believe that people’s creativity comes from the personal experiences. Usually I won’t give any specific advice because people could only learn things properly from the mistakes. Enrich the life experience is the key to be creative, that’s all I want to say.

What is your day to day look like?

NZ : A simple day started from a cup of coffee in the morning then working(meeting/writing/drawing/etc). I do follow up the industry news during my spare time. I only feel excited when I deal with some challenging projects that I never came across before.

How do you keep up with latest design trends? To what extent do design trends matter?

NZ : I am the person who doesn’t care about the trend much, no matter which kind of trends. As a Designer we need to learn from the past , also think more about what the future needs.

How do you know if a product or project is well designed? How do you define good design?

NZ : A good design’s definition could be judged subjectively. Personally I think the “details” is the most decisive standard. It doesn’t mean the appearance decoration details, but the structure of concept, efforts of the functionality, accuracy of techniques, all these little things built up a good design.

How do you decide if your design is ready?

NZ : I don’t think a designer should focus on the product success too much while we were working on the progress. We should think from a creator and others(reader/audience/customers/clients )perspectives, whether we like it or not. If the results could make both sides satisfied, then it’s ready.

What is your biggest design work?

NZ : The most significant project to me is my latest 3 projects: “ Encounters” , “ Lightseeker” and “60 Days”. The first one is connected with my personal memories, the second is connected with my principals and the third one is connected with my identity and culture background.

Who is your favourite designer?

NZ : Anni Albers. Also I would like to talk with her if she’s still alive.

Would you tell us a bit about your lifestyle and culture?

NZ : From my opinion every city has their own history and charms, it’s not comparable. Ever since I was a child, I have been obsessed with original ancient cultures a lot (My dream used to be a historian). For example as a Chinese artist who’s based in Germany, my current project is inspired by Chinese ancient philosophies, which presents a dynamic, harmony perspective between the nature and human societies.

Would you tell us more about your work culture and business philosophy?

NZ : Collaborations built the human society. Although I work as an individual creator, we could not finish a entire work without the collaborations from other procedures. Working with many different professional collages means you need to understand other people’s perspectives as well then make your own decisions. It could be quite challenging but we all have to balance it.

What are your philanthropic contributions to society as a designer, artist and architect?

NZ : As an artist, I would like to be a “ Lightseeker”, keep seeking for lights and deliver lights through my works. “Light” is a heritage, we took the torch from the last generation, we will bring it to the next generation also.

What positive experiences you had when you attend the A’ Design Award?

NZ : Getting to know so many talented designers from different industries was the most positive experiences. It’s also a great chance to follow up the contemporary worldwide creative topics. International design competition is not only a good stage for global designers showing their talents, but also maintain the global connections under this big era.

Nancy Zhang Profile