Interview with Menglin Tian

Menglin Tian ("MT") interviewed on Wednesday, 2 November.

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

MT : I graduated from the Royal College of Art as a graduate student.

How did you become a designer?

MT : My love for design could go back to my childhood. At that time, I was deeply attracted by a pretty popular CCTV interior design program called "exchange space". Thanks for my parents' education and support, I am able to gradually transform my love for design into my major and future career. In 2016, I was matriculated into the Bachelor of product design of Jiangnan University, which was one of the most long-standing and famous design institutes in China. During four-year academic life, my studies of core subjects such as materials and technology, product design expression, product design engineering, design management and brand strategy, product design discipline frontier, design psychology, user research played an important role in shaping my understanding of design industry, which enabled me to know how to run and promote the whole process of design and explore some new materials by myself. These systematic design learning and the accumulation of of new materials have laid a solid foundation for my postgraduate journey.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

MT : It's poetic, playful and purposeful. I like that design can add happiness to people's lives, and I look forward to people's wow and small surprise smiles when they use my design.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

MT : Sometimes you're upset because you have to make sense of all the connections, but sometimes you're happy when you do.It's very rewarding, seeing something that was in your head actually in front of you, being able to touch it, being able to use it, especially if you let someone else use it.

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

MT : Observation, listening, asking, and pulse-taking（feeling） These are the four Diagnostic Methods of TCM I learn from my grandparents who are traditional Chinese medicine doctors. They work to improve people's health. I work to improve people's lives. I learned from them how to understand other people's state, how to find problems and find ways to solve problems in an organized way.

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

MT : I plan to work in a design studio, learn from excellent predecessors and cooperate with them to complete more wonderful designs.

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

MT : Talk to people in different areas of work. Design is like connectors. If you don't know what to connect, how do you connect them?

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

MT : Never forget to discuss your project with people, no matter who they are.

What is your day to day look like?

MT : I usually do some reading and work during the day and go dancing in the evening. I want to exercise both my brain and my body. Two chocolate chip cookies and a glass of warm milk are my favorites in the morning. They can warm my stomach without making me sleepy. This is something I look forward to every day, and a happy morning is essential for a good start to the day.

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

MT : I like to get to know what everyone is doing sometimes. It often gives me inspiration and understands many aspects of the world. Especially in various exhibitions, I can see and touch what others are studying and making up close. It's imaginative and inspiring.

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

MT : Whether it solves a problem, whether it comes into the world responsibly.

How do you decide if your design is ready?

MT : Design is always an iterative process.

What is your biggest design work?

MT : I like Creaon best. It breaks down the problems found with short-lived plastic toys and responds to the problems one by one.

Who is your favourite designer?

MT : Fernando Laposse Sisal, a byproduct of the original Mexican tequila production, was once widely used to make fishing nets and rope. However, it was abandoned because of the heavy use of plastic. Fernando presents this material and its traditional production techniques through a design that supports local employment and helps restore the plant as native vegetation to be replanted in large quantities to help stabilize the soil and help restore the ecology of the local environment that has been overfarmed.

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

MT : I currently live in London, where different handicrafts are valued and appreciated. This makes my design pay more attention to the combination of craft and how to make the traditional craft shine again in the new era.

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

MT : I am a good team player and I am very happy to cooperate with others. I am good at completing tasks with others and try my best to contribute to the team.

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

MT : The designer, so to speak, is the door of an object to this world. Objects go into people's lives through designers. On the one hand, we should be full of creativity, innovation and foresight, on the other hand, we should shoulder the responsibility for the environment and society.

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

MT : It gives me more chances to be seen.

Menglin Tian Profile