2025 | Student

MUSE Design Awards Gold Winner

Signal

Entrant Company

Qujiale Zhou

Category

Fashion Design - Innovation

Client's Name

Country / Region

China

Through the integrated synthesis of form, structure, and material, it transforms abstract philosophical inquiry into tangible, immediately perceptible embodiments.
The creative impetus is rooted in the ancient Shu civilization of China. Distilling the Bronze Bird and Bronze Long as core visual symbols, the design deconstructs and reconstitutes them as the garment’s fundamental building elements—iron sheets. The Bronze Bird, as active emitter of information, signifies exploration of the unknown; the Bronze Long, as receiver and feedback generator, denotes attunement to the external world and inward reflection. Together they form a closed loop of emission–reception, implying that “Confusion” is a dynamic cognitive process. The detailed design draws upon bird-shaped hieroglyphs from the same period of ancient Shu civilization. The rhythmic lines and structural logic embedded in these characters are subtly integrated into the garment’s tailoring and back structure design. This fusion enables a deep integration of the cultural DNA of ancient Shu with contemporary design language, resulting in a work that embodies both conceptual depth and strong visual identity.
The work‘s symbolic system is communicated through dual sensory dimensions. Visually, highly repetitive symbols layered with cool iron sheets produce stratified reflections of light and shadow, metaphorically interweaving clarity and confusion within cognition. Aurally, the materials sound naturally with bodily movement, as if providing background music for what would otherwise be a static visual work. This extends the piece’s expression from a single captured instant into a dynamic narrative, animating the flow of thought and the rhythm of inquiry, and ultimately carrying philosophical ideas into material form.

Credits

Designer
Qujiale Zhou
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