Interview
Wang Peng
1 Please give us a brief bio of yourself and your design background.
My name is Wang Peng, and I was born in Beijing in 1973. I graduated from Beijing Arts and Crafts School majoring in dyeing and weaving and from Tsinghua University Academy of Art and Design majoring in decoration design. I also served as the artistic director of the National Engineering Research Center for Tsinghua University in 1998, while winning many domestic and foreign awards such as "French Morbis International Multimedia Competition" and "China National Book Award". In 2001, I was responsible for the design and production of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, including the design of multimedia bidding presentation reports and the design of multimedia presentations at the Moscow voting site. In 2005, I served as the multimedia art director of the Olympic Art and Design Center of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and was mainly responsible for the design and application of multimedia reports of the color system of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. In 2009, I served as the Executive General Manager of the Art Education Center of Prologis Education Group, responsible for the development and promotion of art education, and the general manager of the Adobe Creative University Certification Management Center and Examination Certification Center. Since 2012, I have been committing to the design of corporate social responsibility reports and have successively provided design services for many well-known enterprises such as State Grid, China Southern Airlines, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Development Bank, LG, Samsung, United Technologies Corporation, Volkswagen, CRRC, Sinopec and so on.
2 What made you become/why did you choose to become a designer/artist?
First of all, it is because of my love of fine art since childhood and my dream of becoming an artist. Design is a diverse and challenging job that requires you to be inclusive of knowledge in various fields, and have the ability to judge and think independently. Collaboration is also an indispensable part of the design process. Brainstorming and collaborating are required to complete successful design work. In addition, design is a productive force by showing customers brand image and enhancing the brand value, which is an important symbol of the success of a work. I enjoyed the process mentioned above, so I chose to be a designer.
3 Tell us more about your business/company, job profile, and what you do.
I am the founder of Pengtu Design, which was founded in 2009. The whole team has been engaged in the design and promotion of social responsibility reporting, sustainable development reporting, and ESG reporting. 20 years passed unconsciously since the Pengtu team worked as a group for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Bidding Committee in 2001. I witnessed the success of Beijing's Olympic bid and China's economic reform process, and the design of professional reports has slowly evolved from the initial "typesetting" to today's "professional visual communication". I have experienced a lot in 20 years, as I have been striving in the same institution and the same industry for 20 years. I would like to use this award speech opportunity to introduce the concepts of CSR and ESG reports that are popular today.
4 What does “design” mean to you?
Design for me is a part of life, a dream, a mission, and enjoyment.
5 What’s your favorite kind of design and why?
Graphic design, because graphic design is the foundation of design. It can express ideas in two-dimensional space by using the simplest design language.
6 To you, what makes a “good” design?
"Good" design is a combination of wisdom and imagination. As a business designer, I think that a proper and "good" design is creating value for customers, while it can also give new ideas and innovations to the works, which let the viewer be happy, think, and inspired at the same time.
7 Describe your design style and its main characteristics.
I do not stick to a certain form of expression. Each different design project will be based on different corporate brand culture, brand positioning, industry background, and other characteristics to do visual design planning, and then find the appropriate design language to express and create new value. Being recognized by the market finally and achieving a win-win situation is my goal.
8 Tell us about your design process.
The design of the report can return to the original meaning of design: creative behavior of decomposition, sorting, planning, and then controlling orderly. We carry out report design work from three dimensions: structural function, visual elements, and editorial guidance. 1?Analysis and reconstruction of visual elements grasp the system to express the main melody of the report. 2?The establishment and design of visual elements grasp the core to convey the image and temperament of the report. 3?The order and relationship of the editorial guidelines grasp the changes and give the report a sense of readability.
9 Do you think your country and its cultural heritage has an impact on your design process?
China has a long history, a vast territory, and many ethnic groups, which determines that Chinese traditional culture contains the long-term history and cultural evolution and accumulation of different ethnic groups and different regions. It is a product of a combination of multiculturalism and art. Chinese traditional culture is an inseparable part of world culture, a huge treasure trove, and a source of our unlimited creativity, which requires us to explore constantly.
10 Congratulations! As the winner of the 2022 MUSE Design Awards, what does it mean to you and your company and team to receive this award distinction?
This is the first time for us to participate in the MUSE competition. The two reports have won the Platinum Award and the Gold Award respectively, which is a recognition and encouragement of our work and our driving force to move forward.
11 Can you explain a bit about the winning work you entered into the 2022 MUSE Design Awards, and why you chose to enter this project?
The award-winning work is the 2021 Social Responsibility Report Project of China Southern Airlines Co., Ltd. China Southern Airlines is one of our longest-serving entrust companies, and the 2021 report is the 15th social responsibility report released by China Southern Airlines. China Southern Airlines is the largest airline in China and an enterprise with great social responsibility and technological innovation capabilities. The challenge in its communication design is how to make a long report with a lot of boring and difficult-to-understand professional descriptions and data easy for readers to understand. For this report, we developed an easy-to-read layout grid and an easy-to-understand illustrative style by using emotional photos, vivid illustrations, and attractive diagrams to accompany the text to emphasize them in an eye-catching way. The cover of the report innovatively adopts a bird's eye view, organically combining China Southern Airlines aircraft with colorful social responsibility elements on the ground, reflecting the achievements made by China Southern Airlines in social responsibility work such as safe operation, high-quality service, environmental friendliness, and social welfare, and showing the warm, transparent and responsible image of China Southern Airlines.
12 What was the biggest challenge with this project?
To complete a successful report design, the most important part is to cooperate with customers to achieve common goals, and sufficient communication and understanding is the biggest challenge in the entire design process.
13 How has winning an Award developed your practice/career?
Winning the award is an affirmation of my work and will be very helpful for future business development. We believe that potential customers will contact me after seeing the award-winning news and articles.
14 What are your top three (3) favorite things about our industry?
Constantly challenge myself and create new value Responsibility for entrusted projects Make my own contribution to sustainable development
15 What makes your country specifically, unique in the design industry?
We are in an era of great change, great development, and great integration. Openness and inclusiveness are the basis of our creation. "Understand yourself and discover your own form of beauty. Befriend others and appreciate the radiance of different people. Once everybody is ignited to find out positiveness from all angles, the wonders of the world can be spotted anywhere anytime. Then a better world can come true as a result of joint efforts." "This 16-character motto of Mr. Fei Xiaotong is the best interpretation of what makes China unique in the design industry.
16 Where do you see the evolution of design industry going over the next 5-10 years?
The world is changing and the rapid development of artificial intelligence AI will continue to empower design and make our work more efficient.
17 If you were a student entering this industry or an aspiring MUSE Design Awards submitter, what advice would you give them?
Believe in yourself and strive for excellence in your work.
18 What resources would you recommend to someone who wants to improve their skills in the design industry?
Reading a variety of professional books can improve your professional skills, reading a variety of award-winning works can improve your vision, and extensive reading can experience and understand people and the world, and empower design at a higher level.
19 Tell us something you have never told anyone else.
I really hope to be one of the judges of the MUSE Design Award in the future. It would be a great honor for me.
20 Who has inspired you in your life and why?
A world in a wild flower, and a bodhi in a leaf. Any little bit in life will bring me different inspirations.
21 What is your key to success? Any parting words of wisdom?
Keep doing what you love and are good at, keep thinking, read more, and communicate more.