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Design in mind

By Ho Yi
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Jun 29, 2007, Page 13

Beautiful Chaos transforms Taiwan's post-modern cultural vocabularies into distinctive designs embodying local identities. PHOTOS: COURTESY OF EI MARKETING

Ever thought of using environmentally-friendly finger caps made out of loofah sponge to remove tough grime inside glasses or sprinkling cinnamon powder on a paper-cut print to make an image of a cappuccino? Starting today, myriads of such unique design ideas created by around 200 local designers will take up temporary residence in the Eslite Bookstore, Xinyi Branch (誠品信義店), as part of the first Taiwan Designers' Week (台灣設計師週) organized by Taiwan Designers' Web (台灣設計師連線, TWDW), a local design collective.

In recent years, Taiwan's industrial and product design communities have reached a degree of maturity and have seen the rise of individual designers and groups who wish to voice creative ideas and personal viewpoints, rather than being simply the tools of enterprises.

Designers' Week serves as a natural channel for these aspirations, functioning as a platform for exchanging ideas, sharing inspiration and connecting designers from home and abroad, enterprises, and other creative communities. Most importantly, it also allows the general public too take a look into the world of design.

P-A-P-E-R C-U-T-T-I-N-G aims to rejuvenate the disappearing art of paper cutting with innovative ideas.

The main exhibition is divided into seven sections, and exhibits can be found in virtually every corner of the bookstore, on escalators and even in restrooms. Fringe exhibitions are located at nine design stores and galleries, including Dragonfly (清庭) and Blue Stone (青石). These displays include showcases of international design brands such as Propaganda of Thailand, Seletti from Italy and Droog Design from the Netherlands. Another 100 recommended boutique stores, design studios and cafes are taking part in the event to help build a city-wide atmosphere. Starbucks mobile coffee carts will be deployed at major design stores on Sunday.

Switched! presents designs from life that make the ordinary innovative.

"At first we worried that there wouldn't be enough works for the exhibition, but quickly found out there are lots of designers out there doing a great variety of things to express their personal creativity ... . Things were put together a lot faster than we expected as the participating designers have all cooperated and companies have been surprisingly supportive. It is as if the whole design community has been waiting for an event like this to release their creative energies," said Hsu Yulin (許瑜琳), event coordinator and associate manager of MID-industrial design department at Asustek Computer.

Something New exhibits designs by award-winning artists.

One of the seven sections, Beautiful Chaos (亂，有秩序), is a collective endeavor that previously appeared as an exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM) a few months ago. This section brings together 20- to 30-something trend-setters who transform the island's post-modern cultural vocabularies into distinctive designs that embodying local identities.

Something New exhibits designs by award-winning artists.

Design group, FUNction, made up of professionals from different fields, presents its works in the section titled P-A-P-E-R C-U-T-T-I-N-G, which strives to rejuvenate the disappearing art of paper cutting with innovative ideas. The artists' unique sensibilities are expressed through items such as a cute bear pregnancy test inspired by traditional paper cut patterns and a thermometer designed to ward off disease and misfortune.

Beautiful Chaos transforms Taiwan's post-modern cultural vocabularies into distinctive designs embodying local identities.

"We started FUNction two years ago, holding workshops and displaying our works in the Guling Street Creative Market (牯嶺街創意市集). The idea is simple: to look for fun apart from our daytime jobs, where the emphasis in only on efficiency and function," said section curator Timothy Liao (廖軍豪).

For the section titled Benches, curator and NDD Design's art director Hu You-tsung (胡佑宗) invited 50 designers from different fields to build up design vocabularies unique to the country's cultural and social milieus by endowing the traditional bench with contemporary significance and function. The collection of works, some decorative and conceptual and some functional, are all expressive of Taiwan's collective memory and cultural consciousness.

Limited-edition stationary by Asus' design team and Do A Little Design are available at 2,000 7-Eleven stores across the country.

"Such projects present a much needed channel for local designers to exercise their creativity, exchange ideas or simply have fun. And I believe something significant will happen naturally along the way," said Hu, adding that the project will continue to call on 50 designers each year to put their creative energies into action on selected topics.

Benches invited designers to give contemporary significance and function to traditional furniture.

The event's most ambitious exhibition, City Yeast, is a conceptual presentation of the ongoing five-year urban design project initiated by Agua Design (水越設計). Gathering together over 400 ideas from creative professionals such as poets, writers, filmmakers, architects, and fashion, graphic and industrial designers, the plan is to make the city a more interesting place to live and facilitate an emotional bond between the concrete jungle and its inhabitants.

If the artists' visions can be actualized, people will soon enjoy a city where urban voyagers can stay in camp rentals, tourists can take Polaroid snap shots from mailboxes and mail them to friends and families right away and walk on beautifully designed zebra crossings or under plant-covered streetlamps that also provide shade.

For those interested in taking a closer look at how design works, open house days from July 2 to July 4 will demonstrate the behind-the-scenes magic of design through workshops at nine top studios such as Acer and Asus. As each studio can only take up to 20 visitors, potential participants are encouraged to sign up at the Eslite bookstore without delay.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

What: Taiwan Designers' Week 2007

When: Today through July 4

Where: Main exhibition at Eslite Bookstore, Xinyi Branch (誠品信義店), 11 Songgao Rd, Taipei (台北市松高路11號). Fringe exhibitions are scattered at nine design and art spaces in the city. For more information, visit designersweek.tw
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