In Search of a New Graphic Design Frontier in China: Establishing the “Chinese-ness ” of International Style

Abstract: Chinese designers are becoming more visible and receiving a considerable number of international awards at poster shows, shaping a new visual frontier in Chinese graphic design. The author presents an overview of the current development of graphic design in China. In the early 1990’s, the market environment had few opportunities for graphic designers to express their potential. As an alternative, many turned to thematic poster design to show their creative skills. Their success at international exhibitions encouraged many young Chinese to study design. This first generation was strongly influenced by Hong Kong designers. In the late 1970’s, Hong Kong designers began to establish regional exchange activities with designers and design education institutes in China. Their work exerted a strong influence on students who otherwise did not have access to the latest design trends from the Western world. The graphic design work of Henry Steiner, an American who moved to Hong Kong in 1961, and Kan Tai-Keung and Alan Chan were of particular importance. These three designers were exponents of an “East/West ” aesthetic that characterized Hong Kong design for the rest of the century. The author shows how this cross-cultural creative pattern was repeated in China. With the increasing flow of information and contacts via the Internet, Chinese designers have become more diversified in their development of a style that is often free of any association with “Chinese-ness. ” The paper concludes with a description of how some Chinese designers are using international style to help them establish reputations, both locally and internationally, while striving to avoid clichés and stereotypical images imposed by the Western world. This paper discusses the issue of visual styles in contemporary graphic design in China