design in shanghai

I get very mixed views on the stake design has here in China. Some say that it's something not yet spread, and some say it's not something that will. I guess it's all based on their lack of knowledge on this subject, and they're simply stating how they feel about the subject. Nevertheless, whenever people ask me my major (专业), they restate it with confusion. "Industrial Design? What's that?" (工业设计？是什么？) And I painstakingly attempt to describe what design is about in my words. It's pretty damn hard, especially since I have to explain in Chinese. And even after I explain, they still really don't know what it is.

However, through my observations of everyday life here, I find that Shanghai has yet to be assimilated into a lifestyle where design makes life beautiful. I mean design holistically. Of course everything here still has an aspect of design, but the old is still the new, which makes things look the same here as it was 10 years ago. I'm not saying that Shanghai looks the same as 10 years before (far from it), but it feels the same. Way of life, things like that, it's still pretty static. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I'm just saying that it could be way better. I have hope that I may have a future in design in China, and that I can make a difference. But that's just fantasy talking.