On November 1st, the 2020 (Sixth) China Design Forum was successfully held in Jiang’an district, Wuhan. Themed “Vision and Future”, the forum invited academic experts, industry heavyweights and young designers to explore the future of design together, backing up design development in Wuhan with tangible action. As Wuhan re-opened after the COVID-19 lockdown, C Foundation and Wuhan Design Day engaged in dialogues with participants about vision and future prospect.

On March 5th, 2020, Qiu Deguang, Executive Chair of C Foundation, on behalf of C Foundation, wrote a letter to Hubei designers, promising that “when the epidemic is over, we would meet you all along the East Lake and talk freely about design and give free rein to our imagination”. Today, Mr. Qiu Deguang honored the promise with a second letter.

“Vision” keynote speeches

Enlightenment by industry veterans

Post-epidemic reflections

| Steve Leung, Director of C Foundation

Speech given by Mr. Steve Leung remotely

Speech given by Mr. Steve Leung remotely

“The epidemic fundamentally changes how business is done in the next five years. In the post-epidemic new norm, we must do three things, namely becoming people-centered, striving for innovation and leveraging the power of science and technology, to transform our industry and make new contribution to our business going forward.”

Blend of science and design and innovative expressions

| Li Hui, Founder and Chairman of Shanghai Fengyuzhu Culture and Technology Co., Ltd.

Speech by Mr. Li Hui

“To have a good design, I think the most important thing to keep in mind is that content determines form. However advanced the technology that you use is, you cannot forget that content is fundamental to everything and that technology is only a means and hinges upon content. To have the perfect combination of creativity and technology is also very important. Creativity must be prioritized over technology. But it takes the combination of creativity and successful application of technology to create the perfect product.”

Ushering in a new era of digital design

| Jiang Feng, Director of C Foundation

Speech given by Mr. Jiang Feng

“We should build an intelligent, sensing, and connected digital design ecology that allows all design tasks to be data-driven, which will lead to more efficient and effective organization and more sophisticated corporate values and ultimately better service experience for clients.”

Where is design from, where is it going

|Wang Tie, President, professor and doctoral supervisor of the Architectural Design Research Institute of the Central Academy of Fine Arts

Speech by President Wang Tie

“Future architectural technologies can all be input from keyboards; that approach is enabled by the interconnectivity of all things, all kinds of big data and professional know-how. It may also be possible that future designers are no longer people like us; everyone can be a designer. Because of progress in culture and civilization and connectivity between all things, know-how, technology and digitization will no longer be a barrier for laymen. We need to re-examine the future from a new perspective, and we need to do it today instead of harboring it as a vision or prospect. To have vision for the future means that you still look at it from afar and see no part played by yourself in it.”

“Future”-themed exchanges and sharing

Imagination of the younger generation

Where will our destination be?

| Xiong Tianyu, co-founder of PURE ·S Design Studio

Sharing by Xiong Tianyu

Mr. Xiong approached the topic from “technological singularity” and imagined what human beings should do when super species emerged in the future. He suggested many possibilities but argued that ultimately that future boiled down to emotion, the most precious and irreplaceable feature of human beings.

CEO of a design firm should be a designer

| Wan Ying, founding partner of HMB Design Company

Sharing by Wan Ying

Wan Ying made a one-sentence summary: “We should view design as a spirit. When we define and position an enterprise, we should know that only a design-conscious and design-savvy company can transcend languages, races and national borders to really strike a chord with others”.

Are we going to receive angels, or barbarians at our doorstep?

|Liu Haiyun, member of the Young’s Society, Wuhan Design Alliance

Sharing by Liu Haiyun

As a matter of fact, a lot of design tasks, thanks to progress in science and technology, no longer need to be done by humans. However, while technologies take over some human jobs, they always create more new jobs. In the future, design will only be capable of doing more.

Invisibility of “me” in future design

|Huang Shijing, person in charge of Wuhan Youwei Space Design

Design leaves no trace, but those who use the design leave behind traces. Design that follows the law of nature gives the impression of being born natural; in the future, we will all follow the law of nature, hence traces of “me” will be invisible in future designs.

Industry veterans harboring visions and young designers envisaging the future inspired and enlightened each other. Participants easily felt how much designers cherished the life they had after going through the epidemic and looked forward to a better life ahead.

Industry veterans harboring visions and young designers envisaging the future inspired and enlightened each other. Participants easily felt how much designers cherished the life they had after going through the epidemic and looked forward to a better life ahead.

A glimpse can already be caught of the future in our vision.