Shenzhen designers create Year of the Pig stamps for Fiji “2019猪年生肖邮票”亮相斐济

2019-Feb-1       Source: Newsgd.com

With Chinese New Year around the corner, a set of stamps to celebrate the Year of the Pig was jointly issued by the Chinese Cultural Center in Fiji and Fiji Post on February 1st.

With Chinese New Year around the corner, a set of stamps to celebrate the Year of the Pig was jointly issued by the Chinese Cultural Center in Fiji and Fiji Post on February 1st. Starting from 2016, the stamp project has invited different top-notch artists to bridge Chinese and Fijian culture through Chinese Zodiac animals.

This year’s stamps were designed by Xu Lixian and Zhang Tao, who are based in Shenzhen. Being the youngest designers on the project, they vowed to express the understanding of traditional culture and relationship between China and Fiji from the perspective of the younger generation.

Xu Lixian said their goal is to depict traditional culture in a modern way. “We extracted elements from both the tradition of China and Fiji, then delivered them in a modern language that resonates with most people. The design will be meaningless to overseas audiences if we just copy and paste the traditional patterns,” said Xu.

As neither Xu Lixian nor Zhang Tao has been to Fiji before, they spent 70-80 percent of the time on research, during which time they found the two countries’ traditions feature a lot of similarities. “We were surprised that elements from both countries can be bound together naturally and completed the project in only seven days,” said Zhang.

Zhang took a totem in the first stamp as an example. “It combines a hibisus flower, a popular flower in Fiji, and a torch drawn from the Fiji traditional ritual,” he said, “as both elements convey the feelings of hope and happiness, the totem matches perfectly with the color red and the pig figure which to the Chinese represent both the New Year and the wish for happiness.”


Xu Lixian(L) and Zhang Tao(R)

Conversation between China and Fiji is expected to find more common ground in the future since the two countries are undertaking more exchange and cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. Guangdong, for instance, organised a series of roadshows to promote Fiji over recent years, and saw 21 projects worth RMB 331 million signed between Cantonese and Fijian enterprises in 2018.

Xu and Zhang believed that now is a good time for Chinese designers to go global. “We just set up a new branch in the U.S. and we feel very confident,” said Zhang Tao, “most of our clients teamed up with their overseas partners successfully in line with the Belt and Road. And we think Belt and Road is not only about products but also design, creativity and culture. It’s about making Chinese brands more warmly received on the world stage.”

 

Reported by Jasmine Yin

Edited by Wing Zhang, Simon Haywood


“2019猪年生肖邮票”亮相斐济

由深圳设计师许礼贤和张涛设计,斐济中国文化中心和斐济邮政公司联合发行

        曾邀许鸿飞、王绍强等大师跨界执笔、风格鲜明独特……每逢新春佳节,由斐济中国文化中心和斐济邮政公司联合发行的农历新年生肖邮票总能在中斐两国掀起一波不小的热潮。

        当地时间2月1日,“2019猪年生肖邮票(见右图)”在斐济正式发行。该邮票由深圳设计师许礼贤和张涛主创设计。作为项目历年来最年轻的团队,他们希望呈现传统中华文化与现代审美融合的新面貌,表达年轻人对传统文化和中斐友好互通的理解和态度。

设计简单直接

且具有国际现代主义风采

        与之前的作品相比,许礼贤和张涛的设计简单、直接,且具有国际现代主义风采。邮票以四个动态各异、丰满呆萌的圆形小猪为主体,结合富有年味的中国图腾和具有代表性的斐济图腾,再配以极具南太平洋岛国风情的明艳色彩。

        许礼贤说邮票上看似简单的图腾实则蕴含深意,“无论是中国文化或斐济文化,其发展和沿袭都离不开代表民族历史传统的图腾元素。我们希望以邮票为桥梁,把中国文化融入斐济人文景观、地理特征,从而表达对两国伙伴关系的美好愿景。”

        由于许礼贤和张涛都不曾到过斐济,他们把项目70%-80%的时间都用在“查资料“。这过程中,他们对斐济的部落文化、独特的种植园和海洋文化印象特别深刻,因此选取了一些比较贴近斐济人日常生活的元素,像椰子树、甘蔗、香蕉、海岛、纯净的蓝、热烈的红等等。

        张涛认为第一张邮票里的图腾特别有趣又具有代表性。“我们结合了斐济常见的扶桑花和他们传统仪式中的火把元素进行创作。希望的火把、热情的扶桑花和圆满的小猪同用喜庆的红色去表达,效果独特和谐又迎合中国春节热闹喜庆的气氛。”

七天就完成设计

皆因中斐文化“一拍即合”

        许礼贤和张涛的三度礼贤设计顾问公司坐落在高楼林立的深圳福田区,公司内部装饰以白色的极简风格为主,大片的开放式工作区和拐角处用透明玻璃区隔的办公室特别现代、洋气,然而墙上的仓颉书、桌边的雕花屏风和桌上的功夫茶具又透露着浓浓的东方气息。


 

       许礼贤说他们团队的核心理念是创新东方人文精神,呈现国际当代美学。“西方的抽象画派,如蒙德里安和康定斯基,把欧洲繁琐的沉重的文化,化繁为简抽离出来。我们的作品也希望结合传统文化和当代美学,抽离形态和元素,找到核心的生命精神,让生活在这个年代的人产生共鸣、希望拥有。”

       而本次生肖邮票项目的创作过程也令他们十分惊讶,中斐文化竟如此“一拍即合”,设计团队仅用七天就完成了全部设计,实现中斐文化的融通,创意呈现非常自然而然。作为土生土长的潮汕人,许礼贤认为斐济文化内核与他熟知的广东文化有许多相似之处,“传统的潮州文化至今保留着祭天的传统以表达对天地的敬畏。所以,当了解到斐济人民对自然、上帝、国王的尊崇时,我特别有共鸣,觉得这种共性、对善和纯净的信仰是可以提炼到作品中的。”

       张涛则认为斐济文化和广东文化都具有多元开放的一面,因此设计表现上不必过多担心“水土不服”。“随着互联网的发展,无论在中国或斐济,人们都受到同样的、同步的信息冲击。加上中斐国际关系越来越紧密,我相信两国文化将不断交织。”

       自“一带一路”倡议提出以来,中斐传统友谊被提升到新的水平。以广东为例, 2018年6月举办的中国(广东)—斐济经贸合做交流会见证了粤斐企业签订合作项目21个,合同金额高达3.31亿美元。随着斐济开放对中国免签,越来越多中国人将来到这个美丽的南太平洋岛国,造就更多促进人文交流的机会。

跨界“折腾”20年

下一步将扬帆出海

       在许礼贤和张涛看来,斐济生肖邮票项目是一个让他们的设计“走出去“的好机会。“我们俩一直以来都特别爱‘折腾’,小至设计字体、品牌形象,大至策划展览、建筑空间,都希望尝试不同的可能性,”

       1995年,许礼贤来到深圳创业。他和张涛一个学国画,一个学水彩,都不是设计出身,但看到经济开始腾飞的深圳,他们下决心跨界做设计。“一开始我们服务的都是小型企业,做一些产品的包装和画册,”许礼贤说,这20年他们的专业实现了质的蜕变,“现在,我们的客户不乏上市公司,做国家形象、城市推广,作品获得了国内外200多个奖项。”


 

       从小小的渔村到今日中国的创新中心,深圳不仅孕育了华为、大疆、比亚迪等一批科技公司,也带动了创意设计行业的蓬勃发展,造就了一批如许礼贤、张涛这般优秀的设计师。2008年12月7日,深圳就被联合国教科文组织认定为全球第六个“设计之都”。

       许礼贤说,如今中国的设计在海外市场认可度不断提高,“中国设计师在红点奖、iF设计奖等国际奖项上的得奖占有率已高达30%,而深圳的数量是全国第一,”曾任深圳平面设计协会主席的他表示,协会一直以来通过举办全球性的比赛、展览和学术交流,积极把中国设计推向世界,促进本土设计师与海外设计师交流,拓展他们的全球化视野。许礼贤透露,他们团队已在美国开设分公司,认为中国设计扬帆出海已是天时地利人和。

       张涛认为,这几年,我们很多客户乘“一带一路”的东风走向海外,“这给了我们信心。我相信它不仅仅是中国产品走向海外的过程,也是中国设计、中国创意、中国文化走向海外,让世界接受中国品牌的过程”。

 

记者:尹珏文

编辑:张莹

Editor: Jasmine

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