Interview with Sun Jian, Design Director of SunDesign, CN

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Sun Jian

Sun Jian is the Design Director of SunDesign concept, where his unique concepts allow him to bring an accurate grasp of both Eastern and Western cultures to all brands.



Interview with the 2019 MUSE Design Awards Winner - Sun Jian

1Please give us a brief bio of yourself and your design background.

My name is Sun Jian, the founder of SunDesign. I used to work for the 2008 Olympic emblem design team and worked for Japan Dentsu Corporation. I formed a unique design concept and style in the duality between brand design and advertising creation.

My work won multiple design awards in Europe, Oceania, Asia and the United States. Including the best prize in the German Red Dot Award

German iF Design Award

American IDEA Design Award

Asian Design Award

Italian Design Award

Australian Good Design Award

German National Design Award, etc.

2What made you become/why did you choose to become a designer/artist?

My grandmother was a teacher and I started painting after I was born. My father worked on mechanical design in the army and was very interested in design when he was very young.

3Tell us more about your business/company, job profile, and what you do.

SunDesign was established in Beijing in 2014. SunDesign Brand Design (Beijing) Ltd. brings an international modern design to brands. SunDesign hopes that it can create more brands of unique features together with their partners by virtue of its accurate grasp of brand, the design accuracy and international viewpoint of Eastern and Western culture. In order to improve our reputation worldwide, we cooperate with the large national enterprises. We design brand images for internationally famous brands.

4What does “design” mean to you?

For our design agency, we pay more attention to the efficiency and quality of the work so that our customers can find a place in the market. We can do more by working together on research, creativity and design execution.

5What’s your favorite kind of design and why?

I want to be able to focus on design research. I like what I do, and it can be difficult sometimes, but it is worth it as long as the results can bring achievement and satisfaction to me.

6To you, what makes a “good” design?

Good design is a new challenge every time. I like every process of creation and thinking. There are constantly new ideas applied in different environments, giving people different visual feelings, and at the same time feeling standard.

7Describe your design style and its main characteristics.

I like natural materials, where my understanding of innovative environmental protection and unremitting efforts can design more good works and integrate traditional culture into my design.

8Tell us about your design process.

I like to think alone, sometimes at home, at a coffee shop or at the company. I like to come up with ideas before designing and executing the design.

9Do you think your country and its cultural heritage has an impact on your design process?

Yes, the packaging I design is inspired by a story in China.

10Congratulations! As the winner of the 2019 MUSE Awards, what does it mean to you and your company and team to receive this award distinction?

I am very happy to receive the 2019 MUSE Award. Thanks for the recognition of my work. For me, I will work harder and design better to improve myself.

11Can you explain a bit about the winning work you entered into the 2019 MUSE Awards, and why you chose to enter this project?

China has thousands of years of tea culture. Zhe Gu Tea packaging retains both traditional culture and modern simplistic design. For the development of the tea industry, this benefits the development of any industry, making it inseparable from the cultural heritage. The contemporary and contracted packaging design makes the innovation of tea industry and market demand of consumers better as well.

12What was the biggest challenge with this project?

The unique logo mark originated from the Chinese little hero font with the slim profile of tea leaves, which represents the shape of the aroma. The design inspiration came from the tale of the partridge. By adopting the pure white background, it depicts a partridge resting on the tree in line. The high end packaging originated from an abstract conception of Buddhism as the Chinese word "Kon" with the Dong Shan hill is a Buddhist shrine.

13How has winning an Award developed your practice/career?

Taking into account the diversification and homogenization of the product today, the partridge tea is developed on the basis of their own innovation. Packaging design is crucial to facilitate end-consumer purchase and improve consumer user experience. The innovation of Zhe Gu Tea packaging cannot be self-centered nor simple, and it must meet the market. We will continue to design and hope for good results.

14What are your top three (3) favorite things about our industry?

1. Professional and fair review.

2. Tolerant and open international vision.

3. Beautiful trophy.

15What makes your country specifically, unique in the creative industry?

China has 5,000 years of culture and can bring a lot of inspiration to design. Many designs come from surrounding stories.

16Where do you see the evolution of creative industry going over the next 5-10 years?

In the future, creative design will be very challenging. Consumers are getting more picky. To meet consumer demand, we need to continue to innovate and focus more on youth and fashion.

17If you were a student entering this industry or an aspiring MUSE Award submitter, what advice would you give them?

Don't just want to win, you need to improve your ability to win the MUSE Award to win the MUSE Award.

18What resources would you recommend to someone who wants to improve their skills in the creative industry?

Check out MUSE's award-winning entries and learn about the design concepts of each one.

19Tell us something you have never told anyone else.

While studying at the Academy of Fine Arts, I hope to have my own studio and create my own work in the future, and one day I will win the International Creative Design Award.

20Who has inspired you in your life and why?

My father. I left him when I was 18 and as a kid, I used to watch his work and draw a lot of drawings. I hope that when I grow up, I can design works like him.

21What is your key to success? Any parting words of wisdom?

I am a person who likes to learn, and I like to learn their strengths from the people around me, and I have been receiving challenges from customers for a long time. This has changed my thinking, and I like to try different points of view. Designers can look at characters like works.

22Do you have anything else you would like to add to the interview?

No, it's great.



Winning Entries

Zhe Gu Tea | 2019

Zhe Gu Tea | SunDesign | MUSE Awards
Zhe Gu Tea's unique logo originates from Chinese Xiao Zhuan font and was improved to resemble slim tea leaves...
(read more at Muse Awards)

SunDesign


SunDesign was estabulished in Beijing in 2014. SunDesign Brand Design (Beijing) Ltd.brings international modern brief design to brands.


Muse.World