Interview with Yung-Li Chen, President of Fineherbs Co., Taiwan

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Yung-Li Chen

Dr Chen is a doctor with two licenses of Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine, with over 25 years of clinical experience. He is also the Dean of Fineherb Chinese Medicine Clinic and chairman of Fineherbs Co.



Interview with the 2020 MUSE Design Awards Winner - Yung-Li Chen

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

Dr. Chen Yung-li holds a license for Chinese medicine and Western medicine. He is the dean of the Chinese Medicine Clinic and the chairman of the company. He has more than 25 years of experience in clinical treatment of diseases, turning professional medical knowledge into civilian health and producing two kinds.

I sincerely hope that everyone can drink herbal tea easily and keep healthy by bathing with our herbal soap.

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

As I am a doctor, I hoped to prescribe herbal tea and herbal soap as something beneficial to everyone's health, which is why I chose to be a designer as well.

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

Dr. Yung-Li Chen is a doctor with two license of Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine. He has more than 25 years of clinical experience, being the Dean of Fineherb Chinese Medicine Clinic and also the chairman of Fineherbs Co.,. Until now, Fineherbs Co., has received 10 international awards and 12 National patients.

Fineherbs Co., helps 20 welfare unitsand also sponsors various public welfare activities, like Taichung City Doctor Ryder Cup of Golf and National Taichung Theater market of Taipei Fubon Bank.

Dr. Yung-Li Chen performs hands-on training towards his five senior members: Kai-Ting Chang, Ya-Lan Yang, Tzu-Hsin Wang, Shu-Hui Wu, Pei-Chi Chen. All of 5 members have two national licences on herbal tea and herbal soap.

Dr. Yung-Li Chen sincerely hopes to promote the idea of “From the Doctor’s Care” and stay healthy simply with herbs to every corner of world.

4What does “design” mean to you?

'Design’ means let people live a better life, just like our company’s principle of design is the ‘From the Doctor’s Care’ for people and earth.

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

As a Chinese doctor embedded with the Chinese culture, we always hope to predict the possibility of disease first. This concept can be used on designs, as we will need to cool down after the temperature gets higher. Therefore, I hope to design many products that has to do with lowering the temperature.

6To you, what makes a “good” design?

The evidence of a 'good' design comes from the evidence of the design increasing the quality of life of a person better, which is what we can use to convince the non-designers.

7Describe your design style and its main characteristics.

The material of this work is made of paper pulp that conforms to national standards, 100% recycled paper and lavender grass seed, and is automatically pressed by two-stage mold. Lavender grass seeds are naturally scattered on the gift box, so that each box has a different pattern, while the package itself emits a light natural lavender fragrance; the bottom of the "Water Me" block location, especially with special small pieces of paper (size 2cm * 2cm) Pre-embedded the zinnia seeds, and then attach this special piece of paper to the bottom of the box. The purpose is to use the water after the package is finished, the seeds are watered and germinated, and the zinnia grows into the soil. This special piece of paper is passed in advance. The special proportion of recycled pulp is not only environmentally friendly, but also provides the nutrients needed for the early development of Zinnia chinensis seeds. The germination rate can reach 90%. The used gift box itself can naturally decompose and return to the land. It is the environmental protection concept of secondary utilization. Waste can also innovate and regenerate beautiful new life.

8Tell us about your design process.

Being a doctor, I can collect information about what people want in order to keep healthy, and then I'll design the new product through this input.

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

China has a 5,000 year history, which has created some great Chinese medicine. It emphasizes on the harmony of yin and yang and the respect for nature, so when I was designing the New Hope Gift Box, I was also respecting and coordinating with the nature, and positioning the angle between men and nature, using nature for nature. It is completely harmless to nature and it returns to nature. This culture has brought our design process back to loving the earth and protecting the environment.

10Congratulations! As the winner of the 2020 MUSE Design Awards, what does it mean to you and your company and team to receive this award distinction?

In addition to sharing the glory of “New Hope Seed Gift Box” with my friends, I also hope to promote the idea of good herbal tea and herbal soap being easily extracted from many herbs to friends all over the world.

11Can you explain a bit about the winning work you entered into the 2020 MUSE Design Awards, and why you chose to enter this project?

Global warming and cooling of interpersonal relationships are some of the things I paid special attention to in my award-winning work.

After the watering for the seeds at the bottom of the “New Hope Seed Brand Gift Box”, you can wait to see the sprouts. It is amazing, just like life, simple and full of surprises. In my opinion, this process is art. Just like Medical Science, both art and doctors are here to make life better.

12What was the biggest challenge with this project?

Recycling pulp and lavender seeds, because the proportional relationship between the two will affect the overall box shape, so it is necessary to test the optimal ratio through multiple tests before quantitative production. In addition, if the Zinnia seeds are hot-packed, it is very likely that the seeds will be destroyed and cannot germinate. Therefore, we use special methods to ensure that the germination rate of the Zinnia seeds at the bottom of the gift box can reach 90%.

13What are your top three (3) favorite things about our industry?

Packaging design, architectural design and conceptual design.

14What makes your country specifically, unique in the design industry?

The biggest factor is the Chinese medicine's conception and development throughout the ages because of China's five thousand years of culture. This is the biggest factor in my design.

15Where do you see the evolution of design industry going over the next 5-10 years?

In the next 5 to 10 years, we will pay more attention to environmental protection and the balance between man and nature. Instead of taking people as the main role, we will take natural environmental protection as the design trend.

16If you were a student entering this industry or an aspiring MUSE Design Awards submitter, what advice would you give them?

Being a designer and doctor, I think the most influential thing about design is a little like prescription; a good design in advance can show perfect results.

17What resources would you recommend to someone who wants to improve their skills in the design industry?

I hope to improve in my Japanese, because I want to venture into the Japanese market in the future. In addition, packaging design, color matching, shape, material matching, advertising and editing will present a brand new look of the product to everyone.

18Tell us something you have never told anyone else.

Being a doctor, I hope I could put more herbs into my products (herbal tea and herbal soap). Therefore, people in the world can easily keep healthy all the time.

19Do you have anything else you would like to add to the interview?

I hope that providing TCM medicine can not only contribute to the design, but also allow the product to provide healthy tea with balanced designs and make people healthier at the same time.



Winning Entries

New Hope Seed Brand Gift Box | 2020

Fineherbs Co.

For expressing vitality and beauty of plant , the idea for the shape of the box is from the complexity of rosebud and mint leaf...
(read more at MUSE Design Awards)

Fineherbs Co.


Fineherbs Co. specializes in combining both Traditional Chinese and Western medicine to revitalize their clients with modern technology.


Muse.World