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Volume 01 I Issue 02 I September 2020 howdesignlive.com
The Power of Design.
Read Now
Get to know five more HOWies before the event through their amazing work.
From The Show Director
Discover how a design agency launched a sister studio to help hit Command+Z on the climate crisis.
Table of Contents
Explore a key tenet of Project Inkblot’s Design for Diversity framework in this exclusive digital session.
In Great Company
Undo, Undo, Undo
“The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions”
The
Dazzling
Design of
Zipeng Zhu is a designer like no other—and his bright, beautiful work is carrying us through quarantine in style.
Read the Feature
Zipeng zhu
From the Show Director: The Power of Design
In the midst of the pandemic, as we’ve worked to reformat and navigate our event’s place in the world at this moment, I’ve been thinking a lot about the sheer power of design. In quarantine, it might seem like design would be an afterthought—but that’s anything but the case. Because as we’ve been isolating at home, we’ve seen what design is capable of.
HOW DESIGN LIVE
We’ve seen
HOW:
When people say “we’ll get through this,” it may sometimes sound hollow, but it’s true. I believe that now more than ever—because it’s design that will help us do it. And this issue of celebrates that power in its many forms.
HOW Design: Redefined
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The Dazzling Design of Zipeng Zhu
IN GREAT COMPANY
COVER
Amy Conover HOW Design Live Show Director
Get to know the work of five more HOWies before the event through their amazing work.
We’re always boasting about how awesome our attendees and speakers are—and how awesome their work is. So for the first issue of HOW Design: Redefined , we tried an experiment: We asked them to send in their work for possible inclusion in our new magazine, as a way for everyone to get to know each other through their design before the show. Reader: They delivered. The quantity and caliber of the material utterly blew us away, and had us quickly creating a Dropbox folder to bank it all, as we drew up plans to feature more in every issue going forward. Here we do exactly that with five more projects we love from the wildly talented HOW DESIGN LIVE community. Collectively, they’re helping us to keep calm and carry on. Want to share your work? We’d love to see it. Find out how to submit it .
here
Ping Hsu
PXSTUDIO
“To present the beauty of Korean characters and sensational Korean culture, I used both Hangeul characters and English type to design the poster for the Brand Design Association of Korea (BDAK) and National Hangeul Museum at Seoul, where they held a typography exhibition in the summer of 2019.”
Lisa Cain
Lisa Cain Design
“Hire Autism is a program created by the Organization for Autism Re5earc.. , dedicated to helping individuals with autism find meaningful employment opportunities across the United States. The user-friendly guides support job seekers through various aspects of the job search process, from career exploration to providing helpful tools and advice. As a designer and an autism mom, I am so honored to play a small part in creating this program and making a positive difference in people’s lives.”
Organization for Autism Research
Shantell Martin
Shantell Martin Inc.
“This is a special edition of [my book] n s.. Each cover is hand-drawn.”
Lines
Branden Bopp
Simple Strat
“360 at Jordan West is an apartment property in West Des Moines, Iowa, owned and operated by CIP. The logo was designed to cater to youthful and trendy young professionals who want to live in a neighborhood with endless entertainment options. The property is located in an area of town that connects the city to the suburbs, which inspired the design of the 360 icon—three numbers connected as a single shape.”
Ricardo Gomez
Paper Tube Co.
“Our custom tube sample kit introduces itself to the user one tube at a time!”
It’s rare that a designer bursts onto the scene like lightning in a bottle, captivating viewers with cutting-edge work that is matched only in its sheer sense of energy and personality by the designer himself. But that's Dieline Conference at HOW Design Live Speaker Zipeng Zhu. On his website, he sums up his background this way: “Before he ate cheese and spoke English, he was eating rice and speaking Mandarin and Cantonese in China.”
undo, undo, undo
Zhu is originally from Shenzhen, where he attended the Shenzhen College of International Education. He then came to New York City to earn his BFA in graphic design at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and soon after nabbed a high-profile internship at Pentagram, and subsequently an equally high-profile job at Sagmeister & Walsh.
That’s my main driving force. Whether it’s a pun,
“You know that little idea that often pops into your head?
As for how, a glimpse at his work—which brims with life, animation, color and passion—provides a quick answer.
Today, he presides over his own Dazzle Studio, where he wants to “make every day a razzle-dazzle musical,” and does so with prolific output that radiates positivity, humor and style.
What fuels his ceaseless energy? “Food, love and sex,” he jokes. “You know that little idea that often pops into your head? That’s my main driving force. Whether it’s a pun, a one-liner, a simple joke, a new form or a fresh letter, these are all the things that keep me going every day. Honestly, this is also how I cope; making and creating are my therapy.”
Here’s a look at Zhu’s portfolio, from his work with major brands to his self-initiated projects, like his delightful messages of hope in times of COVID that are helping us persevere—the full magnitude of which can be found on his razzle-dazzle Instagra .
Zipeng
Zhu
HOW Design Live
Zipeng Zhu
a one-liner, a simple joke, a new form or a fresh letter,
these are all the things that keep me going every day.”
Instagram
Videos
Posters, Signage
Advertisement
should be the
new standard; plastic-free shouldn't be a gimmick, it should be expected.
Planet-positive design
How do you approach projects differently for Undo-Undo-Undo? The biggest difference is obviously the material choices, and making sure that all the packaging that is there is super necessary. In terms of the front end, the work we create is exactly the same in process and quality of design; it’s just that the places it lives(plastic-free packaging) and who it’s for (planet-positive business) is more focused. That was kind of the point: We didn’t want the brands we work with to be covered with leaf icons or colored green. Planet-positive design should be the new standard; plastic-free shouldn’t be a gimmick, it should be expected. What power does design have to impact and change the world for the better? Design is absolutely key. We need the various figureheads, groups, protests, etc., to get the issue into people’s minds and keep the conversation going—but design is the “doing” part of the process of change.
What do you say to those who believe that design should not play any role in global issues or politics? I can’t even see how anyone could make that argument. Design is how we create new ecological materials, how we reduce our packaging footprint, how we push clients to use biodegradable materials despite the cost, how we brand our environmental movements and how we communicate with the world. You get the idea: Design is boots on the ground. We love your manifesto. Tell us about eco clichés and greenwashing—and how they hurt the overall cause. Eco clichés, like [putting green on every environmentally friendly product], stop progress of the cause because they suggest a brand or product is a gimmick, unique to the other brands for that reason. Greenwashing is different and more harmful—it [involves company posturing that] buys brands time/forgiveness in the minds of the consumer, when really on the other side they’re likely not committed to the cause, Shell being an obvious example.
Tell us about some of the projects you are working on so far. We have a couple of beauties at the minute. The first is Remastered Foods, which aims to remaster cult kitchen classics, starting with good old bacon. Their bacon is made from jackfruit and totally kicks ass. We’re a couple of months away from launch but it’s looking great; the brand has a cinematic feel of Plant Powered Action. We also have a wellness brand that aims to deliver premium vegan, plastic-free vitamins/supplements to the mass market and is also giving a little back to animals along the way. Plus a few more crackers in the pipeline. What are some steps that everyday designers—especially those who are not yet ready to start their own studio—can take to help make the world a better place? Good question. Number one on our manifesto is “Better is Better.” This sounds so flippant, but doing something is better than doing nothing. Whether it’s making cool-looking artwork communicating environmental issues or sharing the possible new plastic alternative you accidentally made on your starchy rice pan … just do something and tell everyone about it.
Tell us about No. 6 on your manifesto, “design to disappear.” Design to disappear relates to our aim to be a packaging design studio that wants to rid the world of packaging. The idea of packaging is to protect an item, make it communicate the brand experience and ultimately help it sell. However, we all know that plastic packaging has a huge “afterlife” lifespan, far outliving the shelflife of the thing it was designed to protect/sell. If packaging can fulfil its needs and then leave no trace afterwards, that’s our aim for every project. Your focus on “action not doom” is also refreshing. We take it that’s what prompted you to launch #Niceandpositive? Were you overwhelmed with the doom and gloom you were seeing around you? Yeah, exactly. “Action, not doom” was our starting point. We were really feeling eco-anxiety and felt whilst it is important that the world knows the facts [about the environmental crisis], it could also do with knowing all the great things creatives are doing to help improve our planet. “Eco design resources” are often a bit stale and flat. We wanted to show the exciting unexpected side of material and process innovation, hence #Niceandpositive.
Undo-Undo-Undo. It’s something we say (OK, yell) when we make a mistake in Illustrator—and it’s something the British studio Lyon&Lyon wants to help the world accomplish in the face of the environmental crisis. A packaging design studio that wants to rid the world of packaging? Exactly. Lyon&Lyon launched their sister shop Undo-Undo-Undo last year to bring a new take on packaging and branding to the industry. We caught up with the crew to find out more. Undo-Undo-Undo emerged from Lyon&Lyon. What prompted you to start it? On Earth Day 2019 we had a big discussion about the environment, both as a business and personally. We all felt as if we were suffering from eco-anxiety, especially as we had in part contributed to the problem. Our initial idea was to launch an Instagram account called Nice & Positive, which worked as a visual directory to celebrate all the [things] designers and makers are doing to counteract climate change. It soon developed into something much bigger. Why did you decide to launch Undo-Undo-Undo as its own entity, as opposed to just creating similar work at Lyon&Lyon? We thought it would be too risky to flip Lyon&Lyon into a planet-positive agency at the time; we felt it was cleaner to start a new brand and build it from the ground up. We don’t see Lyon&Lyon and Undo existing at the same time forever. It feels a little hypocritical to have one agency that doesn’t touch plastic and a sister agency that does. Plastic-free is our future, one way or another.
Hitting Command+Z on the Climate Crisis
THE DAZZLING DESIGN OF ZIPENG ZHU
THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INENTIONS
"THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS"
This past June, every industry, including design, took stock and looked within. Design has long had a diversity problem. And that’s why the field, like so many others, is lucky that Project Inkblot has been working since 2014 to help build a more inclusive world. Jahan Mantin and Boyuan Gao developed their signature Design for Diversity program to apply design thinking to product creation, services and content. “Our belief is that the future is present, and for our work and world to thrive, we must—and can—all be leaders in designing an equitable future,” they detail. “You have an incredible opportunity to be ahead of the curve by both preparing for, and creating, that future.” They view their work not as a simple quick fix that companies can apply, but rather as a wayfinding tool—“an opportunity to stop and think critically and thoughtfully as you move through your own process so you can mitigate unnecessary errors, and clear the path for excellent work.” Over the summer, the pair, set to speak at HOW Design Live, partnered with us to host a session dubbed “The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions: How to Untangle Your Intent From Your Impact and Mitigate Harm.” It was a wildly popular virtual event, and we’ve since been asked numerous times for a replay. We’re thrilled to present it here. Tune in as Mantin and Gao explore a key tenet of their Design for Diversity framework—one that can have a lasting impact not just on your work, but the world at large.
Click here to view this digital session
THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS
