Simple Style Posting Guest 专栏人物采访第二期 Guan Wei

他介绍自己说是一个梦想着一点点改变世界的产品设计系学生。通过他的博客和作品,我看到了一个整洁、细致、认真;喜欢拍点照片、有着小幽默的他,通过以下的访问内容也能了解到他的某些设计观点与一些生活兴趣,让我们一起来关注这位德国产品设计专业学生Guan Wei,也期待他不久的将来正如他的梦想所说,为我们带来一些成功的设计作品。

_http://wg-20.com/
_http://wg-20.com/blog

更多采访内容和图片:

He described himself as a product design student dreaming about manipulating the world (in a tiny way).After checking out his blogs and works these days, I am getting to know him a bit: clean, dedicated, serious. He loves taking photos and he is quite humorous. Simple Style interviewed him through email. You will find out some of his design concepts and his life attitude here. We hope one day, this boy will, as he said in this interview, manipulate this world, in a tiny way, in his way.

1. Weimar:首先我很好奇,你给朋友的印象是一个怎样的人,是否很容易就和产品设计联系起来?

What do your friends think of you? Do they easily connect you with the tune of product design?

Guan Wei:不大清楚朋友们确切的印象;说给我听的大约有善良、爱思考、有点小孩子气、腼腆、乱花钱、电脑通这些。我对身边的物品比较挑剔,这也许和设计有关吧。

I don’t quite sure what they really think. But I am said to be kind-hearted, thoughtful, a little bit childish, a little bit introvert, wasteful on money, and a computer expert. I’m choosy about things around, that’s probably a linkage to design.

2. Weimar:你当初选择德国留学的主要原因有那些?

Why did you choose to study in Germany?

Guan Wei:决定留学缘起偶然,而选择德国是因为这里的大学当时免费,以及德国人理性,严谨的做事态度。

The decision of studying abroad was made upon occasion. I chose Germany because the Germans are very strict and the Universities here are fee-free.

3. Weimar:德国留学过程中有没有特别印象深刻的经历与大家分享?

Do you have any special experiences during your study to share with us?

Guan Wei:没有具体哪件事情印象特别深刻,更多的是这些年来总的体会:与自然近在咫尺,简单、有点慢节奏的生活,但也关注外面发生的事情。最重要的是,给自己时间,弄清自己的想法和心思。

Not any particular things but the whole experience: being in the near of nature, living simply and living slowly, yet knowing what’s going on outside, and most importantly, take time for myself. It’s like a meditation.

4. Weimar:人们都说德国产品设计是一种“理性”表现,是一种“冷”的设计,把产品的耐用性与实用性放在第一位,不会刻意强调它的外在形式。这些对你的设计产生怎样的影响,还有你觉得这样的产品会缺少温情吗?

Products designed by German are said to be “rational” and “cold tone”, which put durability and practicability in the first place, without emphasizing the outer form. How do these influence your work? Do you think this kind of product too tough for customers?

Guan Wei:我想你说的是包豪斯或者95年以前的百灵电器那种典型的德国产品设计。首先德国人和中国人有很大差异,他们严谨,刻板,直线性思维。这样的设计我觉得对他们来说是适宜的,而照搬到国内就不合适了。学习他们,要更多地学习他们产品背后的东西。

I guess you mean typical German designs, like Bauhaus designs or Braun products directed by Dieter Rams. Well, the Germans are conscientious, careful and straight forward. I do think this kind of design fits their needs well. Chinese people are apparently quite different. Therefore, simply taking over others’ design won’t work. You have to look behind the scene to find out where is DESIGN.

相比“理性”,我更喜欢说“有根据”。所有的决定都要有它的根据。不过问题的根本不在于“理性”抑或“有根据”,而是认真做事的态度。当你设计一件会大批量生产,需要消耗很多人力与自然资源的东西,你不得不认真对待,因为一点点的错误都会被扩大化。这是我从德国学到的最有用的东西。“典型的德国设计”只是这种具有普适性的办事方式所产生的一种可能性。同样的方法,由不同的人去做,带着各自不同的考量,结果自然不同。

I prefer saying “with reason” to “rational”. For every decision you make, there is a reason. Actually the question is not about rational or reasoning, it’s about taking care of one’s work. When you develop something which will be mass produced, it requires lots of labor power and natural resources, and possibly it’s going to affect many people’s life, you have to be cautious. This is what I learned from the Germans. Typical German design is a result of an universal applicable logical process. The process stays the same, but while it is conducted by different people with different considerations, the outputs definitely go to be different.

5. Weimar:说起产品设计,德国和日本分别是欧洲与亚洲的前沿,你对这两个国家有着怎样的对比看法?

German and Japanese product designs are leaders on their own continent. How will you compare the two?

Guan Wei:德国设计由价值驱使,日本设计由技术驱使。
德国人吃香肠,喝啤酒,穿皮裤;日本人吃寿司,喝清酒,穿和服。日本人从德国借鉴了很多东西。
日本设计是带圆角的,缩小了的,塑料版本的德国设计。(误 XD)

German designs are value driven. Japanese designs are technical driven.
Germans eat bratwurst, drink beer, wear lederhosen; Japanese eat sushi, drink sake, wear kimono. Japanese learned a lot from the Germans.
Japanese designs are plastic versions of German designs and products are made smaller with round corners. (wrong XD

6. Weimar:通过你的博客和作品,我很自然地想起了“干净”、“现代”这两个词,这会是或将会是你的设计风格吗?还有,你觉得风格的形成对设计师意味着什么?

I often think of “clean” and “modern” when looking at your blog and works. Will these two words (going to) describe your style? What do you think style to a designer mean?

Guan Wei:变数太少会显得单调乏味,变数太多则显得过于吵闹失去重点,这之间的平衡是一件作品成败的关键。刚开始的时候我选择简单一些,因为这样比较容易;可能看起来会显得比较干净,但如果拿捏不好,就不是简约而是简陋了。很多东西我还把握不好,比如说色彩的运用。至于现代,我不觉得它是一种风格,现代的定义一直在变。现代即符合当下,是一种需求。

Derivations, when too few is monotone and boring, when too many is noisy and loosing the point. A good balance makes a master piece. I start simple because that’s easier, which may appear as “clean”, and will try other stuffs at a later point. For instance, I don’t know colours well. For “modern”, I won’t consider it as a style, because it’s ever changing. A better expression still is “up-to-date”, which is a requirement.

当我们谈起“风格”,我们想到的不是单一的事物而是一个类别,一类事物间的共同点。风格就像品牌一样,把你和别人区分开来,并帮助潜在的客户发现你。风格不只限于作品视觉上的风格,也包括了你的工作方式和生活方式。

When we talk about style, we are not thinking about one single thing but a genre, the commonness of these things, the continuity between them. It’s like a brand. It distinguishes you from other competitors and helps potential customers finding you. And it’s not only restricted to visual style but also includes the way you work, the way you live.

7. Weimar:到目前为止,你对自己最满意的作品是那一件,能简单与我们说说吗?

What is your most satisfied work till now? Can you tell us some details about this work?

Guan Wei:曾经有过一件,对Richard Sapper 1972年的经典台灯 “Tizio” 的一个再设计。结果是不错的,不过放到今天再去看这个项目,觉得当时花了过多的时间和精力,最后的方案也显然是没有经济性的。关于这个项目的细节可以去我的作品集里了解。
手上还在进行中的项目有一些倒是会很有趣。

There was one, the redesign of Richard Sapper’s task light “Tizio” from 1972. It was about remake a design classic. The result was quite good. But when I look at it today, I realize we’ve put too much time and energy on it, and it’s clearly uneconomical. Some details about this project can be read on my portfolio.
There are some unfinished projects that would be very interesting.

8. Weimar:你最欣赏哪一位产品设计师,与我们说说你对她(他)的看法吧?

Which product designer do you most appreciate? Why?

Guan Wei:Dieter Rams,曾担任百灵电器设计总监长达34年。由他经手的科技产品简单易懂,有着恒久的美感。功能元素的样式及布局,每一个图示,边角的处理都非常细致和自然,让人看了后不仅感叹,这才是科技产品应有的样子。他的设计远远超越了表层的装点,是一种整体协调良好的设计。

Dieter Rams. He was responsible of Braun’s products for 34 years. Technical products became easily understandable and timeless beautiful through his hands. The arrangement of functional elements and how they look, include every pictogram, every corner are so thoughtfully and naturally done that let you think, “this is the way technics should be”. His design is fully integrated, goes much further than just a beautiful skin.

9. Weimar:平时会有哪些兴趣与生活方式,能简单描述一下你的一天吗? :)

What hobbies and habits do you have? Can you describe your normal day?

Guan Wei:拍照,整理东西,浏览博客,逛超市。没有固定的时间表,可能整天工作,也可能终日玩耍。

Taking photos, put things in the right order, flipping through blogs, wandering in the supermarket. I don’t have regular time table. I may work all day or just play around.

10. Weimar:最后谢谢你接受Simple Style的采访,并与大家说说你近期的计划吧?

Thank you for attending our interview. Can you tell us some of your recent plans?

Guan Wei:最近正在开设一个新的网站,会写一些关于设计中的问题及日常生活细节的文章,欢迎大家光顾。

I’m starting a new website talking about design relevant issues and details in daily life.

本周他为我们带来的精彩推荐:https://www.simple-style.com/tag/guanwei

编辑&采访/Weimar    图/Guan Wei
Translated by Guan Wei and 苏菲

第三期专栏人物leou: https://www.simple-style.com/posting-guests

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