1. Anton: What's your name?
Wang Pei: Hello, my name is Ada Wong, an independent designer.
2. Anton: Could you please tell us a bit about your education background and your company?
Wang Pei: Very willing. I graduated from the school of art and design, Wuhan University of textile industry, undergraduate, as a Bachelor of Arts. After graduation, I become a freelancer and work in graphic design, interactive interface design, electronic game design and illustration design.
In 2014, I set up Shanghai Xihe Visual Design Office. The company provides the visual performance and conceptual creativity required by the R & D of commercial products for enterprise projects. Including the packaging of brand products; game film concept painting; software interface effect; brand creative advertising, etc.
It needs to be explained here that what I provide for the brand company is the design scheme and creative concept, not the specific program development or shooting production. I believe that I am the right choice for the design requirements of product R & D process segmentation.
3. Anton: What is an independent designer?
Wang Pei: Independent designers refer to the designers employed by non-enterprise organizations. They are the design practitioners who take enterprises, groups and individuals as their demand objects and jointly produce and undertake with each other. The independent designer takes the project cooperation as the leading role and has its own independent financial system and cooperation process. The company is my client and we are cooperating with each other.
4. Anton: What's the difference between this and the design outsourcing that people usually understand？
Wang Pei: I will not enter into a project contract subcontracted by a third party or platform. Both at home and abroad, as party a signing the contract, it must be the original demander of the design. The purpose of this is to filter out the non-standard design needs in the market. It is the responsibility of designers to ensure that their own interests are not swallowed by other institutions and individuals.
In addition, I accept to introduce the third party service fee to the project, but this does not mean that the third party is the subject of the contract. So even if it's outsourcing design, I'd like to invite the demand company to talk with me in person.
5. Anton: How did you become a designer?
Wang Pei: To become a designer is my childhood dream. The power of ardent love gets me glued to the job. To me, design is a native mission.
6. Anton: Where is your office?
Wang Pei: I am currently working in the art and creative community of Fountown. Address: 2 / F, Xuhui business building, NO.199 Wending Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai.
The environment here is elegant, which is very suitable for business negotiation. Welcome to come here and put forward your project requirements. We will sit down and have coffee and chat.
7. Anton: Can you introduce what project design you have done?
Wang Pei: Sure. My project design in different periods is different.
During 2013-2015, I mainly provided game design art scheme for game companies, including all kinds of art settings required in the film.Service companies and projects include: Game Moon（Shanghai）；Animated film《NANOCORE》（Season One）, etc.
In 2016-2017, I began to participate in the competition of international design awards and shifted the design focus to the field of visual communication. During this period, I mainly provide graphic design for brands, such as logo, album, PPT, packaging, graphics, textiles, etc. Service brands include Casa rubinacci, JZ Club, etc.
In 2018-2019, I began to engage in conceptual art design, providing various conceptual design proposals for international brand companies. Including product concept, marketing concept, visual concept, brand story concept, etc. For example: to provide garther with new data search concepts; to provide Deloitte with a forecast proposal for the future social career development direction; to provide PepsiCo or Lipton with a complete set of brand ideas from naming to story to product visual expression, etc.
Product Concept：Ease the allergy plan（2018）
Product Concept：Future Washing Equipment（2018）
Product Concept：12 Constellation Popsicle（2018）
8. Anton: How do you work with companies?
Wang Pei: My job is to provide the customer’s company with professional design services. Cooperation starts with consultation, and then signature of contracts including the master contract and ancillary contract. Then, the customer pays the initial design cost. We have complete confirmation procedures during the design process till the completion of the project and its delivery. Then, all documents are archived and delivered and bills of design fee are posted ... all of these are subject to a complete work system.
9. Anton: Specifically, what are the steps?
Wang Pei: Communication before the project begins is very important. I will not start working without adequate communication. Then market research and material collection. I will investigate all feedback from similar markets of this project, understand who our competitors are, and their advantages and disadvantages. By taking these steps, many problems during the design process can be avoided. In the end, I will check the most popular similar designs in the world to ensure that the designs I provide to my clients are cutting-edge. When all these works are done, I will start the specific design work, because I have already known what the design direction is and how to complete it.
10. Anton: I'd like to know what's the advantage of choosing you as a design service provider?
Wang Pei: I need to answer this question in two parts. I mainly provide on-site design services, but also provide remote design services.
For remote design, the design demander needs to provide complete and detailed design requirements documents as the communication premise. Including project introduction, design objectives, final objectives, previous market feedback, specific precautions in the production process (such as to do, or not to do), etc., and sent by email.The company has established a complete e-mail file system to ensure that the e-mail exchanges of each company's projects can be consulted. This is also an important basis for mutual communication to ensure that the intentions of both sides can be fairly guaranteed on the premise of openness. Therefore, all remote design will not be based on what is said.
For on-site design, the greatest benefit of convenient communication. The design fee is charged by working day, the cost is controllable, and there is no need to pay the additional cost of employing employees.
During my stay in the field, I will personally visit the brand company to become a part of the team. For me, it's not difficult. I've had many experiences like this, and I know how to deal with various personnel relations. I came here to solve design problems, not to compete with the company's employees. Therefore, I will not accept the company's employment, although some companies have offered such an invitation, because talent is a rare resource. But I have my own company, which doesn't provide the hired service, so this is a design service with the goal of result, and the final design drawings that can be executed are handed to the customers.
11. Anton: How do you describe your design method?
Wang Pei: I pay attention to the principles of design. Design isn't unconstrained imaginations; rather, it's built on good theoretical bases and principles. Therefore, I will first understand what the project ultimately conveys, and then choose the design principles correspondingly.
12. Anton: What are you interested in? How does it fit into your work?
Wang Pei: I'm very interested in many things, not limited to art and design. The diversity of hobbies enables designers to have different degrees of thinking when they conceive a project. When others can only design from this dimension, my brain will evaluate the possibility of the project from all dimensions. Of course, there are also experiences in all aspects of life. For example, I am very good at communicating with people and listening, which makes it easy for me to get the acceptance of customers and get the opportunity of cooperation.
13. Anton: When the client criticizes you severely, how do you respond?
Wang Pei: I seldom encounter severe criticism, because I will do sufficient preparatory work in the early stage, including to understand the customer's character: why does he want to do this project? What does he think of himself? What do you think of what he did? Including how he views the role of designers in this partnership and so on Many of these things can be avoided at the beginning, and usually irreparable contradictions are often caused by concealing the differences in values between each other at the beginning, so it is important to understand each other's bottom line and differences in ideas from the beginning.
14. Anton: What would you do if the customer didn't agree with your feedback during the communication?
Wang Pei: I will first understand why the other party has such feedback. The reason is very important. Then I will take different measures to deal with it. Of course, if the feedback from the customer does not conform to the design principles, I will persuade the other party and tell them why I deal with it like this. I believe in professional strength. If the customer wants to continue to insist and act on their own, then I will reflect on why I chose him as my customer at the beginning, which shows that I chose the wrong partner. I am not a designer who only works for money. I have my principle.
Packaging：CMAMPOMY（2018）
Packaging：BORDEAU CHESNEL（2018）
Packaging：PURE+（2018）
Storyboard：ICE BREAK（2019）
15. Anton: What key indicators do you use to track the success of the design?
Wang Pei: The most important indicator is customer satisfaction, followed by the test of time. Many designs may look good at that time, but as time goes on, they will gradually look old and out of date. I hope my design will still have something to appreciate even if I look at it after many years.
Product appearance concept: COCA COLA（2019）
Product appearance concept：AR JAPANESE GREEN TEA（2019）
16. Anton: Who or what has been the biggest single influence on your way of thinking?
Wang Pei: I'm not limited to someone's thoughts.Designers need to acquire a lot of knowledge through books, rather than just focus on the field of design.I'm not limited to someone's thoughts. Designers need to acquire a lot of knowledge through books, rather than just focusing on the field of design. I never want to limit my knowledge to design. I read history, literature, social sciences, philosophy, and art history to understand different people's views. These will let me have a deep view of life and work.
17. Anton: What's the best advice you've heard?
Wang Pei: The best experience I have gained is often the result of continuous reflection and summary in my work. Of course, there are many successful people's experience in books, such as: Don't waste time on the wrong people and things, and choosing the right people to cooperate with is the premise of success.
18. Anton: How do you stay creative under pressure?
Wang Pei: I don't rely on inspiration completely, because inspiration is not self-discipline, or even sometimes the pronoun of laziness. Under pressure, creativity is bound to be affected, but this is not an excuse. What's important is that designers come up with suitable solutions. Maybe it's not the most artistic thing, but it must be the most suitable thing for customers.
19. Anton: Who influenced your aesthetics and your design method?
Wang Pei: I accept the traditional art education, so the western classical art painting has a great influence on me.But I prefer the ancient Chinese artists, especially the works of art from 960 to 1279, including painting, calligraphy, porcelain, jade, etc. to this day, they still inspire me. The artistic performance of that period of history represents my highest aesthetic standard.
Illustration:：ANIMAL ILLUSTRATED（2019）
20. Anton: Would you tell us more about your work culture and business philosophy?
Wang Pei: Work is tough, notably for a freelancer like me. I sometimes work with friends, and sometimes complete a project independently. I value whether my partners would have a profound knowledge on the designing career. Many people master designing skills but do not have adequate knowledge on the profession of designers. Only knowing of how to design would not make you a good designer. You have to learn more about things outside skills, particularly your understanding on business. From the very beginning to the end, all of a designer’s behaviors are constitutes of business cooperation.
21. Anton: What awards and honors have you won?
Wang Pei: I have won some international design awards. Such as A'design Award; Indigo Design Award; ADC 96th annual awards, etc. It has also been recognized by some domestic media, such as Tencent's media platform; 人人都是产品经理; 起点学院, etc. Other honors are given by international design platforms or media channels, such as e Eÿeka (the world's largest platform for creative solicitation), CG society (the famous CG art community in the United States), etc.
I see all this as recognition of past achievements, but it does not represent the present. I'm glad that all of this has enriched my resume. You can check the details through the company's website.
22. Anton: what are your future personal and / or career goals?Do you have any new plans for 2020?
Wang Pei: In 2020, my design will focus on international art activities. Provide visual design for festivals or exhibitions in Europe or the United States. Among them, there are commercial and public welfare ones. Art can make people realize the importance of diversity. I think I should fulfill my own social responsibility, express the theme of global concern with design, and let more people think and listen.
23. Anton: What are you passionate about besides your work?
Wang Pei: I love reading, photography, traveling and hiking.
24. Anton: If someone wants to know more about you and your company, how can they contact you?
Wang Pei: Welcome to our company website：www.xh-studios.com.
Or you can write me an e-mail：master@xh-studios.com.
I will reply within 24 hours during the working day.
