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Icograda: Adelia Borges and Linda Fu
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TAXI
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Icograda Design Week in Seattle is an international design forum which took place in Seattle, USA last 9th July till 15th July 2006.
Defining Design on a Changing Planet, Icograda invited 22 international speakers to discuss on the role of design in this global awareness of evolution; how design has and may serve the economy and society and will also address the major topics design faces: cultural, political, economic and environmental issues at work in a global society. Last year’s Icograda Design Week is first in history to be held in USA and is in partnership with AIGA Center for Cross-Cultural Design.
TAXI Design Network proudly supported Icograda Design Week in Seattle as the Major Media Partner. The editorial crew from TAXI Design Network proudly reported the conferences live and delivering to you our interaction with the presenting design leaders.
For every week from April to June 2006, TAXI Design Network conducted exclusive interview sessions on the speakers based on their opinions of design in the growing world of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Please visit Icograda Design Week in Seattle for more information.
Exclusive Highlight on TAXI Design Network
Interview with Adelia Borges
TAXI >> What would you like to see more of in Brazil’s industrial design and why?
Adelia Borges>> I would like very much to see designers and business people more connected in Brazil. There is still a gap between both, that brings serious difficulties to the development of design itself. I would like also to see a large and comprehensive use of design in products developed to the poorest people.
TAXI >> Is there a specific message that you look forward to share over your presentation at ICOGRADA DESIGN WEEK in SEATTLE?
Adelia Borges>> It is not often that a conference in the Northern hemisphere invite so many persons from the Southern hemisphere as the Icograda Design Week in Seattle is doing. I am very much grateful to be one of the invited to speak. That a voice from Brazil would be listened in such an important event is a joy for us. Over all the presentations in Seattle I would be very happy if we could establish in the design international community a multidirectional exchange, and not only the unidirectional exchange (from the Northern to the Southern hemisphere) as it uses to happen nowadays. I would like to share also a vision that see design as a powerful source to improve life of people. In other words, I would like to learn and share more about the social dimension of design, and not only about design aimed to the market.
Exclusive Highlight on TAXI Design Network
Interview with Linda Fu
I think the questions of what, why and how are precedential to the where question. We all have our own unique professional and personal goals with different talent/skill sets, the best place for one may turn up to be quite unbearable for others. However, once we gain a clear vision of what we would like to do with our chosen career and our ability, why we have chosen the design profession in the first place and how we prepare to achieve our overall objectives in practice, the direction towards ‘the best place’ will more than likely reveal itself. The best place to launch a career is the one that offers the best possible environment in the real world, and the one that we passionate to contribute.
TAXI >> You have conducted some in-depth research into design and globalisation, and the communication nature of cross-cultural design academically and professionally. Kindly share some of your findings that may be of interest to our readers.
Linda Fu>> In one of my research projects, part of the objective is to examine the communication effect of cross-cultural branding design. The investigation into whether or not the visual language of selected works of design conveys its desired meaning to promote the Western brands across cultural boundaries indicates that the intended and perceived meanings of the visual message are seldom identical. Among the mismatches, while there are some positive outcomes where the interpreted meanings seem to correspond – in varying degrees – to the intended meanings, there are no shortage of negative outcomes: some visual messages are incomprehensible to the locals; some are misunderstood in the local culture; and others evoke negative reactions.
This small part of the findings has implications for designers who have a desire to communicate and are serious about creating meaningful and effective designs. I will elaborate a bit further in my speech at the Seattle conference.
TAXI >> Is there a specific message that you look forward to share over your presentation at ICOGRADA DESIGN WEEK in SEATTLE?
Linda Fu>> The key message I would like to share at the ICOGRADA Seattle Conference is that globalisation means more than merely a bigger market place for designers. Together with greater opportunity for some, it also brings an array of new challenges, from practice to ideal, affecting our profession as a whole. Among the many challenges, I will focus on the inherent problem of intercultural communication in the context of globalisation.
As design is a time-space specific cultural activity and we are now operating under the condition of the 3rd stage of globalisation, I believe designers must respond to the new challenges by equipping ourselves with greater awareness, sensitivity and understanding towards the cultural aspects of design in general and the host culture of our design in particular. From both professional and ideological dimensions, I will suggest that a more culturally sensitive and socially conscious design approach is essential for the profession to relate itself to the globalisation conjunctures, communicate effectively across cultures, and contribute positively to the many cultures of the world.
© 2003 - 2007 by TAXI Design Network. All rights reserved.
Defining Design on a Changing Planet, Icograda invited 22 international speakers to discuss on the role of design in this global awareness of evolution; how design has and may serve the economy and society and will also address the major topics design faces: cultural, political, economic and environmental issues at work in a global society. Last year’s Icograda Design Week is first in history to be held in USA and is in partnership with AIGA Center for Cross-Cultural Design.
TAXI Design Network proudly supported Icograda Design Week in Seattle as the Major Media Partner. The editorial crew from TAXI Design Network proudly reported the conferences live and delivering to you our interaction with the presenting design leaders.
For every week from April to June 2006, TAXI Design Network conducted exclusive interview sessions on the speakers based on their opinions of design in the growing world of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Please visit Icograda Design Week in Seattle for more information.
Exclusive Highlight on TAXI Design Network
Interview with Adelia Borges
 | TAXI >> Being a very experienced design editor, what were the observations made on the culture change of design throughout all these decades?
Adelia Borges>> I can speak only in Latin American field, that is the one I know more. I think that two main changes occurred in the last two decades. First of all, design knowledge had increased a lot among the society. By the seventies and also the eighties, people in general had a misunderstanding, relating design to a cosmetic and superficial treatment , aimed to add value to products and services oriented to rich people. By the nineties, the design community grew in these countries and the designers`voice could be more spread into society. But we still have a lot to do in the way to improve people`s awareness about what design is about. |
TAXI >> What would you like to see more of in Brazil’s industrial design and why?
Adelia Borges>> I would like very much to see designers and business people more connected in Brazil. There is still a gap between both, that brings serious difficulties to the development of design itself. I would like also to see a large and comprehensive use of design in products developed to the poorest people.
TAXI >> Is there a specific message that you look forward to share over your presentation at ICOGRADA DESIGN WEEK in SEATTLE?
Adelia Borges>> It is not often that a conference in the Northern hemisphere invite so many persons from the Southern hemisphere as the Icograda Design Week in Seattle is doing. I am very much grateful to be one of the invited to speak. That a voice from Brazil would be listened in such an important event is a joy for us. Over all the presentations in Seattle I would be very happy if we could establish in the design international community a multidirectional exchange, and not only the unidirectional exchange (from the Northern to the Southern hemisphere) as it uses to happen nowadays. I would like to share also a vision that see design as a powerful source to improve life of people. In other words, I would like to learn and share more about the social dimension of design, and not only about design aimed to the market.
Exclusive Highlight on TAXI Design Network
Interview with Linda Fu
| TAXI >>You were from Hong Kong and migrated to Canberra, Australia where you founded Global iCom Consulting and Linda Fu Design. When you first started out, where, in your ideal mindset, is the best place to establish a design career in similarities to your field?
Linda Fu>> I did not migrate to Australia to set up a design practice per se. After arriving in Australia, I first completed a Bachelor of graphic design in Canberra. Having graduated with High Distinctions in all university subjects and being a winner of several open design competitions, I had job offers in hand right away – in return missed the fun of job hunting. I started my own consultancy after my first job as an Art Director in an advertising agency in the nation’s capital. Because establishing my career in Canberra was more fortuitous than deliberate as such, I would share my thoughts on this particular question without claiming personal experience. |  |
I think the questions of what, why and how are precedential to the where question. We all have our own unique professional and personal goals with different talent/skill sets, the best place for one may turn up to be quite unbearable for others. However, once we gain a clear vision of what we would like to do with our chosen career and our ability, why we have chosen the design profession in the first place and how we prepare to achieve our overall objectives in practice, the direction towards ‘the best place’ will more than likely reveal itself. The best place to launch a career is the one that offers the best possible environment in the real world, and the one that we passionate to contribute.
TAXI >> You have conducted some in-depth research into design and globalisation, and the communication nature of cross-cultural design academically and professionally. Kindly share some of your findings that may be of interest to our readers.
Linda Fu>> In one of my research projects, part of the objective is to examine the communication effect of cross-cultural branding design. The investigation into whether or not the visual language of selected works of design conveys its desired meaning to promote the Western brands across cultural boundaries indicates that the intended and perceived meanings of the visual message are seldom identical. Among the mismatches, while there are some positive outcomes where the interpreted meanings seem to correspond – in varying degrees – to the intended meanings, there are no shortage of negative outcomes: some visual messages are incomprehensible to the locals; some are misunderstood in the local culture; and others evoke negative reactions.
This small part of the findings has implications for designers who have a desire to communicate and are serious about creating meaningful and effective designs. I will elaborate a bit further in my speech at the Seattle conference.
TAXI >> Is there a specific message that you look forward to share over your presentation at ICOGRADA DESIGN WEEK in SEATTLE?
Linda Fu>> The key message I would like to share at the ICOGRADA Seattle Conference is that globalisation means more than merely a bigger market place for designers. Together with greater opportunity for some, it also brings an array of new challenges, from practice to ideal, affecting our profession as a whole. Among the many challenges, I will focus on the inherent problem of intercultural communication in the context of globalisation.
As design is a time-space specific cultural activity and we are now operating under the condition of the 3rd stage of globalisation, I believe designers must respond to the new challenges by equipping ourselves with greater awareness, sensitivity and understanding towards the cultural aspects of design in general and the host culture of our design in particular. From both professional and ideological dimensions, I will suggest that a more culturally sensitive and socially conscious design approach is essential for the profession to relate itself to the globalisation conjunctures, communicate effectively across cultures, and contribute positively to the many cultures of the world.
© 2003 - 2007 by TAXI Design Network. All rights reserved.