Design, the Silent Ambassador of Taiwan

Following Paul Rand’s notion that design is a brand’s silent ambassador, design advisor and columnist Cyril Zammit explores what makes Taiwan a design-led nation

The title of this essay is a riff on Paul Rand’s well-known claim that ‘Design is the silent ambassador of your brand’, but Taiwan is a rare example of a place where you immediately feel comfortable as soon as you step off the plane. The island offers plenty to discover, and as someone who enjoys design, I found in Taiwan plenty of great people to meet and learn from.

When I think of Taiwan, what stands out most is how it has so brilliantly managed to carry forward centuries of craft traditions into a contemporary society. I like how young designers respect and preserve traditional customs or techniques in their creations. I was lucky enough to visit Taiwan several times. I visited Taipei, of course, but my guide, Ben Chiu of Taiwan Designers’ Web, also took me to the southern part of the island to visit the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute (NTCRI). It amazed me to see dedicated professionals keen on sharing their expertise and maintaining the reputation of Taiwan as a design hub.

In 2015, I welcomed a selection of design pieces to Design Days Dubai — what is now Downtown Design — just a few months ahead of Taipei’s World Design Capital celebrations the year after. Everyone was amazed, but I wasn’t surprised to discover the high quality of the creations, the attention to detail in the objects’ presentation and the creativity of each of the pieces.

One of the aspects of that Design Days Dubai exhibition, titled Beyond Creativity and Craftsmanship, was showing how seamless and simple objects can be. This is, for me, the key to successful design: hiding complexity behind simplicity. Design must please the eye, bring a solution to a problem, or simply revisit an everyday object in a new and innovative way. This is why Ben Chiu qualifies designers as ‘interpreters’, with skills to understand the public’s need and translating those into a practical and, if possible, nice object.

I am not a fan of ‘design-art’. If you put an object on a pedestal and don’t use it, it loses its functionality, and therefore its essence as a design object. I like when design enables new functions and opens new doors and perspectives.

Design is also the perfect playground to experiment with and combine materials that would never meet otherwise — when wood meets metal, ceramic meets brass or when traditional weaving methods are applied to new materials, for example.

Taiwanese craft is ingenious and demonstrates the nation’s ability to face challenges, create its own way and constantly mark its difference with a true identity. ‘Free Mind, Free Creation’ might be the motto of the island.

An exhibition curated by the NTCRI and Ben Chiu for MOM (MAISON&OBJET And More) titled Neo-Taiwanese Craftsmanship / Le Néo-Artisanat Taiwainais showed AOI.CYCLE’s take on the modern bicycle, with its mechanical mount invented by Frenchman Alexandre Mercier in 1843. The Tour de France, the world-famous bicycle race, has been one of the most popular events in France and worldwide for over a hundred years, showcasing both stunning landscapes and a great mix of team and individual efforts.

What impressed me most in this exhibition was that AOI.CYCLE’s Craftsmanship Bicycle Project in Taiwan reveals new production methods and that, against all odds, Western European countries are (re)discovering the bicycle as a cost-effective and great alternative to public transport.

Former French president Jacques Chirac once said, ‘Mobility and stability are not mutually exclusive: a cyclist is only stable on his bicycle when moving forward.’ No doubt we could apply this to Taiwanese design, which demonstrate an ability to move ahead with a solid base from its heritage.

Text / Cyril Zammit