Today, at the age of 70, his eyes are still like those of his twenties and thirties: full of passion and wisdom.
Maybe you don't know his name, but you must have seen his designs, which are all over the shelves of major supermarkets.
So far, he has won more than 600 international design awards and claimed to be.
"If your own design is not expensive, it is super expensive."
, but still deeply loved by people.
▲logo design works
His design concept is a blend of eastern and western cultures, appealing to both refined and popular tastes, and he can be called the inheritor of China culture.
He said, it's not that I know much about China culture, but that I know how to express it.
He is the godfather of graphic design, Chen Youjian, and is recognized as one of the top ten famous designers in the world.
(Wang Shu, I.M. Pei, Ma and other masters are among the "Top Ten in the World")
▲ Chen Youjian
0 1
Design "Godfather"
It is undeniable that this is a successful and highly competitive "product".
Apart from Coca-Cola, we grew up eating Chacha melon seeds and still love to drink them.
Weita milk
also
Lee Kum Kee, Blue Moon, Scream
Wait, their signs are all from him.
It can be seen that they are all classics with a sense of the times.
▲ Nongfu Spring Scream Series
Some people may not know, unlike many design masters.
In fact,
Chen Youjian, the godfather of design, is not a well-trained designer.
I have never had a systematic study experience in design major.
In addition to the artistic enlightenment his father gave him,
The rest of my experience comes from my own personal practice.
▲ A photo taken with my father when I was a child.
At the age of 20, I began to work as an assistant apprentice in an advertising company run by foreigners, and worked hard for 10 years.
I want to continue, but Chen Youjian is very tired, because "free competition demonstration" prevailed in the industry at that time.
1980, started his own entrepreneurial road.
▲ Chen Youjian when he was young
1986, the original Daxun advertising company was officially renamed as.
"Chen Youjian Advertising Design Company"
1996, Chen Youjian Design Company was selected as "Bible" by Graphis magazine.
One of the top ten best design companies in the world, and the only China design company to win this honor.
▲ Logo design of Shanghai Bund Art Museum
▲ Logo design of National Grand Theatre
It is difficult to sum up Chen Youjian's works in one word, because his designs are all over the world.
If you have to name one of the most famous, you have to mention his "Seiko Calligraphy Clock".
Exquisite and complex China culture and craft are recombined with modern design skills to create a
Zhong and the essence of China's calligraphy.
▲ It was accepted as a permanent collection by the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, USA.
At first glance, it seems unremarkable, waiting for its pointer to "move"
You can discover the mystery.
The intersection of the minute hand and China's regular script stippling symbols,
Just form a complete chinese numerals.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
"This is not so much a clock,
It is a calligraphy work written on circular rice paper.
Because when I am writing calligraphy or appreciating calligraphy works.
There is also an illusion that time is static,
This is also one of my sources of inspiration. "
Alan Chan
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Won more than 600 international design awards.
It turns out that so many familiar designs in life were designed by Chen Youjian.
In fact, his design and art are far more than that. Let's take a look at his other classic works.
▲ Some poster works
Record cover design
In 1980s, Chen Youjian designed album covers for many pop stars, including Tan, Anita Mui, Leslie Cheung and Tayu Lo.
Cover of Tam's legend of the condor heroes
▲ The cover of Anita Mui's "Leaping Stage"
▲ The cover of Tayu Lo's "Lover Comrade"
Among them, I cooperated with my brother Leslie Cheung for the longest time, from debut to farewell concert in 1989.
Chen Youjian has always been the royal designer of Leslie Cheung, covering the cover design and production designer of all his records.
▲ Photo of Chen Youjian and his brother.
Leslie Cheung's insanity.
1984 Leslie
1987 Summer Romance 87
1988 Virginia now
1989 salute
1989 finally encountered
The "final" special effect in this cover is not a problem at all now, but it was handmade by Chen Youjian from wood!
Why his design is "expensive" originated in the 1980s, when he was the highest bidder in the record industry, and was almost the industry benchmark.
Even so, people looking for him are still in an endless stream. This is probably strength ~
poster design
His poster design is also a must!
▲ Poster exhibition live photos
In 2002,
Posters designed for Beijing's Olympic bid.
The colors of the five rings surround the Temple of Heaven, which embodies the feeling of movement and has the characteristics of Beijing.
200 1 year
Poster design of Nagoya school speech.
The red text in the middle circle shows the relevant information of the theme place, and also
It is this circle that makes it coexist with the surrounding words.
The upper left is the name, the small cross and circle in the middle are the word "ancient", and the combination of the lower right and circle is the word "fu", which together is Nagoya.
The following one is for a font design company
Design magazine cover
, very interesting.
The word "left" is spelled with many right words, and the word "right" is spelled with many left words.
And there are contrasts in the layout. The graph 1 is horizontal, and the graph 2 is vertical.
Chen Youjian 1990
Poster of solo exhibition "East Love and West Rhyme".
The main body of the poster is a Chinese character "East", representing the East, and the English letter "W" at the top of the poster represents the West.
With the paper edge as the vertical line, the upper left part of the poster seems to be the hidden word "Lu".
▲ "EastmeetsWest" exhibition
When the exhibition was held again in 2002, the expression was different and the meaning remained unchanged.
1997
Company poster.
Chinese character "one" and Arabic numeral "1" are combined into Chinese character "ten" with a brush. Emphasize the "one" separated from the "ten".
Chen Youjian Design Company is one of the top ten best design companies in the world.
1998
Poster of "Design and Life Exhibition"
Shenzhen and Hong Kong are brothers, and they are as indispensable as chopsticks. Two chopsticks are used to represent the close relationship between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Poster in memory of my good friend Ichimitsu Tanaka.
The text consists of "I" in the field and "I" in the English name.
Chen Youjian and Kazuo Tanaka are very good friends, including his solo exhibition in Japan, which was also introduced by Kazuo Tanaka. Chen Youjian designed the following poster to commemorate the light in the field after his death.
Brand vision &; product design
When it comes to his classic works, I have to mention Tea. He made many designs about tea.
Zhuyeqing Sichuan Chengdu Green Tea Brand
Since 2008, Chen Youjian has been the brand of Zhuyeqing, and has made a series of products that are still in use today.
Brand Vision and Store Space Design
The brand logo is inspired by the shape of each bamboo leaf soaked in a teacup.
Roots stand upright, just like tea dancing in water, which is the uniqueness of bamboo leaf green tea.
On the packaging box of Lundao, the glass material is selected as the long seal of the package, and the opening method is as exquisite as the precious treasures in ancient China.
▲ Zhu high-end tea series "On the Road"
▲ The latest bamboo leaf green tea packaging
Louis Vuitton LV tea ceremony
(of cigarettes) hard pack
Chen Youjian designed a "tea ceremony" hard box.
China tea culture is combined with LV classic brand culture "Travel", and the global limited products are worth millions.
Inspired by China's word "tea", the whole exhibition structure evolved from the word "tea".
On the trip, opening it can reflect the practical function of tea tasting, while closing it is a classic, exquisite and elegant decorative art.
There are also some other designs that are quite brilliant.
Xiwu brand identity
1983 Guangzhou disco club logo
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Can be called the inheritor of China culture.
Anyone familiar with Chen Youjian's design knows that there are many elements of China's traditional culture in his works, showing the aestheticism of combining things with things.
He summed up his design expression style as: the blending of eastern and western cultures.
"Love is in the East and rhyme is in the West"
▲ The logo of the studio is the shape of the "Sixi doll" in the hand.
The combination of traditional elements and modern design means is just right, which embodies the true connotation of China traditional culture.
This set a weather vane for the aesthetics of the whole design field in China at that time, and many people called him a "living design textbook".
▲ "Now" watch
Aesthetics and culture,
Are two conditions that he thinks are very important for design.
Aesthetics determines visual style, and culture determines whether a work has connotation.
▲ Chen Youjian's photographic works
His design is very expensive, but many people are willing to pay the bill. This is undoubtedly the best example of cooperation between business and design.
He said, just do touching design.
Do it with your heart, and what comes from your heart is naturally the easiest to impress people.
Design is not to cater to the ideas of brand customers, but to truly understand the consumer market, in order to confirm the authenticity of the work.
Of course, life and business can also be applied in art design.
▲ Window design of Huangpu Club
▲ Chen Youjian My Diary Exhibition
For the so-called trend design that everyone is crazy about following the trend.
He believes that,
Creativity and ideas are the most important; Understanding the market and culture is the most basic.
We design now and sell it to the current social circle, but the current trend is just a tool. Such as font expression, color expression, paper expression and appearance expression.
Different ideas are not necessarily just the present.
Good design will not be eliminated with the changes of the times.
▲ Hongling, the top private club in Macau
▲ Schair designed by Chen Youjian
Chen Youjian, now 70 years old, is still active in many design fields like an "old urchin" and has a joint name from time to time.
▲ Chen Youjian cross-border design lipstick
He also cultivated many hobbies in his life, such as visiting flea markets, watching art exhibitions and taking photos.
It has become the "old age life" that everyone envies!
With 50 years' experience, he has won many reputations for China in the field of design with his unique talent.
For so many years, extending from design to art and developing art may be the sublimation of Chen Youjian's love for design.
What seems to be free will is actually his persistence.
Looking back on his design and artistic career, Chen Youjian said that he never stopped every day. He has a sense of mission and has not given up at this stage.
▲ He was on the cover of a magazine.
"From the first day I came out to work in my twenties,
I'm grateful to be here today. "
"Life is like this, constantly looking for,
Constantly increase your energy, from the outside to the inside.
The rest of the time, I should spend my whole life,
Share what I have learned. "
Alan Chan
Why do people always say that Chen Youjian's design is good? Chen Youjian, born in Hongkong, China 1950, is a famous designer. He has won more than 400 awards in Hongkong and internationally, and is famous in new york, London and Tokyo. 1996, Graphis magazine, regarded as the "Bible" by the design community, selected Chen Youjian Design Company as one of the top ten best design companies in the world. 1997, posters and art wall clocks were accepted as permanent collections by the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, USA.
Chen Youjian loves China's traditional culture, but his persistence and pride in China's heritage did not make him an "artistic old man" who stuck to the tradition, but made the eastern and western cultures more reasonably integrated in his design concept. He successfully integrated western aesthetics with eastern culture, making his works have both traditional charm and elegant fashion taste. His works are rich in Chinese flavor, but elegant and exquisite, which makes people realize the aesthetics of the unity of things and me. His design is called soulful design, and his works are full of eastern Zen and imaginative ideas.
In his eyes, life is the best design inspiration, and good taste can produce good design, so even his most representative design style of "integration of things" will change in different stages of life. After years of precipitation, he extended the "integration of East and West" from products to space. The application of oriental elements not only stayed on the surface, but also reflected his devoted research and profound cultural accumulation on the philosophy of Eastern Zen. His works need to be savored more and more, and he can always read different feelings at different times and moods.
Chen Youjian successfully integrated western aesthetics with eastern culture, but he knew how to keep pace with the times, all of which came from his experience of life.
His design is more influenced by Japanese design.
Chen Youjian, a master of multi-faceted design, refers to China's design with his unique style of "East Feeling and West Rhyme". Today, many Japanese design celebrities will still remember a personal design exhibition held in Tokyo in 2002 called "East Feeling and West Rhyme". His works combine the expressions of "western aesthetics" and "oriental culture", and are talked about by the design circles in Asia and even around the world. And "Love in the East, Rhyme in the West" has also become the well-known label of this award-winning and Hong Kong-level design master.
He is Chen Youjian, a Newport gentleman. He is a designer, artist, collector, businessman and photographer. The fifth issue of Creative Creator —— The multifaceted life of Chen Youjian, a design master who promoted the internationalization of China design.
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| Art Enlightenment of Hong Kong Fruit Shop |
Chen Youjian, a Hong Kong design master, is one of the most representative China designers in the world. His design concept of "Love in the East and Rhyme in the West" has been highly praised by the design community. The works include not only the image systems of Coca-Cola, Lee Kum Kee, Hong Kong International Airport, Vanke and other brands, but also the spatial images of commercial places such as Shanghai Bund No.3 Spa Center and Hong Kong Happy Restaurant.
Over the past decades, Chen Youjian and his design team have won more than 600 design awards, and 1996 has been selected as the top ten best design companies in the world by Graphis magazine and regarded as the "Bible" by the design community.
People are curious whether such a design genius has been endowed with extraordinary talent or education.
According to Chen Youjian's own statement, he didn't receive any formal design education except that he started to set foot in the design industry at the age of 20 and took ten months of night design courses. Even this kind of spare-time study was abandoned because I thought the school was too slow to teach and not as fast as the company.
When I was a child, Chen Youjian went to the traditional China primary school for the first time, and her grades were not good. He was also criticized by his teacher, so his family transferred him to a Catholic foreign school. Later, Chen Youjian's performance was unexpectedly among the best in the class. Later, he was promoted to Sir Kadoorie Middle School with strong western culture, during which he achieved excellent academic results and participated in many school activities, such as playing basketball, singing competitions, track and field sports and so on. Every Christmas, New Year and other grand festivals, Chen Youjian will also be responsible for arranging the venue.
But soon Chen Youjian dropped out of school and worked as a substitute teacher for ten months. Because he couldn't stand the routine teaching work, he resigned soon.
After that, 20-year-old Chen Youjian really started to enter the design industry. At that time, in Hong Kong, where eastern and western cultures met, the advertising design industry was innovating with the development of economy, and most of the advertising companies were foreign-funded enterprises. With the help of the English foundation laid in foreign schools, he went to a foreign advertising company to find a job. That is, during this period, I received a short ten-month design education, the only period in my life.
This advertising company gave up school design education and became a school in Chen Youjian. "I have been working hard since then, working overtime and then working overtime."
Chen Youjian, who has no formal design education, thinks that he is really talented in art, and he also affirms the importance of talent for designers and artists. "No talent can be cultivated the day after tomorrow, if you work hard. But if you have talent, you will definitely jump out. "
Chen Youjian thinks that his artistic talent may come from his father.
Chen Youjian was born in 1950 and grew up in a family of Hong Kong businessmen. It is such an ordinary family background that laid Chen Youjian's first impression on art design.
Chen Youjian's father came to Hongkong from Guangdong in 1940, and made a living by selling fruit in a fruit shop. "In the 1950s, my family was not very rich, and the furniture was made by my father in wooden boxes filled with fruits. The box can also be put together into a big board and put in a wardrobe at home. "
Before he was ten years old, Chen Youjian would stay with his father like a little assistant and watch him do these strange and interesting things. Chen Youjian said that during the Spring Festival, my father would write Spring Festival couplets and post them in the fruit shop. "He has artistic talent, and my artistic talent comes from my father." .
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| Unique "East Love and West Rhyme" |
Talent and hard work, coupled with the port environment under the collision of eastern and western cultures at that time, made Chen Youjian gradually have its own style of "Oriental Love West Rhyme".
In Hong Kong in the 1960s and 1970s, the middle and upper classes advocated western culture, and almost all the excellent advertising ideas were imported. Many foreign advertisers and creators come to Hong Kong to look for opportunities. They have promoted the development of the advertising industry in Hong Kong and trained a number of local advertising talents.
"The reason why there were so many talents in the advertising and design circles in the 1980 s was more or less because these foreigners had taste and were willing to pay everything." Chen Youjian said that the six advertising companies he joined from 65438 to 0970 were all foreign-funded enterprises, which was equivalent to learning from foreigners, and they all had expertise in different fields. "Some copywriting is very good, some photos are very good, an illustration is very good, a font is very good, and a point of view is very good."
Chen Youjian learned the international language from these bosses from Britain, the United States, Australia and other different places, and gradually began to examine the charm of China's oriental culture from the perspective of foreign culture.
Until 1980, 30-year-old Chen Youjian, relying on the diversified design thinking accumulated in many advertising companies, and his wife set up their own Daxun advertising company in Hong Kong. Chen Youjian has a different identity from Chen Youjian, a designer and businessman. Six years later, Chen Youjian Advertising Design Company was established.
In the process of running the company, Chen Youjian has gradually found a new position for his design thinking-the "East Feeling and West Rhyme" which combines eastern and western cultures, and the market-oriented business design thinking.
Chen Youjian believes that only by properly combining traditional elements with modern design methods can design and creation reflect the true connotation of traditional culture in China.
With her artistic talent and keen design ability, Chen Youjian has won many design awards in Hongkong and overseas. At the age of 46, Chen Youjian's advertising design company was rated as one of the top ten design companies in the world by the American magazine Graphis, and it was the only China enterprise among the top ten companies.
In 2002, he held a solo exhibition "Love in the East and Rhyme in the West" in Japan. He thinks that this exhibition can better reflect his design characteristics and artistic pursuit than the honor he won. In the Japanese design world, his reputation is like
Jackie Chan
So famous in show business.
Later, Chen Youjian returned to the Mainland. At present, more than half of the company's projects are in different cities in the Mainland, and solo exhibitions have been held in Beijing and Shanghai. Some people say he looks like a designer.
Jack Ma
Critics say that Chen Youjian is a blend of eastern and western design elements, soft, elegant and profound. He is a veritable commercial designer and likes to consider the visual effects of his works from different angles. He didn't let his work become a pure artistic display, nor did he let his work completely give up artistry and fall into the marketing routine. But let his works face the market and meet the aesthetic needs of customers.
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| Designer? An artist? A collector? Businessman? |
Chen Youjian's design language is unique, and his personal dress and manners are also labeled. Exquisite clothes, a pair of iconic round-rimmed glasses, goatee, polite and handsome smile, nonstandard Mandarin, typical courtesy and thoughtfulness of Hong Kong people.
People who have seen Chen Youjian probably have a similar impression-he will greet every staff member, and the whole person, like his design works, has a touch of Hong Kong style and a "mixed-blood flavor" of combining things. People who know him will say, "Move, he is a ghost horse."
Aquarius constellation
Old urchin; When he is quiet, he is a gentleman in old Hong Kong and old Shanghai movies.
It is difficult for such a picky person to find a professional label that suits him. Designer? An artist? A collector? Businessman? Photographer? Gallery owner? It doesn't seem accurate. His life is so multifaceted and rich.
Among his design works, the most famous one should be the Chinese logo launched by Coca-Cola in 2003. This work is designed with reference to the original English logo, with smooth lines, which fully embodies Chen Youjian's design concept of introducing the integration of eastern and western cultures.
As early as 1980s, Chen Youjian also designed album covers and concert posters for many Hong Kong stars.
Leslie Cheung
, Anita Mui,
Jacky Cheung
. It can be said that Chen Youjian's design has promoted the development of Hong Kong's entertainment culture to some extent.
Referring to Leslie Cheung, Chen Youjian said in an interview, "At that time, he didn't earn much. At that time, I had already started wearing famous brands, but he hadn't. He will also invite me to his house for dinner. " We are not very good friends, but mentally, we communicate smoothly.
Until now, Chen Youjian still keeps the coat he lent to Leslie Cheung to shoot the album cover.
Many people in Beijing design circle are still impressed by the "iEye Love C Chen Youjian iPhone Photography Exhibition" held by Chen Youjian in Beijing 798 New Times Gallery in 20 12. At that time, many people knew that Chen Youjian was not only a designer, artist and businessman, but also a photographer.
The photographic works exhibited at that time also continued his usual style, using the Western iPhone as a photographic tool to photograph the traditional buildings in China and reflect the living environment and state of China people.
Another well-known identity of Chen Youjian is collector Chen Youjian. "From Panjiayuan 20 years ago to Panjiayuan now, to Yuyuan Garden in Shanghai, Portobei Road in London and so on. I bought a lot of rubbish, fakes and many good things. "
Chen Youjian is not afraid of art investment. He said humorously that investing is the same as finding a husband. "Just like my wife and I, when we first started dating, I was still a wage earner with less than 20,000 to 30,000 yuan in savings, and my wife's male friend drove her to dinner in a sports car, but she just took a fancy to me, that is, invested in me."
Chen Youjian opened a special life concept store "27", a home far from home. He said that the purpose of building "27" is to share with you the real state of their lives, hoping that this space can provide a bigger platform for young people to concentrate on their creativity.
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|65 to 75 years old, golden decade of art |
Time seems particularly favorable for Chen Youjian. Now he still looks like a calm gentleman, but he may have a "old carat" Shanghai accent because he often goes to Shanghai.
Chen Youjian has publicly stated to the outside world that he will position himself as an artistic golden decade aged 65 to 75, extending from the design field to the art field. After my sixties, I will spend ten years thinking about my own affairs, giving lectures in a dedicated state, and making artistic space.
Developing art may be the sublimation of Chen Youjian's favorite design. "I develop art, not to say that I give up design. I just want to reduce it and choose carefully. "
Exploring the visual arts is Chen Youjian's pleasure. From graphic design to space design, art installation design, and then to the love of great art, no matter what kind of works, Chen Youjian's love for oriental culture is deeply conveyed, and how he expresses his aesthetic concept of "integrating expression and being close to nature".
As for his designers and artists, Chen Youjian said that he is a typical Aquarius character, changeable all day, and a "playboy" man, because without "playboy", it is impossible to have so many creative projects. If you are the same type all day, you will be unhappy. So I have been crossing the border, which makes me cross the original behavior to another state and make me jump out of the box.
And this kind of free will pays more attention to the word "persistence". Looking back on his 46-year career in design and art, Chen Youjian said that he never stopped every day. At this stage, he has a sense of mission and never gives up. "Life is like this, constantly looking for and constantly increasing your energy, from appearance to heart. I should spend my whole life sharing what I have learned. "
"I am very grateful to come out to work from the first day to the twenties now."
Just the year before last, Chen Youjian described his current state like this: "I am not very rich, but my life is very stable. I don't think life needs a lot of money. I have two apartments, two cars, a wife and two children. My mother is still here. She is 94 years old. Basically, I am very satisfied with everything I have. "
Author: Murong Ma