N="Twist Yangge" magazine

Z=Designer Zhang Fei

N： When did you start designing? What changes have occurred in the design style?

Z： I really started working in product design after graduating from university in 2001.

I remember that when I first started designing for companies, I had zero design experience, 

and my later experience was accumulated from then on. 

My design style has hardly changed because I have always enjoyed simple and concise designs.

N： Why choose logs as the design subject?

Z： Before being used as a material, logs were living things, and we can feel the traces of time on every log. 

Good logs have a great touch and beautiful wood grain. After learning about FSC, 

I realized that it is a recyclable way, and I am even more determined to use FSC logs to design products.

N： The desk lamps, candle holders, or wooden toys you design are very practical. 

Do you value the practicality of your works?

Z： I am studying industrial design, 

and I have always believed that product functionality is a very important factor in product design.

N： Do you have any specific plans?

Z： The next plan is to design multiple products on the logs first, 

and then I will try to combine bamboo and ceramics to design the products. 

We plan to gradually establish our own small factory and improve equipment, 

so that we can control every aspect of production ourselves.

N： What is the composition of the team originally designed now? How do you collaborate?

Z： At present, there were not many members in the design team. I serve as the product designer and team leader myself. 

Our other team members were originally responsible for technical aspects, but now there is a new division of labor. 

Some are responsible for supervising the production process of the product and cooperating with me in design attempts, 

while others are responsible for online promotion and sales.

N： What do you want to say to young people who are studying and doing design?

Z： Although I am also very young, I still want to say to young people who study and do design: 

when we do design, we should believe from the bottom of our hearts that design has great value, 

believes that design has great significance to society, and believes that design will give us the future. If there were no difficulties, 

our design path would not have become exciting.

N： Your other identity is a university lecturer. Do you still have much time to teach students now? What courses are usually taught?

Z： I currently teach about two courses per semester at school, and I have taken almost all courses in industrial design. In recent years, 

I have mainly taken product comprehensive design courses in my junior and senior years, as well as basic design courses in my sophomore year. 

In recent years, I have found that the most I teach in class are about design concepts, attitudes, methods, etc., and I rarely take purely technical courses.

I see that many students are about to graduate, but their views on design are incorrect, which makes me very sad. 

I hope students can only go further if they have the right mindset first.

N： Besides natural wood, I also had my own ideas for the design of bamboo and ceramics. Do you have any specific plans?

Z： The next plan is to design multiple products on the logs first, and then I will try to combine bamboo and ceramics to design the products. 

We plan to gradually establish our own small factory and improve equipment, so that we can control every aspect of production ourselves.