China Design Now

China Design Now is currently showing at the V&A in London. The exhibition covers design from 3 Chinese cities; Shenzen, Shaghai and Bejing. I went and viewed the exhibition last weekend and was quite impressed with the typographic experiments and use of colour, especially from Shenzhen. Shenzen is seen as the hub of graphic design in China. The exhibition gives a brief history of graphic design in China, the fact that it is a more recent profession there compared to the rest of the world and only recently are universities offering the option to study design.

The final room was focusses on architecture, with all the new developments being built in Beijing. Many of these developments reminded me of Dubai as they involve re-shaping the landscape and have a similar sort of extravagant aesthetic. While Shanghai and Beijing look like great places to visit I couldn’t help but feel the hidden motive for the final room was to push tourism for the upcoming Beijing Olympics. Over all the exhibition is worth a visit if you are interested in graphic/communication design, chinese culture, fashion or architecture and if you’re a customer of HSBC you can get £3 off if you buy tickets through their Internet banking!