On Monday the 26th of April, the Chinese program of L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique launched a new design workshop. Dedicated to the brand « Haier », it gathers 35 design students from 5 different schools:

-   Tsinghua University 清华
-   Tongji University 同济
-   Shandong Art and Design University 山东工业美术学院
-   Qingdao University 青岛大学
-   L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique / China Campus 法国南特大西洋设计学院

For one week, students will work on the “kitchen” and will have to use their cross-cultural skills to answer the brief.

Ma Han, Design Project Manager at Haier

Based in Qingdao, Haier is a global manufacturer group in many product and service fields (electronic goods, small electric appliances, white goods, real estate, cleaning services…).

Haier’s particularity is to be able to manufacture and manage many ranges of products to launch global solutions. For example its « kitchen » business, includes kitchen furniture, white goods (refrigerator, oven, hood…), kitchen accessories (sink, hot water boiling tank, storage…), small domestic appliances (blender, coffee machine, toaster…) and services (cleaning, security guards, maintenance…).

This variety allows Haier designers to work on complete user experiences and not only on products. This way of doing design is well represented by its U-Home concept that symbolizes a connected system (using Internet and telecommunication technologies).

Mo Jiao, design teacher at Tongji University, Wang Yan, design teacher at Shandong University of Art and Design and Liu Jikun, design teacher at Tsinghua University

Zhou Lei, design teacher at Qingdao University

On this first day, students had to determine a target (independent Chinese women, rural inhabitants, experts…), one society trend (health, hygiene, wealth…) and one kitchen trend (minimalist, high-tech…).

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On the 16th of March, the French 4th year students of the Chinese Campus of L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique met the Chinese students of Qingdao University. Specialised in French language, these students were welcome to meet with the French and find a partner to lead further on an anthropological study in China.

For 60 minutes, students did one-to-one three-minute small meetings to get to know each other.

They finally came up with 20 groups.

They will meet again next week.

To be continued…

Frédéric, Maud and Charles

Juliette and François

Agathe and Irène

Clarisse and Claire

Pierre-Emmanuel and Lili

Nathalie and Emmanuelle

Sophie and Nicolas

Caroline and Adrien

Emna and Agnès

Louis and Sylvain

Charlotte and Jeanne

Charles and Maud

Julie and Aurélie

Nermine and Hélène

Nicolas and Benoît

Victor and Pierre

Géraldine and Stéphanie

Frédéric and Charles

Fanny and Anaëlle

Mickaël and Cécile

Colette and Céline

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On Tuesday the 23rd of February, 5th year students presented their final year projects to the jury. This one was made of 4 people:
- Michel Grenier, Executive director at UTSEUS Sino-European School of Technology,
- Marie-Chantal Piques, Consumer goods Manager at Ubifrance (French Embassy),
- Thibault Poyet, Design Manager at CBD (Beijing),
- Olivier Baleix, Founder and General Manager at Impacct (textile).

All the 20 4th year students also attended the event.

The jury has been really pleased by the students work.

The next and final step will be in Shanghai on the 6th of September 2010 : the final jury.

Olivier Baleix, Michel Grenier, Thibault Poyet and Marie-Chantal Piques

Quentin Tableau, presenting is lacquer project

Nicolas Hubert, presenting his project on the copy

Cécile Guillet, presenting her project on Chinese wine

Marie-Chantal Piques

Lise Picard, presenting her project on bike accessories

Maud-Andréa Bidet, PR Manager, and Frédéric Bonin, Head of Studies

Marie-Chantal Piques

Michel Grenier

Thibault Poyet

Christine Biancarelli

Olivier Baleix

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Philipp Michel from PAE Design Talent

On the 28th of November, L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique has celebrated its first anniversary in China.

About 100 visitors came and listened to the conferences and enjoyed the cocktail party all along the afternoon and evening at BAU-Brearley Architects and Urbanists studio on Fuxing road, Shanghai.

Philipp Michel from PAE Design Talent opened the ceremony and explained to the students what were the keys to find a good design job in China and elsewhere. Philipp Michel used to work for the famous recruitment company Michael Page. He now leads a Beijing based recruitment company specialised in design and creative jobs.

Gwénolé Lefebvre and Marc Rambaud from Gwen Design

Then Gwénolé Lefebvre, a former student from L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique explained how he built his design agency in China : Gwen Design. After 3 years of experience in China, he now leads a 6 people design studio in Shanghai. His favourite projects are the outdoor space of Le Bar Rouge, Mr and Mrs Bund Restaurant, Sin Resto and a noodle shop within the Forbidden City in Beijing in cooperation with Kenneth Ko. He recently employed Marc Rambaud, another former student of L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique, that is in charge of the product design projects at Gwen Design.

Chris Hosmer from Continuum

Chris Hosmer, the founder of Continuum Shanghai presented his company philosophy and explained what was his view of a good designer. He bewitched his audience so much that nobody wanted him to stop his speech.

We then presented a documentary by Gary Hustwit “Objectified”.

Luigi from Dedo Design

Adrien Nazez from Harigata, a former student at L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique and Liu Lidan (left) from XL+ Design

Frans Vandenbosch, consultant in car design

After one year of activity in China, the annual figures and facts of the China based campus of L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique speak for themselves:

- 750 Hours of class
- 150 China-based teachers and professionals gathered in a strong network
- 38 Master’s degree students
- 38 Four-month design internships in China-based companies such as Kohler, Supor, Microsoft, China Bridge International, Black and Gold, Naço, Eno, Pega Design, Design and Architecture…
- 35 Conferences on design and other related topics : Suzette Tsang from Nike, Kyle Shiau from Pega Design, Pascal Novis from SEB-Supor Group, Arnaud Debane from EM Lyon, Lynnette Chan that worked at IDEO Shanghai, Jon Li from Asentio
- 2 Major product design workshops with top-tier Chinese groups Hisense and Supor
- 2 Active blogs on design and on pedagogy : chinadesign.lecolededesign.com and crossculturaldesign.lecolededesign.com
- 1 Active online community group on Linkedin “China Design Group”
- And 1 Passion: Creativity!

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From the 3^rd to the 5^th of December 2009, L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique has participated in the Hongkong Inno Design Tech Expo 2009. Organised by the Hongkong Trade Development Council HKTDC aside the Hongkong Business of Design Week, the Hongkong Inno Design Tech Expo 2009 was this year meant to put France forward.

The APCI (French agency for design promotion) lead by Anne-Marie Boutin and Ubifrance (French agency for French trade) offered a wide space gathering 20 design agencies from France and 4 design schools.

This exhibition has been for L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique, the occasion to promote its 4 Master’s programs in English including the one in Qingdao, China.

A lot of Hongkong students were interested in joining the program.

L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique will participate in the Business of Design Week 2009 in Hongkong from the 2nd to the 5th of December. Part of the France Forward exhibition area organised by the French agency for industrial creation promotion APCI and the agency for international development Ubifrance, L’Ecole de design will showcase its students works and participate in a workshop entitled “Universal Design Versus Cultural Identity : The French Approach”.

Business of Design Week (BODW) is now on Asia’s leading conference dedicated to design, innovation and brands. This pre-eminent conference and forum brings the best of the global design world to Hong Kong. Organised by the Hong Kong Design Centre since 2002, BODW has aimed to encourage businesses to unleash the power of design by focusing on the vital relationship and complex interplay between design and business.

France Forward, an event within Business of Design Week, will be the opportunity for France to promote French design studios, schools and present French renowned designers and architects such as Matali Crasset, Véronique Gautier from Jean-Paul Gaultier, Jean-Marie Massaud, Jean Nouvel, Mathieu Lehanneur, Gaspard Yurkievich, Patrick Blanc, Patrick Jouin, Manuel Warosz and Antoine Audiau.

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Christian Guellerin is now with the China Campus team in Beijing where he represents Cumulus as a president and L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique as a director. He actively participates in the Icograda Beijing 2009 host by the renowned China Central Academy of Fine Arts 中央美术学院.

Frédéric Bonin, Head of Studies of L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique’s China Campus, Xiaoyong, Professor at CAFA and Beijing Olympic medals designer, Maud-Andréa Bidet, PR Manager of L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique’s China Campus, Nicolas Roux and Jules Charbonnet, L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique’s students and Xu Kaiqiang, Design teacher at the Hubei University of Technologies.

Frédéric Bonin, Head of Studies of L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique’s China Campus, Maud-Andréa Bidet, PR Manager of L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique’s China Campus.

Icograda (the International Council of Graphic Design Associations) is the world body for professional communication design. Founded in 1963, it is a voluntary assembly of organisations concerned with graphic design, visual communication, design management, promotion, education, research and journalism. Icograda promotes communication designers’ vital role in society and commerce and unifies the voices of graphic designers and visual communicators worldwide.

This year, the event theme was「Xin-信」. Literally meaning “message” or “letter,”「Xin-信」represents a primitive means of communication. Today, however, it encompasses many more dimensions than ever before, as illustrated by words such as Xin-xi (information); Xin-nian (vision); Xin-ren (trust); Xin-yong (creditability) and Xin-xin (faith).

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On  Monday the 19th of October, Seb-Supor R&D Center offered a design brief to 20 students of L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique and the School of Industrial Design of Shandong University of Art and Design.

For 5 days, each of the 5 teams will work on a range of 3 different blenders that will be meant for the Chinese market.

Seb-Supor 苏泊尔 is a joint venture that was created in 2006. Founded in 1994, Supor is the leader of the cookware market in China and the third largest cookware company in the world. It is number 5 in China on the cookware small domestic appliances market. Working on these blenders might then be an opportunity for it to go up the national scale in the small domestic appliances market.

Pascal Novis, Marketing director at Seb-Supor and his assistant

Amy Liu (Chinese), Product Supervisor and Lijing Zeng (French), Junior Product Manager at Supor in Hangzhou

Frédéric Bonin, Designer and head of studies at the Chinese Campus of L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique. He leads the workshop with 2 other teachers of the School of Industrial Design of Shandong University of Art and Design

The School of Industrial Design of Shandong University of Art and Design offers a Bachelor degree and a Master degree in Industrial Design. Located in the surroundings of Jinan, it appears to be a wonderful place to study.

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L’Ecole de design Nantes Atlantique will participate in the Icograda Education Network show in Beijing from the 24th to the 30th of October 2009.
Co-organised by Cumulus network, this event will be held during the 2009 Beijing Icograda World Design Congress. It will offer 21 universities the opportunity to present their programmes and their students achievements.
Venue :
China Central Academy of Fine Arts
www.cafa.edu.cn

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On April 18, 2009 the 13 students enrolled in the curriculum offered by L’École de design Nantes Atlantique’s Chinese subsidiary seized the opportunity to showcase their projects during the international Ecodesign Fair 2009 held in Shanghai.

As part of an assignment revolving around the theme “Light my Bamboo” the 13 young designers-to-be centered their efforts on this good-value-for-money raw material.

After researching the topic for quite a while they eventually came up with a new concept : a new type of drugstore dedicated to homeopathic treatments meant to cure modern-day diseases such as asthma, the flu, obesity, diabetes.

The specificity of the drugstore thought up by our students lies in its all-bamboo range of products. Not only do the items sold in the store help customers heal their ailments but through their shape and use those items also have a deep impact upon the customers’ body and mind.

This outstanding exhibition – infused with a poetic hue and a sense of committment in the meantime – has aroused the interest of many a journalist and local visitor.

Maud-Andréa Bidet
Coordinator for L’École de design Nantes Atlantique’s
Chinese subsidiary

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