Chenglong Tao

Specialized in Design.

Chenglong Tao

About Chenglong Tao

Mars Lecturer, Blue Pencil Online Digital Arts School Lecturer, Graphic Designer, Engaged in graphic design for 15 years, CorelDraw software course specialists, specializing in fonts, posters design and research in recent years, access to COREL Asia-Pacific Digital Art Competition 2010, GDC17 (Graphic Design in China), The 2nd FONTSTAR Design Competition, Hiii Typography 2016 awards more than 30 ; Works included in the "GDC17 Award-winning Portfolio", "Chinese Creative Design Annual 2016-2017", "China Art Design Yearbook"; works selected and exhibitors 11th Macau Design Biennial, Chinese Designers Excellent Works Exhibition Of International visual Competition, GDC17 Winning exhibitions, ADCK Asia Design Competition and other exhibitions.

  • Winner of the A' Design Award.
  • Specialized in Design.
  • Original Design.
  • Creative, Diligent and Innovative.
  • All Designs

Good Design Deserves Great Recognition

Nominate Your Work for the A' Design Award.

Sign-Up

Interview with Chenglong Tao

Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
Since high school, my major and specialty have been pure painting. After graduating from university, I chose to do graphic design. At first, I was not interested in design. Later in the work, the basics of the arts played a role. The accreditation was more and there was some recognition in the local area, so I was reluctant to leave the design industry. I have been adhering to the present. In the future, I will always work hard and stick to it.
When do you feel the most creative?
Sometimes I suddenly thought of some ideas before going to bed, for fear I would forget to influence the work of the next day in the morning, so every time I put a sketchbook and a pen on the bed, I can record some inspiration sketches at any time so that I can sleep Be practical.
Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
Visual effects, functions, these two elements must be treated the same
What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
In fact, the beginning is the most difficult, there must be a good idea before they can be formal design, this stage is difficult; then the design process will continue to find some new problems, such as font design often encountered, although small For small details, I will extend the solution for each of the details. After comparing them, I will adopt one of the most promising solutions.
What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
There is a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction because not all ideas in the mind can be well realized.
What makes a design successful?
When you persist in focusing on a design, it is hard to think about success if you keep improving the details and change the details.
When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
Visually comfortable, original, differentiated, details in place, and functional.
How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
Each time I design a piece of work, I try to make a big difference with the previous piece, whether it is style or other aspects. I think that the designer's own style of design should be ever-changing. Don't have a fixed routine. Every time you try it out, you'll be tired.
Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
In the design process of Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province, China, there will be unprofessional opinions from customers affecting the final result of the design, because most customers feel that they want to make their satisfactory works, but the customers do not know that they are spending custom designs. They need to serve their customers, so compromised designs at this level often don't work well.
Can you describe a day in your life?
Get up at 7:00am, after breakfast, turn on the computer to check if there is any new mail, open the design file yesterday, continue to improve or design a new project, and after 2500 hours, you will do 2 hours of aerobic exercise (regular exercise, Maintaining good health is the premise. After dinner, it will check the work during the day. After 20:00, it will not touch the computer. At 22:30, it is the sleeping time. This is the basic daily arrangement.
Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
The younger designers are more and more engaged in the industry, and finally they can persist in the industry and can make few achievements. The main reason is that a large part of the designers lack the ability to self-learning. When they encounter any problems, they do not think or go online. Instead of searching for answers, in some groups of instant messenger software, they repeatedly ask some junior questions, and there are a large number of such people every day. My suggestion is: If you do not have a systematic study of yourself first, you will find obstacles in your work. When you encounter problems, the first thing you should think of is to try to solve it yourself. You may not digest the answer that others instilled in you. There are no quick fixes in any industry, and it can only grow as time goes by.
What is your "golden rule" in design?
Keep improving, not catching up with the trend, not being led by the trend, insisting that every piece of work has his uniqueness
What skills are most important for a designer?
The basics of fine arts, especially the ability of modeling, and the familiarity of software operation and creative thinking are all equally important. In addition, we must be meticulous in grasping the details, and we must have the craftsman spirit.
Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
CorelDraw, InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, 3ds Max, work together to complete the work efficiently, but not limited to these major tools, as long as the plug-in and independent small software that can produce effects and improve efficiency can participate in the work, usually when they are free Browse online for updated information on some software technologies. There are some helpful design theories. I will add him to my favorites.
Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
I will create a .txt file on my desktop and schedule each task in the order in which it was posted. Design is really time consuming, but I can get up to ten minutes or pause for other things in an hour and a half, and then come back.
How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
This question depends on the design. If you design a Latin font, it takes only half a month from the character design to the OTF format font file output. If you are designing a Chinese character library, the Chinese characters of a set of fonts need at least 6763 to qualify. More than 9 months. Jewelry design looks complicated, usually male jewelry is relatively simple, not so many diamonds inlaid, there are not so many complex curve shapes, the construction period is very short.
What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
Font design and jewellery design (I will see my jewelry in the future). Because many graphic designers don't understand the meaning of designing their own fonts, they buy or download fonts designed by others, without personality; and their own designed fonts are used in their own work, so that they can be used with other designers who abuse shared fonts. There are obvious differences in the works; in addition, the fonts that you make can also be sold for profit. As for the jewellery design, this is purely for the sake of beauty. When the design is made into a finished product and the model is wearing a catwalk, the sense of satisfaction and honor is not comparable to the graphic design.
What are your future plans? What is next for you?
Continue to participate in the design competition, the number of works, the number and quality of the awards are necessary to join some design associations, the next step to the school to share design methods and experience.
Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
At present, the Latin script is developed on its own; however, the workload of Chinese fonts is very large (more than 7,000 characters). For Chinese fonts, it is hoped that they can find a font company to work together.

Designer of the Day Interview with Chenglong Tao

Could you please tell us about your experience as a designer, artist, architect or creator?
It has been 14 years since I graduated from college to design. Because the city where I live is small, the companies I work for are naturally small. The specialty of my student days was painting, which made it natural to embark on the road of design after graduation.
How did you become a designer?
Because of my hobbies, I started designing just for work, and no one pointed. I rely on my own art foundation, thinking about some new ideas to improve myself in my spare time, and then slowly became an interest. I like to drum up some ideas, not Limited to graphic design and typography, I have tried to design jewelry and small fashion goods since this year, and I have also won many honors.
What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?
Sketching, altering and perfecting sketches on paper; computer open vector software to complete the design of refined flat graphics; if it is a product, jewelry project, finally need to use 3D software to continue modeling and rendering on the previous process; as for the physical model, Preferred 3D printing.
Which emotions do you feel when designing?
When I first started preparing, it was the most difficult, that is, the sketch stage. There will be many possibilities for the same project. I will draw three sketches, one of which will be finished into finished products; after the sketch is completed and perfected on the computer. These two times are the most exciting. The results are recognized for satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. These need to be 100% serious in each step of the creation of the work, to be strict with their own requirements.
What particular aspects of your background shaped you as a designer?
I think it is the foundation of art, because many paintings are not good. After they are engaged in graphic design, their design ability is also bad. Sketch is the basis of modeling ability and the premise of original ability after design. Color sketching is also in design. Great help, because with this premise, at least the design works are very comfortable in color.
What is your growth path? What are your future plans? What is your dream design project?
By the end of next year, I can achieve my milestones: continue to win prizes, produce more good works, join the Graphic Design Association of Shenzhen and the Jewelry Designers Association.
What are your advices to designers who are at the beginning of their career?
There are a lot of people who work on design but don't like the design itself. What they pay more attention to is: How much does this project or work make? For this group of people, many of them have to give up and change their careers without any improvement after working for a few years or less; therefore, the material rewards obtained depend on your own hard power in the industry. Every designer's growth path should be different. New designers should learn their good side, but don't just imitate others and know how to think.
You are truly successful as a designer, what do you suggest to fellow designers, artists and architects?
Any design industry is a test of mental work. It is no harm to take a good look at the outstanding works published by others in the free time, but it is best not to do too many imitations or even plagiarism (the results of works created by others are by his own If you do this often, you will lose your creativity. If you encounter bottlenecks, don't worry. It may be that there is a lack of knowledge in somewhere or somewhere. Please seek breakthroughs in other concerns. In fact, any design has a bottleneck, but the level of height that everyone has reached is different.
What is your day to day look like?
My work is very easy, because I don't go to work, the schedule is very casual, in addition to doing some plane and product design, I will get up and exercise in front of the computer for a long time (do some aerobics, such as cycling and running)
How do you keep up with latest design trends? To what extent do design trends matter?
The trend has a good side and a bad side. The follow-up trend can make it easier to meet the current customer needs, but the trend is constantly changing. After a few years, the things that are done today are displayed, no one appreciates it. Because it was not popular at that time; therefore, in addition to doing business things that follow the trend on a daily basis, individuals also do innovative works that are not influenced by trends, and strive to create a group for a long time. Works that stand the test.
How do you know if a product or project is well designed? How do you define good design?
This design concept can be directly translated into a product that is listed, and the function of the product is targeted to solve the problem. The visual design can also be achieved under the premise of not affecting the function of the product.
How do you decide if your design is ready?
Everything is difficult to get started. First, you have to think a lot of ideas, then draw sketches (you can understand them), and you can record some creative ideas. Then you can select and merge these sketch ideas on paper and make them on the computer. The production process will also encounter some imperfections, and make improvements while slowly making improvements.
What is your biggest design work?
I started out as a graphic designer and did some layout work. I started to study font design in the past three years, and this year I started to do some design for daily use products and jewelry, and I have achieved initial results and honors.
Would you tell us a bit about your lifestyle and culture?
It should be Shenzhen, because it is the design capital of China, where all kinds of design talents come together, designers are easy to communicate, and there are many design exhibitions every year. I am now in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu. The designer's vision and technology in this area are relatively backward. The lack of talents can't be changed for a long time. Because of this, I chose to stay in this small city. Good design requires someone to take the lead in setting an example, and it depends on each designer's own synchronization efforts.
What positive experiences you had when you attend the A’ Design Award?
A' design award, the initial review is free, reducing the risk of blind submission, nominations of more than 6 points, because it is the first time to participate in this kind of competition, after submitting, the initial evaluation of the e-mail reminds which places do not meet the requirements Need to improve, for example: the background can not be black, the display posters of the font works can not appear large-scale text layout, after learning the opinions of the judges, understand the specifications of such competitions.It is very important to participate in the design competition. I myself have progressed in various competitions.

Extended Interview with Chenglong Tao

Could you please tell us about your experience as a designer, artist, architect or creator?
In the middle school era, I majored in art painting. The major in university studies was art decoration design. But after graduation, I did not do the design work in the interior decoration industry, but engaged in graphic design.
How did you become a designer?
At first, I was only able to find a job related to art after graduation, and later became a love. I was willing to take the time to do better with my interest.
What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?
At first, it should be forced. At that time, the family’s economic conditions were not good. After graduation, I was not allowed to engage in painting careers. At first, I even excluded the operation on the computer. At that time, I felt that I felt a sense of accomplishment in painting and painting. After a long time, I have an interest, and finally I like design.
What is your growth path? What are your future plans? What is your dream design project?
The works designed by great designers are beyond the times; the works designed by excellent designers are in line with the current trend, but after a few years, they are out of date.
What are your advices to designers who are at the beginning of their career?
Vision and function must be perfectly integrated. I have seen many competitions held by Yuanxiao in China. The first prize has some ideas, but the specific visual design can't keep up. Even the product styling and the annual typesetting display are very ugly. Not a few, no harsh attitude, the impact is very bad.
You are truly successful as a designer, what do you suggest to fellow designers, artists and architects?
Art works with practical functions, that is, this thing has the aesthetic enjoyment in addition to the use function, this is the good thing everyone should invest.
What is your day to day look like?
Fonts and jewellery design, while Chinese fonts require a lot of time to make. If you have time, I still choose to cooperate with the font company, because the font company has technical support to improve production efficiency.
How do you keep up with latest design trends? To what extent do design trends matter?
A new set of fonts has been taken by a font company, but the other party is a small startup company. The time and rewards for me are very limited. I want to implement a complete set of Chinese title art fonts.
How do you know if a product or project is well designed? How do you define good design?
Others like to watch more, see more natural and think more, but the things that are made have traces of imitation; and my approach is contrary to others, it is ok to see other people's works, but can not imitate, to make Creative ideas that are different from those of others.
How do you decide if your design is ready?
The public number tweets of some merchants in the chat software, which share some works and industry trends every day, but I just look at it, don't imitate it, see if it can improve the horizon, the industry is just tweet can strengthen its professionalism.
Who is your favourite designer?
The pendant design of the Chinese character hollow structure (sorry that this design has not been shown on the line, will be seen in the future), this design has made the Chinese square characters into a hollow three-dimensional structure, simple and without any excessive modification, wearing groups are not limited to men and women gender.
What are your philanthropic contributions to society as a designer, artist and architect?
Keep improving and repeating it, this is my attitude towards design.
What positive experiences you had when you attend the A’ Design Award?
I have no one to guide my growth. Everything depends on my own interests. In the Internet age, I can find information and improve it slowly, instead of stepping into the sky.

Stay Updated with Latest Design News

By clicking Sign-Up, you are opting to receive promotional emails from A' Design Awards, World Design Rankings, World Design Consortium and Designers.Org You can update your preferences or unsubscribe any time.

You are now at the right step

Join Designers.org & Start Promoting Your Design Worldwide.

Create an Account