Press Release
Serpentine Seasons Animated Video by Leijing Zhou Wins the A' Design Award in Generative, Algorithmic, Parametric and AI-Assisted Design
Leijing Zhou honored for generative, algorithmic, parametric and ai-assisted design by the international grand jury of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 18, 2025 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the A' Design Award in the Generative, Algorithmic, Parametric and AI-Assisted Design category for Serpentine Seasons Animated Video by Leijing Zhou, designed for Zhejiang University. The recognition forms part of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the A' Design Award
The Iron A' Design Award is awarded to good designs that meet the rigorous professional and industrial standards set by the A' Design Awards. This recognition is reserved for works that demonstrate a solid understanding of design principles and show creativity within their execution. Recipients of the Iron A' Design Award are acknowledged for their practical innovations and contributions to their respective fields, providing solutions that improve quality of life and foster positive change. These designs are a testament to the skill and dedication of their creators, showcasing their ability to address real-world challenges through thoughtful design.
About Serpentine Seasons Animated Video
Serpentine Seasons is an animated video created with artificial intelligence. The work retells the Chinese legend of the White Snake through the 24 Solar Terms, a traditional system for marking the year. Each part of the six minute video is linked to one solar term, and the scenes change as the seasons move forward. The images were produced with text to video generation and style transfer, which keep an Eastern visual style. Serpentine Seasons shows how artificial intelligence can present cultural heritage through digital storytelling.
About Leijing Zhou
She has studied in the UK, the Netherlands and Singapore for many years. Her research direction is human-computer interaction and intelligent design. She has won more than 10 Red dot design awards, IF design awards etc. and published nearly 10 international journals and papers. She has participated in organizing the world industrial design conference, the world ecological design conference and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization ecological design leading class as the core personnel.
Award Record
Leijing Zhou is a winner of 9 A' Design Awards, including this recognition. The awards were granted between the 2022 - 2023 and the 2024 - 2025 editions of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Generative, Algorithmic, Parametric and AI-Assisted Design Award
The A' Generative Design Award is an international design competition recognizing good generative designs from leading creators and designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to generative designers, algorithmic design professionals, ai-assisted design experts and parametric designers from all countries. Typical entries include algorithmic artworks, parametric architectures, generative graphics, ai-assisted illustrations, computational sculptures and procedural patterns. The awarded generative designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/generative
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/172658
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/172658
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!172658
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/112694
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Serpentine Seasons Animated Video
- Function
- Animated Video
- Category
- Generative, Algorithmic, Parametric and AI-Assisted Design
- Discipline
- Design Strategy
- Industry
- Innovation and Design Industry
- Colors
- White, White Smoke, Light Gray, Dark Gray and Silver
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Zhejiang University
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Leijing Zhou
- Country
- China
- Recognition
- A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2024 - 2025
- Design ID
- #172658
Credits
- Team
- Xiaotong Guan, Xinmiao Shen, Xiaofei Gong, Menghan Li, Jinjie Li, Qianyi Wang and Zihan Zhang
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- This AI-generated video integrates the legendary White Snake with the 24 Solar Terms, creating a unique fusion of Chinese mythology and traditional timekeeping. Utilizing advanced AI visual synthesis, the design captures the poetic rhythm of nature, presenting dynamic seasonal transitions through the lens of folklore. Its innovation lies in blending cultural heritage with cutting-edge technology, offering an immersive and visually stunning interpretation of time and transformation.
- Inspiration
- Inspired by the legend of the White Snake and the 24 Solar Terms, this project seeks to explore the intersection of mythology, nature, and time. Drawing from traditional Chinese philosophy, it visualizes seasonal transformations through AI-generated imagery, merging folklore with technology. Rooted in research on computational creativity and cultural storytelling, this work reinterprets ancient narratives using modern digital techniques, offering a novel perspective on tradition and innovation.
- Research
- Type of Research: Design Research Research Objectives: To explore how AI can be used to reimagine traditional folklore in a contemporary digital medium. Methodology: A combination of AI video generation, style transfer, and cultural analysis was employed to develop the design. Data Collection and Research Tools: AI modeling software, video editing tools, and cultural research databases. Participants or Experiments: The research involved collaboration with digital artists and AI specialists. Results: A seamless integration of traditional folklore with modern AI technology, creating an immersive digital experience.
- Challenge
- The main challenge lay in blending traditional cultural narratives with cutting-edge AI technology. Balancing the integrity of the White Snake legend with the technical demands of AI-driven storytelling required careful cultural research and innovative thinking. External challenges included limited AI tools capable of translating the complexity of seasonal transitions into a cohesive narrative, while internal obstacles involved aligning the visual and emotional tone of the project with the original folklore’s themes of love and transformation.
- Realization and Technology
- We adopt the technologies of Text-to-Video and Style Transfer to ensure that the images not only possess Eastern aesthetics but also conform to the characteristics of the solar terms. The AI tools we use include Midjourney (text-to-image) and runway (image-to-video), among others.
- Operation and Interaction
- The video flows in a nonlinear narrative, where the White Snake interacts with the changing seasons represented by the 24 Solar Terms. As the seasons progress, the environment adapts, with the character's emotions and actions shifting in response to the natural world. The interaction between AI and cultural symbols enhances the depth of storytelling, offering viewers an evolving experience where each transition aligns with the thematic shifts of the Solar Terms.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in October 2024 in China and finished in March 2025 in China.
- Specifications
- This is a digital video project with no physical dimensions. It is optimized for standard video display formats, including 4K resolution. The video duration is approximately 6 minutes, with each section aligning with a specific Solar Term, seamlessly transitioning between them. The project utilizes AI-driven video generation, ensuring smooth integration of the cultural narrative and seasonal shifts, tailored for presentation on digital platforms and multimedia exhibitions.
- Keywords
- AIGC, White Snake, 24 Solar Terms, Chinese culture, folklore, generative art, digital storytelling, seasonal transitions, style transfer, cultural innovation
