Interviews with Zhenyang Yan

Our design concept stems from our care and love for cats. We care not only about their physical health as owners but also their happiness as friends. Inspired by their natural behavior of scratching furniture, we wondered if we could create an environment where they could happily scratch a canvas and create a picture.

During the design process, our primary focus was on creating an exceptional experience for cats while ensuring the product itself exudes a high-quality feel and seamlessly integrates into warm home environments. To achieve these goals, we undertook a rigorous design process that involved extensive testing and experimentation: We conducted thorough research and testing to identify the most suitable materials for the scratching surface, we created various prototypes to determine the optimal angle for the surface, we also employed techniques like wood heat bending to achieve a unique and stylish form factor.

we're collaborating closely with manufacturers to refine the production process, aiming to bring this innovative scratching board to market in the near future. We believe in the power of user feedback to refine and enhance our designs. Once Catvas hits the market, we eagerly anticipate gathering feedback from users, both cat owners and their feline companions. Their insights will be invaluable in assessing the product's effectiveness and identifying areas for further improvement.

The development of Catvas, our innovative scratching board, has taken approximately one year, encompassing the initial concept, detailed design, prototype validation, and ongoing discussions with manufacturers to finalize the production process.

Driven by a shared love for animals, our team embarked on a journey to create innovative pet products that enhance the lives of both pets and their owners. Catvas, our scratching board, exemplifies this commitment, combining functionality with aesthetic appeal.

As mentioned above, we are contacting manufacturers ourselves for production, and we want to establish our own pet furniture brand, livelyhood.

Our team is comprised of professionals with backgrounds in design or engineering, and we aspire to bring about changes with our professional expertise.

Our target customers are those who view their cats as true companions, going beyond basic care to understand and respect their feline friends' unique needs and behaviors. These individuals are passionate about enriching their cats' lives, fostering a deep bond that transcends the traditional pet-owner dynamic. Livelyhood is dedicated to serving this discerning clientele with products that not only enhance physical well-being but also nurture the emotional connection between cats and their humans.

Livelyhood elevates scratching boards from mere pet necessities to stylish home décor accents. Our innovative design combines affordability with aesthetics, featuring replaceable canvases that transform into wall art when their scratching surface wears out.

"Catvas" cleverly blends "cat" and "canvas," perfectly capturing the product's dual functionality as a feline scratching surface and a customizable art piece. Its playful nature appeals to cat owners who value creativity and humor.

I have a bachelor's degree in Product Design at Wuhan University of Technology and a master's degree in Design Innovation and Service Design at The Glasgow School of Art, UK.

During my childhood, I used to go to my father's factory and watch various products being transformed from parts to complete products that can be actually used by users in their daily lives - this process made me interested in the process of designing and creating objects, and was one of the initial motivations for me to become a designer.

I thought I would be a designer when I was very young.

Honestly not having a specific category is more my preference, and as a designer I'm naturally interested in being exposed to all sorts of new things. Recently I am interested in pet product design.

Maintain a passion for life and get used to observing, reflecting and questioning all routines.

Good designers design products that fulfill people's needs, and great designers design products that create needs people aren't realize and make those needs into new norms.

In my opinion, good design don't have and shouldn't have certain criterias. When the issue the design is trying to communicate is really understood and recognized by its audience, It is a good design in some way.

Good design has the potential to shape people's lives, balancing commercial, technological and human factors in the creation of products and guiding society towards a friendlier, more sustainable future.

I want to design interesting products that bring more emotional value to people. It doesn't necessarily need to have a very strong function.

I hope to have the opportunity to design some public art installations that can become widely acclaimed works in the city and contribute to the cultural atmosphere of society.

Observe life in detail, and translate the inspiration found into ideas in a timely manner. Don’t wait until you have a so-called perfect solution in mind before taking action.

Thomas Heatherwick, Samuel Ross, Benjamin Hubert.

I recently love the Slump Furniture Series designed by Paul Cocksedge. He makes use of the physical characteristics of natural objects and translates them into every day products, a novel perspective - exploring the extent to which humans can intervene in shaping the products through natural objects.

The work I'm most proud of at the moment is Catvas. It plays a new role in the space of human-pet symbiosis, exploring the topic of how people and animals can co-create their common living space.

Keep three principles in mind at all times while working: empathize, question, and then keep iterating.

Possibly an engineer.

Design means the process of stepping out of the comfort zone and constantly searching for the best answer as well as new questions. Although the so-called best answer will be constantly changing and adjusting with the development of time, technology, and humanities, what is important is the process, isn't it?

Family members, school professors, as well as mentors and peers I encountered in my life and work all have been helping me and shaping me as the designer I am today.

I shouldn't be considered a design master yet haha, but I think the biggest obstacle is settling into a comfort zone and then rejecting new ideas.

Don't be afraid to be the 'fool' who isn't understood, and be brave enough to publish your work on various design platforms to reach the greatest possible AUDIENCES, even if those works aren't perfect or in process for a while.

I am planning to design a series of consumer products and furnitures called 'The Live Things' that can bring a new perspective to the industry in terms of both form and function definition.

My ultimate goal is that being able to INSPIRE the whole design industry and seeing it go in a certain direction because of my influence.

The ability to break down stereotypes and shape new norms.

Designers should be responsible for the ideas expressed in their work as well as the way their work is being created, because after every piece of work is created, it has the potential to affect others in some way as a stimulus. Therefore, designers should stand on a more universal perspective and try to create designs that can make the whole society better.

Because the market for pet products has grown so much recently, more and more young people are getting pets. Against this backdrop, exploring new human-pet relationships is a topic that interests me these days.

Few days ago I designed a new form of Bluetooth headset. I explored new ways of product interaction in that project, and it was a very enjoyable and satisfying process to have the project produced and used by many people.

I hope that through the development of AI tools, more and more people who were not able to participate in design process due to the lack of various hardcore skills (e.g. hand-drawing, modeling, etc.) will have the opportunity to express their IDEAS and present them to others. Because in the design process, I always believe that the idea itself is the most valuable asset.

The design activity should be moving in the direction of democratization, where all people can participate.

Usually 6 months to a year.

Think about the most essential need and logic of this project and try to question it.

Don't be afraid of being foolish, Always try to question the norms.

I think it is a mutual process.

Technology is always the method of achieving a goal, not the goal itself.

Hand sketch, 3D modeling software like Rhino and Grasshopper, Rendering software like Keyshot and of course 3D printer.

They are important parts of a design, and sometimes thinking about colors and materials alone can in turn inspire me to think about the whole product design.

I want people to be interested in how I come up with these IDEAs and how I make decisions in the process - I would love to spend the whole day to explain to them.

How do they come up with these concepts and what thinking do they go through during the design process?

A partner who is willing to seek common ground while reserving differences. I think being able to co-design with others is a very important skill.

Benjamin Hubert once published a book named after his studio called LAYER. Many of the experiences and ideas in this book really INSPIRED me.

I think it's Steve Jobs.

I've always believed that awards are a natural part of the process, not an end. Whether or not designers become famous is not because of awards, but because their work really affects a lot of people. In a sense, that's indeed difficult.

Blue, Iceland, Watermellon, Autumn, B&O and its products.

Definitely obvious. I know what kind of people I wanna be in a very young age.

I have a dual background in industrial design and service design, and for me, design means questioning the norm because sometimes what everyone takes for granted isn’t necessarily the best state. As a designer, this identity has always driven me to practice this principle.

Our company is not a for-profit organization, at least for now - all partners are motivated by pure love and want to create innovative designs that bring insights to the industry, inspiring others and even ourselves to some extent.

Design means the process of stepping out of the comfort zone and constantly searching for the best answer as well as new questions. Although the so-called best answer will be constantly changing and adjusting with the development of time, technology, and humanities, what is important is the process, isn't it?

Honestly not having a specific category is more my preference, and as a designer I'm naturally interested in being exposed to all sorts of new things.

I think it was a consumer electronic product called TWS earphone, one of the smallest products I have ever designed in my career.

I'm a big fan of 3D printing, and I think it's a technology that not only broadens the possibilities of design, but it also democratizes the whole manufacturing thing - more people or small companies have access to manufacturing, which was previously a very high-barrier-to-entry industry. If 3D printing matures to the point where the cost of mass production is very low, that could be a very exciting future.

Every time when I am exposed to some different culture.

I focus more on whether the design addresses a previously unsolved or undiscovered problem in a more innovative way.

Immersive or what I called the emotion of Into The Flow.

When the issue the design is trying to communicate is really understood and recognized by its audience, It will be successful in some way.

Whether the idea that the design wants to express can really reach and inspire the whole industry, and whether its designers have presented it perfectly and realized it.

Designers should be responsible for the ideas expressed in their work as well as the way their work is being created, because after every piece of work is created, it has the potential to affect others in some way as a stimulus. Therefore, designers should stand on a more universal perspective and try to create designs that can make the whole society better.

The object of design must be increasingly blurred in the future. Just as in the past, product design may refer only to physical products. But now, the boundaries of product design have been extended to digital products and even to service systems in the future.

Most of my inspiration comes from phenomena that I have observed and thought about in my own interactions with the world. I think this sensitivity to my surroundings creates my sensitivity to design.

I don't like to define my design to a specific design style.

I live in China, but In my view, the dimension that designers have to think about is naturally cross-cultural. Designers need to constantly look for inspiration from new cultural contexts and try to integrate it. Being stuck in a certain cultural environment is not conducive to the development of design as a whole.

I usually emphasize the importance of teamwork and practice it myself.

I think a company should give its designers enough tolerance to allow them to make some seemingly stupid mistakes to a certain extent, because it is this so-called stupidity that is most likely to create the most interesting designs.

It can be summarized in three words: question, empathize and iterate.

Let me describe an ideal or typical day (though not every day): I usually wake up and browse the latest design and industry news, then in the morning I think about some design problems I've encountered and come up with potential solutions, then in the afternoon I try to build some models to test and validate the problems and discuss them with my team.

Don't be afraid to be thought of as a fool or a lunatic when it comes to design. It is this kind of persistence or exploration that ordinary people can't understand that is the designer's most valuable asset.

It is easy for designers to be too idealistic when doing things, resulting in ignoring some objective constraints, which, although well-intentioned, can easily lead to slower project efficiency in a real business environment.

Dare to break the rule.

Critical thinking.

Hand sketch, 3D modeling software like Rhino and Grasshopper, Rendering software like Keyshot and of course 3D printer.

Regarding to this topic - I think I am really bad at managing time and usually I don't have a solid schedule that lists all the details but doing project a bit more improvisedly within a rough storyline.

Usually 6 months to a year. Depending on what objects it is and what is the scope for that project.

Should designers guide users or cater to them when designing products?

When I see every product I designed successfully launched and used by real users.

Designs that break the existing status quo of the industry are what I appreciate the most. Because design means exploration, and sticking to the rules will only make a field slowly lose its vitality.

I plan to be able to design products in the future that are recognized by the general public and become indispensable for everyday life.

I usually work with a team that has people from different background. And I love to provide them with my unique expertise as a professional designer.

I am planning to design a series of consumer products and furnitures called 'The Live Things' that can bring a new perspective to the industry in terms of both form and function definition.

They can contact me via my email: yanzhenyang.design@gmail.com