Interview with Menglin Tian

My love for design could go back to my childhood. At that time, I was deeply attracted by a pretty popular CCTV interior design program called "exchange space". Thanks for my parents' education and support, I am able to gradually transform my love for design into my major and future career. In 2016, I was matriculated into the Bachelor of product design of Jiangnan University, which was one of the most long-standing and famous design institutes in China. During four-year academic life, my studies of core subjects such as materials and technology, product design expression, product design engineering, design management and brand strategy, product design discipline frontier, design psychology, user research played an important role in shaping my understanding of design industry, which enabled me to know how to run and promote the whole process of design and explore some new materials by myself. These systematic design learning and the accumulation of of new materials have laid a solid foundation for my postgraduate journey.

It's poetic, playful and purposeful. I like that design can add happiness to people's lives, and I look forward to people's wow and small surprise smiles when they use my design.

Sometimes you're upset because you have to make sense of all the connections, but sometimes you're happy when you do.It's very rewarding, seeing something that was in your head actually in front of you, being able to touch it, being able to use it, especially if you let someone else use it.

Observation, listening, asking, and pulse-taking（feeling）
These are the four Diagnostic Methods of TCM I learn from my grandparents who are traditional Chinese medicine doctors. They work to improve people's health. I work to improve people's lives. I learned from them how to understand other people's state, how to find problems and find ways to solve problems in an organized way.

I plan to work in a design studio, learn from excellent predecessors and cooperate with them to complete more wonderful designs.

Talk to people in different areas of work. Design is like connectors. If you don't know what to connect, how do you connect them?

Never forget to discuss your project with people, no matter who they are.

I usually do some reading and work during the day and go dancing in the evening. I want to exercise both my brain and my body. Two chocolate chip cookies and a glass of warm milk are my favorites in the morning. They can warm my stomach without making me sleepy. This is something I look forward to every day, and a happy morning is essential for a good start to the day.

I like to get to know what everyone is doing sometimes. It often gives me inspiration and understands many aspects of the world. Especially in various exhibitions, I can see and touch what others are studying and making up close. It's imaginative and inspiring.

Whether it solves a problem, whether it comes into the world responsibly.

Design is always an iterative process.

I like Creaon best. It breaks down the problems found with short-lived plastic toys and responds to the problems one by one.

Fernando Laposse
Sisal, a byproduct of the original Mexican tequila production, was once widely used to make fishing nets and rope. However, it was abandoned because of the heavy use of plastic. Fernando presents this material and its traditional production techniques through a design that supports local employment and helps restore the plant as native vegetation to be replanted in large quantities to help stabilize the soil and help restore the ecology of the local environment that has been overfarmed.

I currently live in London, where different handicrafts are valued and appreciated. This makes my design pay more attention to the combination of craft and how to make the traditional craft shine again in the new era.

I am a good team player and I am very happy to cooperate with others. I am good at completing tasks with others and try my best to contribute to the team.

The designer, so to speak, is the door of an object to this world. Objects go into people's lives through designers. On the one hand, we should be full of creativity, innovation and foresight, on the other hand, we should shoulder the responsibility for the environment and society.

It gives me more chances to be seen.

My love for design could go back to my childhood. At that time, I was deeply attracted by a pretty popular CCTV interior design program called "exchange space". Thanks to my parents' education and support, I am able to gradually transform my love for design into my major and future career. In 2016, I matriculated for the Bachelor of product design of Jiangnan University, which was one of the most long-standing and famous design institutes in China. During four-year academic life, my studies of core subjects such as materials and technology, product design expression, product design engineering, design management and brand strategy, product design discipline frontier, design psychology, user research played an important role in shaping my understanding of design industry, which enabled me to know how to run and promote the whole process of design and explore some new materials by myself. These systematic design learning and the accumulation of new materials have laid a solid foundation for my postgraduate journey.

It's poetic, playful and purposeful. I like that design can add happiness to people's lives, and I look forward to people's wow and small surprise smiles when they use my design.

Never forget to discuss your project with people, no matter who they are.

Whether it solves a problem, whether it comes into the world responsibly.

I worked with two of my college classmates to set up a small studio since I graduated from college.Our business provides graphic design, product design, packaging design, IP image design to meet customers' needs.At the same time, as a design studio, we also produce some works representing our own ideas, such as products and designer toys. We are committed to exploring the beauty of life, drawing inspiration from daily life, and creating life-oriented and poetic products.We hope to convey beauty and loveliness to more people in a more interesting and playful way.

"Design" is like a connector, connecting different elements and making things work better together.

I like to focus on materials and traditional techniques and ancient wisdom. I'm passionate about solving problems in creative, poetic and interesting ways. My design works are often based on these points.

Sisal Table-Made from Agave Leaves， Designer： Fernando Laposse
Sisal, a byproduct of the original Mexican tequila production, was once widely used to make fishing nets and rope. However, it was abandoned because of the heavy use of plastic. Fernando presents this material and its traditional production techniques through a design that supports local employment and helps restore the plant as native vegetation to be replanted in large quantities to help stabilize the soil and help restore the ecology of the local environment that has been overfarmed.

I once designed designer toy figures for a company that did research on traditional gourd culture.

I like materials that are flexible and environmentally friendly best. Wax, clay, milk, chocolate, etc. Magic is born when one material can achieve multiple states. It can inspire many kinds of ideas. Whether it's the product or the food.

At night, I like to start designing when it is quiet. The dark environment and a little sound outside the window can help me concentrate and immerse myself in the unrestrained imagination world. Plus, you need to do your research during the day while people are still open.

The end of the product's life, I hope the end of the product can be in an environmentally friendly way.

Sometimes you're upset because you have to make sense of all the connections, but sometimes you're happy when you do.

It's very rewarding, seeing something that was in your head actually in front of you, being able to touch it, being able to use it, especially if you let someone else use it.

Consider the whole process of a design, before it, during it and after it.

Whether it solves a problem, whether it comes into the world responsibly.

The designer, so to speak, is the door of an object to this world. Objects go into people's lives through designers. On the one hand, we should be full of creativity, innovation and foresight, on the other hand, we should shoulder the responsibility for the environment and society.

For me, designing the future is based on and looking back at what we have and thinking about what we can do with it.

My last show was at London Design Week. I hope to be able to exhibit again in 2023.

Take a walk outside. Taking a walk outside can help clear your mind and be inspired by what's happening and what's out there. I often go to various exhibitions for inspiration.

It's poetic, playful and purposeful. I like that design can add happiness to people's lives, and I look forward to people's wow and small surprise smiles when they use my design.

I currently live in London, where different handicrafts are valued and appreciated. This makes my design pay more attention to the combination of craft and how to make the traditional craft shine again in the new era.

I am currently working as a freelance independent designer.

I hope all departments can understand each other's work better and sit down together.

I like to put everything I've researched in miro and sort it all out. After identifying the problem and the method, it is the same again.

My mouse, it's light and silent

My mug. It's got a big, roomy handle

My plant shelf, it can fold this

My chopsticks are made of materials of moderate size and are easy to pick up

My Chinese knife. It's the right weight to slap the garlic

I usually do some reading and work during the day and go dancing in the evening. I want to exercise my brain and my body.

Never forget to discuss your project with people, no matter who they are.

Designers are like dancers in chains. We have many things to create, and we are bound by many things. But isn't bondage a ladder of progress?

Whether it can make people smile.

Think outside the box.

Quick drying clay. I often use clay to make my ideas quickly and test them further.

Instead of thinking about my design all the time, I usually spend half a day researching and exploring and writing it down for review the next day.

About two months.

You need to look critically at your design and iterate on it.

As an independent designer, you have to deal with many sides alone.

Various. I provide design services for different clients.

I enjoy designing with traditional materials and crafts, and I want to make them valued again so that these treasures can find their place and shine in a new era.

I plan to work in a design studio, learn from excellent predecessors and cooperate with them to complete more wonderful designs.

I am currently working solo on my designs.

I am currently working on my personal project: SEAL designer toys, in which I hope to collaborate with people who recycle waste plastic in the ocean.

Please contact me through my email: menglintian.design@gmail.com