Interview with Ming-Li Chang

My journey as a designer started from when I was still going to school in Shanghai. The cultural contrast and differences I saw from rural areas of China, to Shanghai, to Taiwan, to the US made me understand the importance of bridging cultural gaps through objects and spaces that can be designed. I was lead towards to direction of furniture and fixtures right after graduating from ArtCenter College of Design in 2021 and working under Cory Grosser and Associates.

My decisions are based on taking insights to ideate concepts that have a clean, approachable aesthetic without being overcomplicated. By illustrating convincing narratives, I want to bring ideas to life in a way that others might say “I could’ve done that”.

Designs feeling familiar and approachable with subtle details to appreciate is really important for me. I hope that My designs feel comfortable and friendly while I am designing them and when people see them.

A narrative and philosophy that I have stuck with since introducing my design works to the world is about the phrase “made in China”. China has thousands of years of craftsmanship and artistry rooted in many different cultures and also vastly diverse, yet the rapidly growing industrial and manufacturing landscape has stamped a negative connotation behind the phrase “made in China”.

As I continue to develop my own designs, it is a goal of mine to play a part, no matter how big or small, but a part of the puzzle that defines what modern Chinese design is. Perhaps, eventually to create a platform for other young Chinese designer like me to create objects that help contribute to the new wave of quality Chinese designs. Starting with myself. To embrace and to be inspired by the rich history of craftsmanship and arts, to move things forward, and not just to copy paste traditional elements and “echo” the past. To redefine what “made in China” means.

In school we learned to solve problems. As the classes stacked on each other, we thought we had to design products and spaces that solved all of the worlds problems. After a couple years out of school I realized that, back in undergrad school we designed “Swiss army knives”. It has a lot of what you want, but none of it really works. Over the years I have to keep reminding myself to not design “Swiss army knives”.

Find what part of design is most rewarding for you emotionally. I am still traversing the space to find that for myself, but that immediate gratification of when you feel that what you are doing is rewarding is so important.

My day to day involves a lot of what "Shanghai-ers" call "city walking". I like to people watch and observe the things around me to find inspiration. When I am working on projects, I take my time and I like to be alone figuring out all aspects of my own work.

I like to keep up with the trends and understand new tools. I feel that I am a fast learner of new tools. We talk a lot about artificial intelligence in design, but a lot of the opinions are negative. I believe that with the ever-growing tech, media, and AI space, people will only be more sensitive towards good design. Design will be more on the demand as it is becoming more and more common for people to be able to realize the possibilities of design through the internet and AI. Artificial intelligence brings exposure to art and design in a new light, and hopefully, people’s sensibility towards well-designed objects will change over the years.

I think good design can tell its own story and convey its own emotions but in the same time allows the audience to find their own emotions and stories within the design. Good design should last a life time for the user.

I think my designs are never "ready". I feel like there is always something more I want to do with my design, but in the same time that means my design is successful because good designs should allow for more conversations and opportunities.

I like to discover my heritage through furniture and spatial design with projects like a Chinese independent movie and art space called “The Luminary” and a Ming dynasty-inspired guest chair called “Lotus.” I also like to explore areas and phenomenon that intrigue me, such as the “Namti” side table inspired by a bridge structure stuck between a valley in Southern China.

My favorite designer right now is Kengo Kuma. Recently, I have read a lot about Kuma and his approach towards understanding cultural context to play with materials in his designs.

I travel a lot. From the bustling streets of Shanghai, to the relaxed drives in Los Angeles, to the busy walkways of New York, the rhythm and pace of my lifestyle is constantly changing. That constant change in cadence is something that keeps me going.

As a designer, I am a divergent thinker who approaches the decision-making process through trial and error, finding value in every idea. Decisions are based on taking insights to ideate concepts that have a clean, approachable aesthetic without being overcomplicated.

During my travels I like to help out, from traveling to Malawi and helping with the local schools, to teaching kids english in rural areas of China. I have also taught as an educator in the college art portfolio space in Shanghai.

I think the benefits of participating in A'Design Awards is the exposure, the feedback, and connections. These are things that designers should always constantly be on the look out for and A'Design provides a deep rooted platform for finding these aspects of running a design business.

I have always put a lot of thought into what it means for me to be a Chinese designer in this era and what I can do to help contribute to the design world while pushing forward the messages and stories behind Chinese design. There's a lot of negativity around the term "made in China". Growing up in China around craftsman, I think there's a lot of stories to be told and a lot of misunderstanding that can be rewritten about Chinese craftsmanship.

I chose to become a designer. Like a lot of other peers, my parents sat me down many times to question if I wanted to work in the medical field. Even when I expressed my interest in design, they pushed me to get into the medical design industry. I have always stood my ground in what I believed in and what I wanted to achieve with design, hopefully it gets easier down the road.

With my work experience, a lot of design has went into furniture. I hope to work more with lighting and experiential spaces. My goal is to design a restaurant or gallery space soon.

I am still very much a young designer looking to make a name for myself, but with the little experience I have I always tell myself to not try and solve too many problems with one design.

I think a great designer could create pieces that speak for themselves. Great designers can craft spaces or furniture that can tell its own story with out someone there to explain it.

I think really good design allows the audience to immerse themselves emotionally in a way that helps develop a sentimental connection with the designed objects that they are interacting with.

The value of good design is the emotional qualities that one can have in their lives. I think living with good design helps you understand your space better. Living with good design also helps elevate your memories and senses associated with spaces.

I would love to one day design for a company like Stellar Works, where there is so much detail and effort put into understanding the craftsmanship behind building a really high quality pieces of furniture.

A dream project of mine is to design a resort. Something about a getaway space that has its own sense of time and energy is so fascinating to me.

My secret ingredient is people watching. I think understanding emotions and how people interact with design and how people interact with each other through design is so important.

Recently, I have been very fascinated with the work of Kengo Kuma. It is so inspiring to read about his understanding about cultural context and the importance of delivering a type of ambience related to site specific cultural meaning through his use of materials.

Some of my favorite designers recently are Kengo Kuma and Neri&Hu. I think they have such great understanding of culture and time. Their effort and thought behind the meaning of a space existing at the time and location that it is built is so admirable.

To me my greatest design has yet to come. I think there is still so much for me to grow and learn from my peers and others in the space.

I think one step that I took into helping myself understand design better is to not try and solve too many problems with one single piece of design.

A chef or restauranteur, I have always been in love with food and the processes behind creating food.

Design for me is a vehicle to bring forth emotions through stories.

Other than my parents, my instructors and peers around me have been my greatest supporters. I am so lucky to be in a community of young designers that help each other to reach greater heights. I also had the wonderful opportunity to learn and grow under LA based designer, Cory Grosser.

I think growing up around people who cared about design and craftsmanship really helped me develop the eye for design.

Like I said earlier, I still have a bit to go before I consider myself a "master", but I think understanding feedback and criticism has been one of the reoccurring obstacles in this journey.

I think no matter how designers present their work, it has to be done with confidence. With social media, it is so much easier to have your design for exposed to the masses but it is also important to understand that there is no designed object in the world that is unanimously liked by everyone.

I am currently working on a ceramic lamp with a lot of character. I am so excited to debut it in June this year at Design Shanghai.

My ultimate goal as a designer is to be able to share my designs and stories with my friends and family through meaningful ways.

I am not quite sure what people expect from me actually, but I do know that i expect myself to build and create objects that people love.

I think design can help shape and influence a lot of how people live and interact with others and the things around them. Design can help develop habits that make us better as a community.

I am currently working on developing a ceramic table lamp that delivers an aesthetic and story that is very personal to my upbringing.

I have yet to be extremely satisfied with any of my projects, to me there is always something missing, something I can do more. I do think this is a good think that helped motivate me.

I think design is currently at the forefront of many conversations, and that will only continue to grow in the next decade. We talk a lot about artificial intelligence in design, but a lot of the opinions are negative. I believe that with the ever-growing tech, media, and AI space, people will only be more sensitive towards good design.

Design will be more on the demand as it is becoming more and more common for people to be able to realize the possibilities of design through the internet and AI. Artificial intelligence brings exposure to art and design in a new light, and hopefully, people’s sensibility towards well-designed objects will change over the years. I believe that the younger generation will grow up being more exposed to beautiful objects and spaces through the internet and will have a stronger sensibility for aesthetics. We are already seeing a fast-changing design landscape in east Asian countries just through the fact that young professionals are able to fulfill their design curiosities with their own growing income.

I think a piece of design can be worked on a tweaked for years and years, but it comes to a point where you have to show the world your design. For me, that is usually around two to three months.

A lot of sketches, random sketches, is where I start with all my projects.

My motto I think is to bring people together through the warmth of design.

I think its definitely both happening at the same time and there is no right or wrong answer, it just depends on which end of the spectrum you are on as a designer.

Technology is always a tool, just a tool. I am a fast learner, and like all tools you can learn to use them in a way that helps deliver your story. I always see technology as a bag of tools to reach into when crafting a piece of design, it is important to understand which tool to use when and where.

I use a lot of everything from Adobe software, to Solidworks, to Rhino, to Keyshot, and even Unreal Engine.

Very important, the decisions behind color and materials contribute to the ambience that your design creates.

I hope that people can see my designs and ask questions like what the details are trying to say.

I always think about what was the story and process behind the development of certain details in the design.

While I do believe in co-design, I tend to work a lot on my own. Being able to sit down and think to myself over pieces of drawings is such an important part of my process.

My mentor, Cory Grosser, taught me so much not just about design but also what it means to be a designer.

100 Whites by Kenya Hara with his understanding emptiness really influenced the way I think about aesthetics.

I am always observing, looking around, poking at details, and learning through them. Design exists everywhere, and it is important to take in the details of design decisions being made around the world.

I.M. Pei, I would love to have a long conversation with I.M. Pei.

I definitely don't think I'm famous, but I am so appreciative of the recognition.

Favorite color is blue, favorite place is Shanghai, favorite food is rice noodles, favorite season is the fall, favorite thing is my camera, and favorite brand I think is Uniqlo.

A funny thing I experienced as a designer is my first time speaking in front of a large audience. I remember being so nervous that afterwards I thought that I had peed myself.

What makes my day is seeing something in the world that reminds me of a design idea that I had and appreciating the beauty of it.

Since I was four years old, there is this building in downtown Shanghai, where every time we passed by it in a car I would say, "I built that". To me, that shows my interest in design since I was at a very young age.

The idea that our designs become relics and artifacts of the future has always fascinated me. I hope that one day great designs of today can be studied and examined by people in the future.

I hope that people can just appreciate and love the designs that I create and I am so thankful for the support and recognition that I am recieving.

Based in Los Angeles and Shanghai with an upbringing in Taiwan and Yunnan, Ming-Li looks to bring diversity of thought and cultural interpretation to push the definition of new Chinese design. From designing furniture, fixtures, lighting, to spaces, Ming-Li creates objects and experiences that are oddly purposeful. Each decision is based on taking insights to ideate concepts that have a clean, approachable aesthetic without being overcomplicated. By illustrating convincing narratives through details in design choices, Ming wishes to craft approachable experiences in a way that others might say “I could’ve done that”.

Design to me is a way bridge gaps and bring people together. Through approachable ideas and forms that spark conversations, design is a way to communicate beyond languages and cultural barriers.

I like design works that are related to my culture and works that can help translate my cultural understanding for the masses to see and appreciate.

A moment of design that stuck with me as a young child is Neri and Hu's Waterhouse project located near the Bund in Shanghai. The project was able to turn a cruel piece of history to something open and warm for people to meet friends and family. They were also able to do this while maintaining so many historical details and artifacts. The emotions behind this design really impacted me as a child.

The first thing I actually designed was actually graphic design for a restaurant. Working with menus, logotype, and signage, it was a different area of design but it got me interested into designing for the restaurant space.

My favorite material to work with right now is ceramics. I have been diving deeper and deeper into ceramic history in China and specifically Jingdezhen. Everything about the possibilities of ceramics is fascinating.

I feel the most creative when I am observing and people watching in all parts of the world.

Growing up in a culturally diverse community, I have always wondered what I could provide to the industry as a young Chinese designer. I have a deep respect for my culture’s rich heritage and craftsmanship and I see design as a way to change the narrative.

Designs feeling familiar and approachable with subtle details to appreciate is really important for me. I hope that My designs feel comfortable and friendly while I am designing them and when people see them.

I feel satisfied but also extremely curious. I am extremely curious about what else I can do and how I can push the narrative of my design even further.

I think design is successful when it is emotionally rewarding. Emotionally rewarding for both the designer and the audience.

I like to consider whether if the design is easy to understand. That doesn't mean complicated designs are bad, a complicated design can still be approachable and easy to understand.

For me, designers should be able to utilize design as a tool to bring people together and start meaningful conversations. As we have further conversations about sustainability, it is also important for design to be a way to ask questions. It is important to question how and what we are doing and if there is a better way to do it.

I think design is currently at the forefront of many conversations, and that will only continue to grow in the next decade. We talk a lot about artificial intelligence in design, but a lot of the opinions are negative. I believe that with the ever-growing tech, media, and AI space, people will only be more sensitive towards good design. Design will be more on the demand as it is becoming more and more common for people to be able to realize the possibilities of design through the internet and AI. Artificial intelligence brings exposure to art and design in a new light, and hopefully, people’s sensibility towards well-designed objects will change over the years. I believe that the younger generation will grow up being more exposed to beautiful objects and spaces through the internet and will have a stronger sensibility for aesthetics. We are already seeing a fast-changing design landscape in east Asian countries just through the fact that young professionals are able to fulfill their design curiosities with their own growing income.

My last exhibition was ICFF and Design Shanghai of 2023 and this year I will be returning to Design Shanghai with my own booth and a brand new design in the Talents area.

I like to people watch and observe the things around me to find inspiration. I also find a lot of my inspiration from the cultural contrast and differences I have experience as a child that was familiar with multiple cultures and languages.

My decisions are based on taking insights to ideate concepts that have a clean, approachable aesthetic without being overcomplicated. By illustrating convincing narratives, I want to bring ideas to life in a way that others might say “I could’ve done that”.

I currently live in the Los Angeles area in California, USA. To me this city is a melting pot of people that are all so familiar with cultural differences around the world. My heritage of growing up in Shanghai with a family background in southern China does heavily influence my ideas.

A good designer working with a company should be able to be expressive with their own voice while still satisfying the needs of a client.

My decisions are based on taking insights to ideate concepts that have a clean, approachable aesthetic without being overcomplicated. By illustrating convincing narratives, I want to bring ideas to life in a way that others might say “I could’ve done that”.

Tea ware from Jingdezhen, table light from flos, a thrifted foldable chair, audio-techinica record player, and my entire wardrobe of clothes.

My day to day involves a lot of what "Shanghai-ers" call "city walking". I like to people watch and observe the things around me to find inspiration. When I am working on projects, I take my time and I like to be alone figuring out all aspects of my own work.

In school we learned to solve problems. As the classes stacked on each other, we thought we had to design products and spaces that solved all of the worlds problems. After a couple years out of school I realized that, back in undergrad school we designed “Swiss army knives”. It has a lot of what you want, but none of it really works. Over the years I have to keep reminding myself to not design “Swiss army knives”.

Positives of being a designer is to be able to tell stories, to be able to be expressive, and to be able to meet people. The negatives might be that you are constantly thinking about design and sometimes that can be overwhelming.

Don't design a "Swiss army knife"

Communication, a keen eye for beauty, and storytelling.

I use a plethora tools that is best fitting for what I am working on. I believe that tools can be limitations but they are unlimited if you are willing to learn on the go and not be stubborn about the tools you use.

I like to actually spend a lot of time thinking and going about my day fulfilling other tasks, I find that more time effective than sitting down and staring at pieces of design on papers and computers screens all day.

It can range from hours to days to months, it all depends on the idea and how hard it is to communicate what you are trying to say.

How do you come up with these ideas.

My work with Cory Grosser right out of college.

I like doing work where I can be expressive about my culture and tell simple stories through design.

As I continue to develop my own designs, it is a goal of mine to play a part, no matter how big or small, but a part of the puzzle that defines what modern Chinese design is. Perhaps, eventually to create a platform for other young Chinese designer like me to create objects that help contribute to the new wave of quality Chinese designs. Starting with myself. To embrace and to be inspired by the rich history of craftsmanship and arts, to move things forward, and not just to copy paste traditional elements and “echo” the past. To redefine what “made in China” means.

Depends on the project.

I currently have a fully ceramic table lamp that will be debuting in Shanghai for Design Shanghai. It is a special lamp about a special dance and hat out of my home province in China.

Through email at hello@minglidesign.com or through instagram: @ming_li_chang. They can also find out more about me on my website: www.minglidesign.com.