Lin Shi, Yan Huang and Hongmei Wu Receives the Bronze A' Design Award for Huashan Rock Art Festival Festival Visual Identity in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design

The international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Lin Shi, Yan Huang and Hongmei Wu for graphics, illustration and visual communication design

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 17, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Huashan Rock Art Festival Festival Visual Identity by Lin Shi, Yan Huang and Hongmei Wu, designed for Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design category. The result belongs to the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

About the Bronze A' Design Award

The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.

More About Huashan Rock Art Festival Festival Visual Identity

Huashan Rock Art Festival is a visual identity system created for a cultural festival in Chongzuo, Guangxi, China. The identity turns ancient pictographs from the Huashan rock art site into simple geometric graphics. A black and white palette and textured surfaces recall stone rubbings and weathered rock. Posters are made in landscape and portrait formats for small prints and large outdoor displays. Printed applications use recycled materials and plant-based inks. The aim is to make ancient heritage clear and accessible to modern viewers.

About Lin Shi, Yan Huang and Hongmei Wu

Zhu Xuguang serves as Dean and Professor of Qixin School at Zhejiang Sci-Tech University and is appointed as a specially invited expert for the Huashan Rock Art Cultural Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Leading a dedicated team, he focuses on the extraction, deconstruction, and redesign of Huashan Rock Art cultural genes, advancing the creative transformation and innovative dissemination of outstanding traditional Chinese culture. He possesses profound expertise in traditional cultural studies and design applications, having authored nine books and presided over multiple national-level research projects.

Award Record

Lin Shi, Yan Huang and Hongmei Wu is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.

About the A' Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Award

The A' Graphic Design Award is an international graphic design competition recognizing good graphic designs by best creative agencies and designers worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to graphic designers, communication designers, graphic artists and illustrators from all countries. Entries typically include logos, posters, infographics, brochures, packaging designs and business cards. Awarded graphic designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/graphics

About A' Design Award & Competition

A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission 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. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated 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. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates 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, the upload of a work and the 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. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Winner Page: https://designers.org/180050
A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/180050
Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!180050
Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/378787

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: Huashan Rock Art Festival Festival Visual Identity
Function: Festival Visual Identity
Category: Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design
Discipline: Communication Design
Industry: Branding & Advertising and Arts
Colors: Dark Gray, Lavender, Black, Light Gray and Dim Gray
Images: 5
Client: Zhejiang Sci-Tech University

The Recognition

Laureate: Lin Shi, Yan Huang and Hongmei Wu
Country: China
Recognition: Bronze A' Design Award
Edition: 2025 - 2026
Design ID: #180050

Credits

Team: Xuguang Zhu, Chao Yang, Lin Shi, Linlong Qin, Yilin Wang, Ying Xu, Yaying Mao, Mengsheng Wang, Yichen Zhu, Yan Huang and Hongmei Wu
Image Credits: Creator Lin Shi, Vertical Poster of Huashan Rock Paintings, 2025.

Design Details

Unique Properties: This project is a contemporary visual identity system for the Huashan Rock Art Festival, which transforms ancient pictographs into minimalist graphics using a black and white color scheme to evoke archaeological stone rubbings. Its strength lies in systematically balancing archaeological authenticity with modern visual communication, creating a universal and accessible visual language. The design establishes a new paradigm for cultural preservation through innovative design thinking, making ancient heritage dynamically relevant while preserving its spiritual essence.
Inspiration: The inspiration stems from the desire to bridge the temporal and cultural divide between contemporary audiences and the 2,000 years old Huashan Rock Art, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The project was motivated by the need to make ancient cultural heritage emotionally resonant and visually accessible to modern viewers, while preserving its authentic significance. The design draws inspiration from the ritual scenes and stacked stone compositions of the original rock art, reinterpreting them through a minimalist and systematic visual language.
Research: Type of Research: Cultural visual translation and brand communication Objectives: To explore how prehistoric, non-verbal cultural heritage such as Huashan rock art can be transformed into a visual language accessible to contemporary audiences. Methodology: Image analysis, symbol deconstruction, and graphic experimentation were used to reorganize figures, rhythms, and spatial relations from the original rock art. Tools: Graphic design software, visual analysis, and layout prototyping. Participants: General public and non-specialist viewers. Results: The study shows that reducing textual explanation while emphasizing visual rhythm lowers cultural interpretation barriers.
Challenge: The greatest challenge was balancing archaeological authenticity with contemporary visual communication. Internally, we navigated historical complexities—interpreting 2000-year-old pictographs with limited contextual records—and social expectations of making heritage resonate across generations. Externally, constraints included materializing the design sustainably (sourcing recycled materials, plant-based inks) and ensuring digital adaptability while preserving the tactile essence of rock art. Overcoming these required a methodology that transforms ancient motifs into a universal visual language without oversimplifying cultural significance.
Realization and Technology: The design employs principles of the International Typographic Style, utilizing a monochromatic palette and geometric simplification to translate ancient motifs into contemporary graphics. Textured treatments mimic weathered rock surfaces, while hierarchical arrangements on stacked stones replicate original ceremonial compositions. The digital-first approach ensures versatility across media, with physical applications incorporating recycled materials and plant-based inks to align with sustainable practices.
Operation and Interaction: This poster series translates the visual logic of Hua shan rock art into a contemporary graphic language. Viewers do not need prior historical knowledge; meaning emerges through observation. Symbols are enlarged, fragmented, and re-composed to guide the eye across the surface. Through contrast, repetition, and negative space, the posters simulate the act of discovering images on a cliff, turning viewing into a slow, participatory reading experience that strengthens cultural memory through visual engagement.
Project Duration and Location: The project was developed between February 2025 and November 2025. Research and design were conducted at Zhejiang Sci-Tech University. The project is based on the Huashan Rock Art site in Chongzuo, Guangxi, China, and was produced as a visual communication proposal for the Huashan Rock Art Festival.
Specifications: For design/small posters: Horizontal (landscape): 370mm (width) x 210mm (height) Vertical (portrait): 210mm (width) x 297mm (height) For larger outdoor displays: Horizontal (landscape): 1200mm (width) x 680mm (height) Vertical (portrait): 600mm (width) x 900mm (height)
Keywords: Art Festival, Huashan, Exhibition Branding