The ideas brigade

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-28 09:46

Zhao Xi:

Every girl is a princess

The ideas brigade

Zhao Xi, 25, rents 8 boxes at Fengguo Space, churns out a profit of 6,000 to 7,000 yuan per month through her brand "Princess". She is working on her second brand, "Bunny".

China Daily (CD): How would you describe your products?

Zhao: My products are mainly accessories for women between 15 and 30, including bracelets, necklaces, and other small dcor items for mobile phones and bags. I majored in jewelry design and after graduation, I designed some small accessories and started my business with a friend. Each of my products is unique and hand-made. People love to have something different.

CD: What is "Princess" all about?

Zhao: Princess products have everything for girls. Girls are greedy. They want everything. This is why the brand logo has a high-heeled shoe, a lipstick and a necklace. Every girl is a princess, no matter how old she is and what she does. My products aim to make all women feel like princesses when wearing these accessories.

Blockdiao:

Back to the good old days

Blockdiao is a combination of Diao Yong and Gao Yuan. Diao majored in package design at Sichuan Union University and Gao in graphic design at Tsinghua University. Their solid academic background came in handy when promoting their products. The two designers now sell tees and skirts with vintage patterns, under the brand names "Class Three, Grade Three" and "DG House".

CD: Why "Class Three, Grade Three"?

Gao: I have a lot of friends from the post-80s generation. We share similar childhood stories. No matter where we came from, we experienced the same happiness. So Diao and I printed some old pictures on the T-shirts and skirts, in memory of the good old days. I was in Class Three, Grade Three back in primary school, so that became our brand name.

CD: Do you think your indie products are well-received by society?

Gao: Not the mainstream, but it is gradually attracting attention. Original Chinese designs are becoming a way of life for many young people today. Now Diao and I are both full-time designers. Indie designers can deliver their messages directly and their works are reasonable - this is what we like. Most consumers hate similar and expensive products. They want to be unique.

Liang Yan and Wu Wei:

A labor of love

The couple Liang Yan and Wu Wei focus on dolls, cushions, curtains, pencil boxes, bags and T-shirts, which they sell under the brand "Cotton Head".

CD: Your designs include fashions, house dcor items and writing tools. How did you get these ideas?

Liang: We don't "find" ideas. Ideas find us.

Wu: Take, for example, this rabbit doll. I love rabbits, so one day he said he would design a rabbit for me, and this was it. It is different from the rabbit images commonly found, and Liang even put a pair of wings on it. I think they are very cute.

CD: What about the pencil boxes?

Liang: In China, there are many idioms to wish people good luck. I believe that if you are using a pencil box, you probably want to be an A-student. So I put Chinese calligraphy that says "jin bang ti ming" (a reference to passing the imperial exam used to select civil officials) and its English explanation on the reverse of the pencil box. This is an example of our Words Series, which includes bags, purses and pencil boxes with ancient Chinese calligraphy.