The mascot ice pier is now "difficult to find". Why the ice pier can become a blockbuster, what kind of Chinese story and spiritual and cultural value is conveyed, Cao Xue, professor of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and head of the mascot design team of the Beijing Winter Olympics, was interviewed by "Learning to Be a Strong Country".
The design was originally inspired by the sugar gourd
The ice pier was so hot, Cao Xue said that he did not expect it. "After 10 months of design, the 'ice pier' is so loved by everyone, and I am very excited." Cao Xue said he was touched by the move of "hundreds of people queuing in the cold wind". The excitement lies in the fact that "what the team has done has been recognized and loved by everyone", and the touch is that "people are waiting in the cold wind just to hold a warmth in their hands at the last moment." ”
The design team led by Cao Xue has a total of 14 people, all from the School of Visual Art and Design of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (hereinafter referred to as "Guangmei"), half teachers and half graduate students. In 2019, they came up with 16 sets of plans in 19 days, no holidays, repeated revisions and discussions every day, and drew tens of thousands of manuscripts.
The transformation of pupae into a butterfly must be particularly painful and difficult. The team went to Beijing more than 20 times, and the food, accommodation and air tickets alone advanced more than 190,000 yuan. But the plan is still pending, and it is always being revised over and over again. The pressure was so great that many people wanted to retreat, and even the air in the studio solidified. Some people are even questioning, is there any hope? Why did such a burden fall on Guangmei?
"Hope is not in the eyes of others, but in your respective hands." Cao Xue confessed that at that moment he answered categorically.
Kung Fu pays off. Three proposals from Guangmei's design team were shortlisted in the top 10. Among them, the rock sugar gourd scheme impressed the judges the most and was identified as the key modification scheme.
Cao Xue said that the rock sugar gourd is a northern snack, has a very grounded cultural attributes, the key is that the layer of ice shell sugar coating on its body is related to ice and snow sports. This is where the "ice shell" comes from.
However, it is a snack after all, and it cannot ultimately carry the image of a country, and foreign people are not familiar with it. Finally, the panda has become the only choice to represent China, and it can only be it, because the giant panda is a national treasure of China loved and recognized by people all over the world.
The ice piers have undergone rigorous weight checks and blind evaluations
In fact, there were panda programs in these 16 programs, but they were not shortlisted at that time. The biggest challenge with using a panda as a mascot is that it is too commonplace. The next task of the design team is to design a different "panda".
In order to make an effective distinction, Cao Xue's design team collected hundreds of "pandas" that could be collected on the market, printed them all, and pasted them on the walls of the studio in Shougang Park. At that time, when I entered and went out, my eyes were full of all kinds of "pandas".
In the end, the image of the ice pier was baked, with the panda as the core, retaining the ice shell shape of the ice sugar gourd. The rock sugar gourd was originally also called sugar pier, hence the name of the ice pier.
It is worth mentioning that after the basic type of ice pier was determined, the design team did two special checks in China and Switzerland. Passed!
But this is not the most heart-wrenching test, blind evaluation is.
According to the experience of previous Olympic Games, the main target consumer of the mascot is a child around 9 years old. Therefore, in 2019, the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee specially invited 240 children to vote. For the sake of confidentiality, the child is not told what it is, without any guidance or hints. This is blind review.
At that time, the Winter Olympic emblem on the ice pier was removed. In order to be fair, but also to interfere with audio-visual, the staff deliberately downloaded two cute cartoon images on the Internet, pasted them with the ice pier, and let the children choose their own, which one they liked.
On the day of the blind review, Cao Xue was anxiously waiting for news in Beijing. Because some staff said that if this pass is not passed, their entire team will completely return to Guangzhou.
In the end, 230 votes were cast for the ice pier.
The charm of "a pier is hard to find" is warmth and softness
Why do small ice piers have such a big charm? Cao Xue revealed the mystery of the design: cute and warm.
The ice pier is a combination of the cute image of the giant panda and the shell of the ice crystal with a sense of technology. At first glance it looks cold, but in fact it gives a cute, cute, warm feeling. Between one cold and one warm, one hard and one soft, love is spread.
"The national treasure giant panda is loved all over the world." Cao Xue said that the team specially chose the image of the young panda baby panda in the design. "Giant pandas are cute, baby pandas are even cuter." In order to observe the expression and posture of the baby panda, Cao Xue and his team made a special trip to Wolong, Sichuan.
Cao Xue introduced that in order to make the design of the ice pier younger and more cute, "we let the 'ice pier' be the 'inner eight characters', which is more in line with the posture of the baby panda walking." The 'ice pier' beckoning action, the body is slightly leaning forward, a bit like the baby's unstable feeling."
Behind the "warmth" and "softness" of the ice pier is love. "Last year, the Olympic motto renewed 'more unity', unity is based on love, such a small mascot, across borders and languages, let everyone feel the love, together to the future!" Cao Xue said.
What are the characteristics of a popular mascot? Cao Xue believes that it must have three characteristics: cultural, artistic and commercial.
Culture is the excellent traditional culture and story of the country. Artistry is how to use artistic means to spread good culture and tell good stories. Commerciality is to use the market to test, and selling is the last word.
After the final shape of the ice pier was baked, it was not only recognized by the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee, but also greatly appreciated by IOC President Bach. Cao Xue revealed that everyone had considerable confidence in the sale of the ice pier at that time.
"First of all, empathize with people, in order to stir up emotions, in order to explode." Cao Xue said.
Use visual arts to tell chinese stories well
In fact, the award commemorative edition mascot ice pier and snow rongrong still have a clever idea. "The commemorative mascot given to the athletes, the golden outer circle, is actually the traditional Chinese 'Three Friends of the Year' pine, bamboo and plum, which once again embodies Chinese culture." Cao Xue revealed.
Design is a visual language.
As the famous Polish composer Chopin once said, "When human beings cannot express emotions in words, music is born". Cao Xue believes that visual art is not? The ice pier is a hit that uses a good visual language to tell Chinese stories and spread Chinese culture.
"Mascot design is actually a kind of character design." Cao Xue believes that design has never aimed at interpreting art, and art is only a means of expression in design. Peking Opera, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chinese Martial Arts, etc. can all tell Chinese stories well and spread Chinese excellent culture.
"The key is that we designers, the vision should be high, the body should be low." Cao Xue said. Vision is best international vision. As far as the Winter Olympics is concerned, when designing a Mascot for the Winter Olympic Games, you should read all the mascots of the previous Olympic Games, and you must read it first. And to be low, it is to be grounded and adopt a form that people can understand.
Cao Xue also mentioned a detail. In one of the 2021 shows, he met with the designer of the National Speed Skating Hall "Ice Ribbon" and the torch "Flying". Everyone learned that the design inspiration of the three is derived from the rock sugar gourd.
The small Xiaoice sugar gourd became the fulcrum that pried up the spread of Chinese stories to the outside world.
"As a designer, it is a responsibility and a mission to use visual arts to tell Chinese stories well." Cao Xue said that when designing only the future, there is no past tense, and the road to telling The Story of China to the outside world is endless.
Source: "Learning to Strengthen the Nation" learning platform
Executive Producer: Wang Xinxing
Review: Liu Yu Huang Lijuan
Editor-in-charge: Zhang Yan
Edit: Surye