The Beijing Winter Olympics are coming to an end, and the winter Olympics under the epidemic focus on the global gaze: the charm of competitive sports and a cute "ice pier" make this Winter Olympics full of temperature and goodwill.
Why can a small mascot hit the mood of so many people and the emotions of the times? Why did the phenomenon of "ice piers" occur at this Winter Olympic Games, is it accidental or inevitable?
Cao Xue was recently interviewed by a reporter from the Central Broadcasting Network in Guangzhou (photographed by Huang Lulu, a reporter of the Central Broadcasting Network)
There are too many stories worth digging into about the "ice piers": about the design itself, about the strength of the team, about the cultural symbols, about the open and inclusive soil... Recently, the Guangzhou Municipal Information Office organized a special interview activity and invited Cao Xue, head of the design team of the "Ice Pier", to share the thoughts and inspirations behind the breaking of the circle of the "Ice Pier" from different dimensions.
To some extent, the "ice pier" born from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts has long faded the label of the city, but has been internalized into a language that connects the world: cute, healing and extremely infectious, which undoubtedly provides a new sample for telling Chinese stories well.
Chinese romance
On the evening of February 4, at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the countdown to the twenty-four solar terms, the "ice-breaking" of the five rings, the "water of the Yellow River rising from the sky", "a leaf knowing autumn" lit the main torch... Chinese stunned the world with a classic moment, and also let everyone remember what is "Chinese romance".
At the opening ceremony, a glowing "ice pier" was particularly eye-catching: happy and slippery, waving the "careful heart" in the hand, expressing the love from it to the audience.
The ice pier waved the "careful heart" in his hand at the opening ceremony site
What is Chinese romance? Pay attention to a mood, even if it is integrated into the future sense of science and technology, it still conveys the self-confidence rooted in Chinese culture.
According to Cao Xue, the idea of "ice pier" comes from the traditional food of the north- the ice sugar gourd, which skillfully combines The unique image of China's giant panda with the shell of the ice crystals with a rich sense of technology.
As for the way to combine, it is to let the giant pandas "put on clothes". "Neither panda nor ice shell is new, but when you combine them, there is a chemical reaction."
The concept is there, and then it takes 10 months and more than 1,000 revisions. With the official debut of the humble "Ice Panda", it also set a record - the first time in the history of the Winter Olympic mascot to use a silicone shell.
Also interpreting the "romance of Chinese" is also the "golden pier" that makes the majority of netizens want to stop.
The design concept of this Winter Olympics winner's hand-held limited edition, its golden garland is derived from the traditional Chinese culture of the "three friends of the cold years" - pine, bamboo, plum, implying tenacity, tenacity and exuberant vitality, in order to express praise, respect and good wishes for the winning athletes.
Limited Edition "Ice Pier"
"I came up with this concept almost in a week or two, and it was a few of our graduate students who came up with it." Cao Xue explained that these elements are highly in line with Chinese culture, the Winter Olympics, ice and snow sports and the Olympic spirit, "not afraid of the cold, higher, faster and stronger."
Strengthening cultural self-confidence is the foundation and premise for telling The Chinese story well. A small "ice pier", from the initial concept to the composition of the elements, to the details of the polishing, the elements of Chinese culture can be seen everywhere.
Cuteness may only be the external manifestation of its materialization; and under the cuteness, it contains the romance and imagination of Chinese.
Friendly cultural messengers
In the Beijing Olympic Village, athletes from all over the world and foreign media reporters like to take photos holding "ice piers"; American curlers post the "ice piers" Olympic commemorative badges donated by Chinese athletes and praise the sportsmanship of Chinese athletes...
Under the ice shell, the "warm" and "soft" conveyed by the "ice pier" makes the originally tense sports competition become harmonious and friendly; under the epidemic, the small hand office has narrowed the distance between people in a special way.
In the past few days, Cao Xue has been interviewed by a large number of foreign media, and the feeling of "seeing at first sight" is an example.
"Why do you have such feelings? I think it may be that the 'ice pier' played a role. As a friendly cultural messenger, it has communicated among us beforehand. ”
Because he loved the Mascot of the Beijing Winter Olympics, "Ice Pier", Japanese TELEVISION reporter Yoshido Tsujioka unexpectedly became popular on social media in China and Japan
What impressed Cao Xue the most was the "cloud meeting" with "Yidundun", a fan of "Ice Pier", a Japanese television reporter Yoshido Tsujioka.
"When I connected, he was very excited and gave me a problem on the spot. He said, can you draw me a sketch of me holding an 'ice pier' on the spot? Of course, I fulfilled his wishes. ”
From a worldwide perspective, the temperament emitted by the "ice pier" has a deeper meaning and value. Cao Xue also admitted in an interview: "The mission of the 'ice pier' may extend further from the Winter Olympics. ”
The Ice Pier Grandstand was unveiled to interact with the audience
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, communication around the world has been decreasing, and the gap between people and people, countries and countries has become increasing, and the world needs to bridge the relationship.
"At this time, China successfully hosted this Winter Olympics, which is a platform that is difficult to replace in a short period of time, and the 'ice pier' was born on this platform, which invisibly carries the warmth we need."
Christopher Dolby, director of the Olympic Department of the International Olympic Committee, once commented: "The 'ice pier' must be my collection, and it will be the collection that all children around the world will have." ”
In fact, the cute "ice pier" has long broken through the circle of age, the circle of the country, and the circle of sports with its unique temperament, healing people of different skin colors, different cultures, different beliefs, and different lifestyles, and also conveying the strong goodwill released to the world by China's hosting of the Winter Olympics.
Where does imagination come from?
Inside and outside the Beijing Winter Olympics, the cute and scientific and technological "ice piers" have attracted a large number of fans.
People marvel at the small mascot, which has such an infectious power, but behind it is the imagination that spans regions and time and space, which gives it a strong vitality.
A bunch of cute "ice piers" (photo provided by the interviewee issued by the Central Broadcasting Network)
Where does this imagination come from? A closely coordinated team, an open and inclusive soil, and an era of rapid development are indispensable.
During the interview, Cao Xue repeatedly stressed that many design projects in the future may not be traditional and require the cooperation of different types of designers. The successful design of this "ice pier" is the crystallization of collective wisdom.
"The Japanese animation industry is so developed that even Japanese journalists are surprised at why you handle the details so well!" The distance between the eyes, nose, and mouth is perfect from every angle. ”
In this regard, Cao Xue explained that during the design process, the team members put the two-dimensional sketch of the plane on the computer, generated a three-dimensional image, and then adjusted the ice pier 360 °. "Especially the nose, too tall like a dog or a bear, too short and like a rabbit, a simple giant panda, its artistic language and artistic means must be able to withstand tempering."
As the head of the "Ice Pier" design team, Cao Xue has worked and lived in Guangzhou for more than 20 years, and the urban background of "dare to be the first in the world" has long been integrated into his creative thinking.
From the guangzhou city image logo in 2017, to the mascot of the Asian Food Festival in 2019 and the visual system for reading the China-Guangzhou International Conference, to the mascot of the Beijing Winter Olympics, "Ice Pier". Every design work of the Guangmei team led by Cao Xue is in the same direction as Guangzhou's open and inclusive temperament.
"Maybe the children who have never seen ice and snow have a super imagination and creativity for ice and snow sports." This widely circulated sentence came from Cao Xue's mouth.
In 2018, the beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee delegation came to the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and expressed concerns about the lack of ice and snow in Lingnan. On the night of the propaganda team, Cao Xue set up a team of 14 people, fought for 10 months, traveled to and from Beijing more than 20 times, and modified the plan more than 1,000 times, before the final "ice pier".
"This is the forefront of reform and opening up, and it is speaking with its own strength." Cao Xue shared a data that of the more than 5,800 works collected in 35 countries around the world, three of the top ten works were designed by the Guangmei team.
Cao Xue said excitedly, "Most of my team members are from Guangzhou, and the cultural genes have penetrated into important contents, including commercial elements. ”
The interview team of the Central Broadcasting Network took a group photo with Cao Xue
The Revelation of the Ice Pier
As the mascot of the Beijing Winter Olympics, "Ice Pier" is undoubtedly a successful international communication case, and it is also an important leap in the transformation of Chinese design concepts from elemental thinking to systematic thinking, which has brought many enlightenments to "how to tell the Chinese story well".
In Cao Xue's view, the success of the "ice pier" is indispensable for culture, artistry and commerciality, that is, "good-looking, fun and easy to sell".
"The choice of culture is the content itself, such as pandas, Peking Opera faces and other things that symbolize chinese cultural elements, but to tell 'good' Chinese stories, it also needs artistic support and artistic expression; finally, commerciality, 'good selling is the last word'."
Cao Xue further shared his methodology – more than 99% of all creative works are new combinations of old elements. "Two brand new elements, combined without any propagation power, pandas and ice shells everyone knows, then the 'ice pier' is a 'passed on and reached' work."
Cao Xue shares his design concept in the interview (Photo by Huang Lulu, a reporter of the Central Broadcasting Network)
In his view, as a designer, the vision should be high, and there should be an international vision, but the figure should be low. "When he serves the country and serves a group of people, he needs to lower his body and be grounded." The ice pier 'is not a mascot with a majestic image, it is grounded so that you can hold it in your hand. ”
Cao Xue said that design requires a completely new concept, but cannot do conceptual things. "Adding Chinese elements such as paper-cut patterns, Han brick patterns or Peking Opera faces to shoes, hats or other stationery products is not a real national trend, it is just an elemental thinking." However, today's national tide includes the stage of Chinese design to enter the stage of systematic thinking. ”
"Taking the 'ice pier' as an example, it does not have any traditional Chinese elements that are painted with snakes, it is an ice shell, but it has an extra layer of ice ribbon, which still maintains a simple panda image." Cao Xue stressed that the more concise the language, the more abundant the energy and the more accurate the expression.
Ice piers and snowy peaks reflect each other (Photo provided by the interviewee issued by the Central Broadcasting Network)
As a teacher, Cao Xue hopes to take advantage of this "ice pier" phenomenon to summarize and sort out from the academic theory to provide a reference for the next national image design, "don't say that one heat is over."
The Beijing Winter Olympics is not only a global event for athletes to show their sportsmanship, but also an important window for the mainland to show its comprehensive national strength and cultural self-confidence.
The cute "ice pier" is not only a cultural symbol, but also a cultural messenger - open, confident, inclusive, full of goodwill, but also a microcosm of cute China.
As Cao Xue said, "To tell a good Chinese story, you must read both yourself and the world." ”
Source: CCTV