Video Production: Intern Koammy
The Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games will open on March 4, and "Snow Rongrong" will also be officially inaugurated. Bean eyes, lantern heads, small bodies that will glow, netizens are familiar with the "Rongbao" delicate and cute, but few people know that at the beginning of its birth, it is "sentenced to two fusions" now.
"The original image of 'Snow Rongrong' came from my first mascot design draft, 'Auspicious Ruyi', when 'Xue Rongrong' was still a relatively thin red lantern. The reason why I thought of using lanterns as a design element stemmed from the memory of my hometown Nian Wei'er. As the original creative proposer of the Beijing Winter Paralympic Mascot "Xue Rongrong", Jiang Yufan was a sophomore at the Jilin Academy of Arts at the time.
Jiang Yufan's hometown is in Jiayin County, Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province. "Especially during the Spring Festival, the 'big red lanterns hanging high' in the streets and alleys, coupled with the fact that the lantern itself is a traditional Chinese object with a history of thousands of years, the design based on the lantern will naturally remind people of the warmth and festivity conveyed by traditional Chinese culture." Jiang Yufan said.
The winter Olympic and Paralympic mascot combination design artwork "auspicious and ruyi". Courtesy of respondents
Of the nearly 6,000 works collected worldwide, the design of "Auspicious Ruyi" was successfully shortlisted for the top three of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games Mascot Global Solicitation, but the challenges also followed.
"We were told that only the shape of the lantern would be retained, but that would be zeroing everything out." Wu Yibo, deputy dean of the School of Design of Jilin Art College, is a member of the main creative team of "Xue Rongrong", recalling the time when the design pattern was redesigned after "returning to zero", she felt deeply stressed, "Time is tight, the task is heavy, and it is necessary to come up with a relatively complete image design plan in a short period of time."
The main creative team is discussing the "Snow Rongrong" image design scheme. Courtesy of respondents
However, the difficulties are far more than that, and in the process of deepening the revision, the design team has encountered a new problem: to add "animal attributes" to "snow rong".
Wu Yibo led the team to make a variety of attempts, adding antlers, deer noses and deer mouths to the "Snow Rongrong", and even adding a pair of Wings of Beijing Swift, but the effect was always unsatisfactory. After exploring for more than 20 days, they finally decided to return the "snow rong" to the traditional lantern shape.
From January to May 2019, the lantern shape was constantly modified and designed to have the lively and flexible appearance of "Snow Rongrong".
"I remember when I set the standard action of 'snow melting', we were given a very tight time, and it took about 15-20 minutes from the request to the dynamic sample of the sketch." Jiao Qiang, deputy dean of the Animation College of Jilin Art College, still remembers this process vividly, "We provided seven or eight sets of plans in the form of hand-drawn sketches, and finally there was the standard action of smiling and raising your hand in the official poster of 'Xue Rongrong'." ”
Jiao Qiang was responsible for the action design of the early "Snow Rongrong" in the team, he admitted frankly, "At the beginning, the pressure to do the mascot was quite large, and the image action designed was very stiff, and then I thought about simply lightly loading, letting go of my hands and feet, and making 'Xue Rongrong' into a cute and interesting mascot." ”
Where does the inspiration come from for such a cute look? "From my daughter." Jiao Qiang revealed, "My daughter was nine years old at the time, and she often worked overtime with me. When designing, I often think of the cute and clumsy look of my daughter when she is playing, so I subconsciously add my daughter's demeanor and actions to the design of "Snow Rongrong". ”
Manuscript of Jiao Qiang, vice president of the Animation College of Jilin Art College. Courtesy of respondents
"The lantern shape of 'Snow Melting' symbolizes warming the world and lighting up the dreams in the heart, which also coincides with the fighting spirit of the Winter Paralympic athletes and the concept of the Winter Paralympic Games that inspire the world." Jiang Yufan said.
In Jiaoqiang's view, "Snow Rongrong" also shows the mental state of Chinese outwardly implicit but innerly tough, which forms a complement with the lively "ice pier".
Asked if he expected that the "Snow Rongrong" he participated in designing would get so much attention, Jiao Qiang bluntly said, "I really didn't expect this." In his view, the vigorous spiritual outlook of "ice pier" and "snow rongrong" is in line with the mentality of the entire society at present, and the mascot integrates a large number of traditional cultural elements in the design and also triggers people's emotional resonance.
"In addition, I would like to thank everyone for their spontaneous creation, which has brought out all kinds of 'snow melting': handmade cartoons, illustrations, dolls, embroidery, snowmen... I was involved. Wu Yibo said while showing the camera a vivid "Snow Rongrong" rubber stamp.
"'Ice piers' and 'snow melting' are just the roles of 'threading the needle' in the Winter Olympics, and it is everyone's love that makes them gain such a great energy and set off such a wave!" said Wu Yibo emotionally.