Andy Shin

    (Korean American from RS Design)

    Hiring or getting good and eligible local Chinese designers is hard.

    If the Shenzhen government does not subsidize training, foreign design companies will struggle to find talent here.

    I want Shenzhen to be a city of design education. If that happens, then years from now, Shenzhen will be at the heart of the Asian design industry.

    Shenzhen has the basis to become a city of design. It has much foreign talent, factories, and proximity to Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

    Chinese designers are skillful, but design is about more than drawing. They need to have their own vision.

    Most Chinese designers, especially college graduates, are at amateur design level. They need to climb to professional and experienced design level.

    Karsten Alt

    (German from HSArchitects)

    Very few Chinese designers speak good English.

    Nomain Valerie

    (Frenchwoman from Chocolate)

    Shenzhen, like the whole of China, needs to ask itself how to change made-in-China to designed-in-China.

    It is meaningless to emphasize the design title if you do not have anything to show the world.

    Michael Deng

    (Chinese from URBANERGY)

    The working environment is good for creative designers. However, finding the right staff is difficult. Cultural events in Shenzhen are overwhelmingly attended by the privileged. Ordinary people seem not to spend time going to cultural events.

    Jean Baptiste Declercq

    (Frenchman from Gnosis Product Dev.)

    Shenzhen needs a design school. Students need mentors with expertise and experience.

    Thierry Corre

    (Frenchman from HSArchitects )

    Shenzhen is asleep while the best fashion design talent goes to Beijing and Shanghai. Standardization is killing Shenzhen’s spirit of invention and creativity.

    Nicolas Deladerriere

    (Frenchman from CAFOM BUT Group)

    In Shenzhen, I can work with factories and small agencies and take part in arts events. However, Shenzhen should create bridges to connect designers with people in different fields for cross-cultural communication and better mutual understanding.

    Designers in Shenzhen should be given more opportunities to cooperate with factories in Dongguan.

    Paul Goetz

    (American from Gnosis Product Dev.)

    Most factories in Shenzhen have no designers and no staff who know much about design. Shenzhen should make sure the design community is made aware of upcoming events.

    Our team has designers from Singapore and France but hasn’t found any local talent yet. There does not seem to be much talent out there.

    Michael Favreau

    (Frenchman from Lelo Etuclio)

    Shenzhen is an amazing place to develop things with its diverse design industry. However, it is difficult for Chinese factories to find good designers in Shenzhen for long-term cooperation.

    It is also difficult for young people to know how to go about starting a successful career in design. Moreover, it is difficult for foreign designers to set up in Shenzhen.

    Michael Patte

    (French landscape designer from

    Hassell/Qiptide)

    Shenzhen is a young, creative city with an open mind, and lots of ambitious people. However, it is difficult to establish connections between designers. There is no platform to share our experience. In Shenzhen, there are very few world-class design companies.

    Jonathan Bach

    (American from the New School/Parsons)

    At the moment, I cannot say Shenzhen is a city of design. But it is ahead of other Chinese cities in some respects.

    Many designers still value commerce above creativity.

    I believe Shenzhen will develop its own style, informed by both traditional Chinese culture and modernity. It could have this advantage over other Chinese cities.

    Foreign designers do not get enough chances to integrate into the local art design community.