Chinese Culture

Red Packet for Chinese New Year

A Red Packet (Red Envelope) is simply a red envelope with money in it, often decorated with lucky symbols, which symbolizes luck and wealth. It is called Hong Bao in Chinese.
Occasions for Red PacketsTraditionally red packets are handed out to younger generation by their parents, grand parents, relatives, and even close neighbors and friends during Chinese New Year. They are also popular gifts for weddings and birthdays. Nowadays giving red packets as a bonus at the year-end by employers becomes popular.

Chinese Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival or Yuanxiao Jie is a traditional Chinese festival, which is on the 15th of the first month of the Chinese New Year. The festival marks the end of the celebrations of the Chinese New Year.
Chinese started to celebrate the Lantern Festival from the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 221 AD). Like most other Chinese festivals, there is also a story behind the Festival. It is also believed that the festival has Taoist origins

Chinese New Year

The Spring Festival is the grandest festival for the Chinese. The Spring Festival is also called "Nian", but who knows the term, Nian, was once the name of a furious monster that lived on human beings in the ancient time. How the Festival has some relationship with the monster lies in a story about the origin and development of the Spring Festival.

For more information on chinese culture:

http://chineseculture.about.com/od/culturesociety/Chinese_Culture_and_Society.htm

Chinese Mythology

Chinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written form. There are several aspects to Chinese mythology, including creation myths and legends and myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state. Like many mythologies, some people believe it to be at least in part a factual recording of history.
Historians have conjectured that the Chinese mythology began in 12th century B.C.. The myths and the legends were passed down in oral format for over a thousand years, before being written down in early books such as Shui Jing Zhu and Shan Hai Jing. Other myths continued to be passed down through oral traditions such as theatre and song, before being recorded in the form of novels such as Fengshen Yanyi.

For more information check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology

Product Opportunity Gap

This graph shows the existing competitors on the market for 'Looking Out' and the market positioning comparing Cost and Technology.

1. Cheap Rag Curtain
2. Polyester/Cotton Curtains on railing
3. Painted Bamboo Curtain
4. Curtains on pulley track
5. Painted Vertical and Roman blinds
6. Screen Printed Blinds
7. UV Protected Blinds
8. SPD, Electrochromatic, Photochromatic, Smart Glass

The X represents where 'Looking Out' is going to placed within the market. It is high in technology as I am designing for the near future market and foresee the demand for such product at an affordable cost to the middle class sector. It is a matter of Demand and Supply to drive down the technology, and manufacturing cost.

Single Minded Proposition

“外看(looking out) - Improve lifestyle through visual stimulation”

Target Market

Who am I targeting?

• Emerging Middle Class Sector from the 1.4 billion population of China


• 13 per cent of the country's urban households, or 24.5 million household with a total of 75 million people, will become middle stratum families in 2005.


• The number is expected to amount to 25 per cent in 2010, indicating 57 million households with 170 million people will be classified as middle stratum.


• Five categories of people are expected to represent the new middle stratum:

1. entrepreneurs in high-tech companies


2. managerial staff working in foreign firms in China


3. middle and high-level managerial staff in State-owned financial institutions


4. professional technicians in various fields especially in intermediary firms


5. some self-employed private entrepreneurs.

Age Bracket:

• Take-Care-By-Government – 50+


• Xiao Kang – 40+


• Astronaut – 30+


• Bobo (Bourgeois Bohemian) – 20+

I have chosen the 3 highlighted age bracket groups as my potential markets. Even though Xiao Kang groups are the most well off out of the 4 groups, it is the Astronaut and Bobo groups which are more inclined to accept changes and western influences. In saying so they still feel cut adrift somewhere between Chinese traditional and modern culture. The Take-Care-By-Government groups are mostly all for Chinese traditional culture and nothing else.

Group Research

Our group research shows how China wants to portray itself to the world. Beautiful architectures, colourful gardens and clear blue sky. This is China's Brand Identity.

Map of China 中国

Classmate's Chinese Outing

These two images were taken on our case study trip, researching on chinese lifestyle, food, religion and architecture.

Watch the video clip taken in the restaurant whilst we are having lunch 'Yum Cha'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYs0171Eaq0

Design Brief

This design project is for china’s home furniture and furnishing which is being undertaken by 3rd year Unitec Product Design students and the Mayde (Mayland Design Exchange) staff in Guangzhou. The brief is centered around new product development for Chinese manufacturers.

外看
‘Looking Out’
Designed For China