Go Logo! A Handbook to the Art of Global Branding

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Go Logo! A Handbook to the Art of Global Branding134

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or the Auto Motor und Sport International Design Competition, each participant was

asked to propose a concept for a new vehicle brand uniquely suited for their coun-

try. Zhang’s design and presentation of the new Chinese vehicle brand, East Scene,

was well received. He was offered a job at the Mercedes-Benz Car Group, Daimler

AG, Germany, as an exterior designer shortly after the competition. Over the past six years,

Zhang has been working on many Mercedes car projects and has grown into a skilled car

designer. A production car that bears his own design will come out to market in the next

few years. Following is an interview with Zhang.

Q: Can you tell us your thoughts when designing East Scene in 2002 as a new vehicle

brand for China?

A: In the past, China did not have a strong car culture or car heritage. The Chinese are

not keen at all on the engineering or racing aspects of automobiles. Instead, it is the space

they live in that matters most, and it is a tradition in Chinese culture to think about space

philosophically. In that sense, a car is a moving space, and I wanted to design a Chinese car

brand that reflects Chinese culture, context, and custom, and the Chinese way of car styling.

I wanted to forget about all the previous Western influences of car design and tried to envi-

sion what would have happened if the car was invented in China a hundred years ago. The

logo I designed for the brand has a dynamic S shape that was inspired by the yin and yang

symbol. It looks Chinese but with a modern impression. I also tried to apply some Chinese

motifs or symbols into the exterior design of the car and something different from what

you would see daily on the street. I think the juries noticed that and gave me a very

positive response.

Fan zHanG, Industrial Designer at Mercedes-Benz in Germany

Born in 1975 in Sichuan Province, Fan Zhang is probably the first Chinese car

designer to work for an international brand without formal education and

work experience abroad. Zhang received his bachelor’s degree in industrial de-

sign at Tongji University. When working on his graduate project, Zhang designed

a small car for family use in China, with guidance from German designers

Klemens Rossnagel and Marion Kiessling. His first taste of car design was inspir-

ing and led him to pursue a master’s degree in industrial design, with a focus on

transportation design, at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. With Professor Liu

Guanzhong as his primary professor, Zhang submitted his work to international

competitions and won many awards over the three years of his graduate

study: First Prize in the Mitsubishi Motors International Design Competition

2000; Bronze Prize in the China Motor International Design Competition 2001

(Taiwan); and Best Branding Prize of Auto Motor und Sport International Design

Competition at the Pforzheim Transportation Design Forum 2002.

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