Made in China book designed by Broothaers Elke

Illustration by Fernando Togni Check out his other 24 hours images Ho Chi Minh City, Moscow, Madrid, Barcelona and Casablanca, Beirut

This is an amazing image of a Chinese fisherman with his two cormorants. The picture was taken on the Li River in Yangshou, China by Glenn Karlsen

“Cormorant fishing is a traditional fishing method in which fishermen use trained cormorants to fish in rivers. Historically, cormorant fishing has taken place in Japan and China, as well as other places throughout the world.
To control the birds, the fishermen tie a snare near the base of the bird’s throat. This prevents the birds from swallowing larger fish, which are held in their throat, but the birds can swallow smaller fish. When a cormorant has caught a fish in its throat, the fisherman brings the bird back to the boat and has the bird spit the fish up.”

idsgn blog has created a great article of the end of movable type in China. Amazing to see all these characters in the Hong Kong letterpress shop of Wai Che Printing Company.

This looks like an interesting shop located in Hong Kong to get some Chinese inspired goods.

G.O.D. is the phonetic sound of the Cantonese slang “to live better”, because to live better is a basic human desire in Hong Kong, Asia and the world. via jocundist

The Chinese Pavilion at the Expo in Shanghai showcases the spirit of traditional Chinese history and culture. He Jingtang, stands behind the design of pavilion which has a distinctive roof, called “The Crown of the East,”  made of traditional dougong or brackets, which date back more than 2000 years. The structure is 63 meters tall and is three times taller than any other pavilion. It is also painted with the same red (Gugong Red, 故宫红 in Chinese) as the Forbidden City. Images via dezeen, expo2010 and lifeofguangzhou

LACOSTE challenged Chinese artist Li Xiaofeng to create two different polos for the  2010 Holiday Collector’s Series. For both, he had to adapt his work methods slightly. For the limited edition printed polo, he chose blue and white shards with lotus and children designs from the Kangxi Period (1662 – 1772 AD) of the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911 AD). The lotus grows from mud underwater to emerge as a flower, symbolising purity and rebirth. Images of babies represent fertility, as during that period the high infant mortality rate meant that people decorated ceramics with babies hoping they would be blessed with children. This particular type of folk ceramics reflected the Imperial taste at that time and was only used by the upper classes, as techinically the painted blue background on a white base that delineated the figures was more complex to produce. Xiaofeng shaped and polished the shards as usual, but instead of drilling holes and linking them with wire he photographed each (251 for the men’s polo and 304 for the women’s) and placed them one by one in a life-size digital pattern of the polo’s front, back and sleeves. He chose a dark blue ribbing for the collar and sleeves on the men’s polo and a light blue for women. The final touch was the addition of a white LACOSTE crocodile logo, the rarest breed in the brand’s collection. The printed Porcelain Polo is limited to 20,000 pieces for both men and women and comes packaged in a silk pouch stamped with the red seal LI XIAOFENG LACOSTE logo above. via yatzer

Discovered this poster of a sweating Mao Zedong (the 1st Chairman of the Communist Party of China) which just won the Silver Medal in the group of ideological posters at the Warsaw International Poster Biennale. Designed by Jianping He via postermuseum

The Taiwan International Design Competition (TIDC) is entering its ninth consecutive year. In the nine years of its existence it has already cultivated an extensive international reputation. For more info head over to dgi or TIDC

“The vases in this series are made using traditional Koji pottery and ceramic techniques and decorated with dragons and tigers – the classical mascot figures of the Taiwanese temples. These ancient elements are combined with the computer-designed, geometric polygonal shape of the vase’s body.”

“The global Starbucks symbol is combined with traditional Taiwanese crafts such as woodcarving, Koji pottery, glassblowing, and silversmithing. The recognizable shape and circular logo element of the Starbucks cups are integrated with various craft traditions to give each object a unique local character. Creative input by the Taiwanese craftsmen contributed to the decorative details, such as the climbing beetle and flower pattern, of the final design.”

“A refined and emotionally poetic object of intense tactility and visual softness. Oriental embroidery pattern meets Western elegant lace. These bowls express wedding blessing that Chinese mothers give to their daughters. The porcelain’s gradient transparency plays with light that almost penetrates the membrane-like surface which is thinner on the top and thicker on the bottom.”

“The global Starbucks symbol is combined with traditional Taiwanese crafts such as woodcarving, Koji pottery, glassblowing and silversmithing. The recognizable shape and circular logo element of the Starbucks cups are integrated with various craft traditions to give each object a unique local character. Creative input by the Taiwanese craftsmen contributed to the decorative details, such as the climbing beetle and flower pattern, of the final design.”

If you put together 15 Taiwanese designers that work together with 20 master craftsmen, giving them 3 main themes, Inspired by Nature, Cultivation and Sustainability the result is a fantastic combination that fuses together traditional crafts and new design. I especially love the vase. More beautifully crafted objects can be found at Yii. via trendland