SparkyTiger - design & consultancy

Swimming with sharks

Sat, 30 Dec 2017 18:19:57 -0800

A compact graphic novel based on the book 'Swimming with sharks’ by Joris Luyendijk, journalist for The Guardian on the 2008 financial crises. 10 years after little has changed to avoid a possible new crisis. The solution starts with us understanding the problem. Care and share!

Free English version. Free Chinese version (免费下载中文版).

The graphic novel won Gold at the Muse Creative Awards 2018 in New York.

Found & Lost / Value—5

Mon, 01 Jan 2024 02:36:39 -0800

This digital publication is a rare hybrid. It’s like Czech and Chinese cuisine combined on a single plate. An artistic visual story mixed with an analytical essay about value creation. On the photographic spreads, images are associatively placed next to each other. On the right page the sentence is spelled 'Serendipity: a happy pinball arcade mind'. Text and images on the left page share an insight in various facets of sustainable value creation for projects, designs, companies, organisations and other public projects. An encouragement to think and act beyond economic value only.

Free English version Free English version (text only) Free Dutch version (text only)

Lessons for design education in China

Sat, 14 Jul 2018 16:45:26 -0700

I have been in the design profession for 30 years, working mostly on developing visual brands for organizations, services and products. And that is what I still enjoy doing a lot. Before moving to China in 2009 I was teaching occasionally and giving design workshops in Europe and the US. Since four years ago I have been teaching branding and identity design structurally for two days per week at a new design university in Shanghai, with an international scope attended by Chinese students only.

(If you want to jump to straight to ‘the lessons’ see the end of this article.)

Crafts are king

Youngsters who want to apply for a design education in China generally bring a portfolio with drawings in pencil and ink, portraits, still-lives and paintings and watercolors of landscapes and nature. Being able to draw is a good fundament for any design education. Design education in China has its roots in crafts, with focus on making skills and high production value. Today this means learning to work well with software and digital tools. This craft-driven approach needs to change as the digital tools will develop rapidly in partly automated and easy to use software applications, that can simply be used by many people without any design training or background. We already see smartphone apps that can retouch portrait pictures in various ways with one simple tap.

A change of focus is needed

The design profession is changing rapidly worldwide. Other skills become more important. Crafting can be a part of education, but should not be the prominent skill to be taught to design students in China. Instead of using software, designers should get more involved in developing software. And the focus has to shift to the ability to come up with original ideas that can create value: financial value, social value or ecological value. Learning to collaborate with other specialist and professionals is also needed. Having an independent and...Read More

Life above the sea

Mon, 05 Feb 2018 22:48:27 -0800

Freely translated the meaning of Shanghai is ‘Above the sea’. Coming from the Netherlands this visual essay celebrates five years in Shanghai.

The beauty of living in an other culture is that ordinary everyday things become special and surprising. The pictures were never taken with the idea that they might end up in a publication. They were a personal visual record. Intuitively shooting from the hip, moments of great contrast and enormous differences while walking the streets. Capturing the tracks and traces of this dazzling, massive megacity through the eyes of a curious outsider. A big oriental cocktail. Not always sweet, but never boring. Give me more!

Free download: Life above the sea

Branding workshop Beijing

Mon, 28 Mar 2016 01:28:55 -0700

I gave a workshop about branding for master students of the International Communication University China (ICUC). Part one of a series of four workshops by DeTao’s De Boer & Wang Studio.

The over all theme was ‘The analytical mind’, revealing what brands are made of, why they are needed and what they can do.

Symbols of opposites or pairs

Thu, 03 Dec 2015 23:57:27 -0800

This is work of my second years students of the identity advanced class at DeTao in Shanghai. They had to design sets two graphic symbols of opposites or pairs that can clearly communicate a single meaning to a Chinese and international audience. Indirectly an exercise in designing vignettes or symbols as part of a brand or visual identity.

Cut CO2day. Together!

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 00:56:11 -0800

With the upcoming climate summit in Paris, I have to confess that I am also worried about the longterm damage caused by CO2 emissions, global warming and the effects this will have on our planet. If not for myself than for the future generations, like my son’s.
Are you worried too? If not you should be! It is no longer a question if it will happen but when, that is … if we do not act now. Of course governments and companies will have a big role to play in this, but it is also up to us, individuals all around the globe.

My humble contribution as a designer is this logo calling for action and helping to raise awareness, that we have to act now and we have to act together. Feel free to use the logo and spread this message on T-shirts, flags, banners or publications. Download the logo, use it and act! www.cutco2day.org

Hans Rosling fan club?

Wed, 21 Oct 2015 02:03:59 -0700

I am a fan of Hans Rosling, the medical doctor and statistician from Sweden. As a public speaker the way he presents data on world demographics, health, education and economic developments in dynamic graphics.

Rosling is co-founder and chairman of the Gapminder Foundation (www.gapminder.org). He urged the worlds leading database owners like the UN and leading NGO’s to make their data accessible, he helped to make them better searchable and helped to develop good graphics to make the information better to understand.

Hans Rosling made also an insightful documentary called: Don’t Panic – The facts about population. It addresses global developments and how the poor regions in the world economically are improving and catching up. Check it out!

Book: China’s disruptors

Wed, 07 Oct 2015 02:17:52 -0700

I have been reading this very insight full book on how upcoming privately owned companies and entrepreneurs are changing the economy and the society in China and the world by Edward Tse, the former boss of the Boston Consulting Group - China. Based on his personal and business relationships with many Chinese change makers Tse gives an insight in the development of privately owned companies since Deng Xiaoping unlocked the countries economy. How entrepreneurs deal with the sometimes strict and changing rules set by the government, who they pioneer with undefined conditions, deal with China's large scale and demonstrate an enormous flexibility to keep up with fast pace of changes in this rapidly growing economy. If you want to understand China better a must read!

Title: ‘China’s disruptors - How Alibaba Xiaomi, Tencent, and other companies are changing the rules of business’ Author: Edward Tse. Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group.

Natural history a live

Mon, 14 Sep 2015 02:38:33 -0700

Last week i visited the new natural history museum in Shanghai in the Jing'an sculpture park. The museum has a new home with six floors build around an atrium. Day light also reaches the floors below street level. The collection is vast with over 10,000 artefacts from all contents. A mixture of stuffed animals, skeletons and real size replicas. Particularly the first hall with that large scale animals is impressive. But also the many smaller specimens such as birds, insects and butterflies. The exhibition design is traditional but well taken care of for Chinese standards. All information is bi-lingual in both Chinese and English. Definitely worth a visit!