On Friday, 22 January 2010, young Chinese Designer Jiang Lu received the first prize of a logo design competition to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the Republic of Finland and the People’s Republic of China, jointly organized by the Finnish Embassy in Beijing and CAFA. The 500 euro prize was awarded by Lars Backström, the Finnish Ambassador to China.
Dressed in colours reflecting the blue shades of the commemorative logo in the ceremony, Jiang told that the prize is very important for her.
- While I was a child, I remember hearing a Chinese poem by Guo Moruo, which described Finnish lakes and beautiful nature. In the logo, I wanted to combine key elements of Finnish and Chinese culture – water and jade, says Jiang. In her logo, water ripples in different shades of blue colour surrounded by jade.
The prize was not her first one but she has previously won, among other things, the Recommendation Prize for the First International Visual Design Competition of Confucius Culture held by the city of Qu Fu and a prize in the Taiwan International Creative Design Competition.
The competition attracted as many as 45 participants. Graphic designer Pia Kaikonen from the Board of Examiners commended Jiang’s work and said that it clearly stood out from the rest of the entries.
- In Jiang Lu’s logo there was a successful combination of both countries’ values. Furthermore, unlike in many of the other entries, number sixty was not visible in Jiang’s work. From the point of view of graphic design, the work is of very high standard. It skillfully employs the western typography.
- Finland is a country of 200,000 lakes and this number does not include all the ponds that there are, too. Lakes are a sacred matter for the Finns, spending time by the water is soothing. For the Chinese, jade has a similar significance. Watching the surface of jade makes one meditative, tells Kaikonen.
Even though there was no number sixty in the work, it is according to the Chinese fashion embedded in the symbolism of the logo.
- The round form of the logo illustrates continuity and refers to the number 60, which is a highly meaningful figure in China. It tells about development and the advent of a new era, explains Deputy Director Qian Meng from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Text and photos by Minna Närhilä / Embassy of Finland
