Formation and development of methods of graphic design of Chinese characters

zhuang zhihan PhD in Art History Postgraduate student; Institute of Design and Arts ; St. Petersburg State University of Industrial Technology and Design 194355, Russia, Saint Petersburg, st. Composers, entrance 11, sq. 1139 zhuangzhihan@mail.ru

Chinese characters have always occupied an important place in China. Calligraphy as an art form was born out of the Chinese tradition of valuing images above words. In ancient China, the development of Chinese hieroglyphic fonts was inextricably linked with the creation and development of modeling Chinese characters. During the Spring and Autumn, the scope of Chinese characters expanded significantly: currency, bricks and tiles, weapons, seals, bamboo leaves, fabric and silk became carriers of Chinese characters, and one after another, forms of writing appeared that meet various practical needs, such as bird and insect writing, writing with typos of gold and silver, writing tadpoles and so on.^[1]

The graphization of Chinese characters differs from the method of creating ancient Chinese written characters, it is a design method that processes the basic strokes of Chinese characters using artistic and decorative methods, as well as deconstructs, combines and reconstructs textual Chinese characters to create new graphic art. This design method causes the shape of Chinese characters to change, adding a sense of beauty based on the accurate transmission of information, which is very rich in the atmosphere of the time and artistic contagion.

The method of graphic design of Chinese characters appeared in the middle of the 20th century after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the design of the Shanghai permanent brand bicycle logo is the earliest use of the method of graphic design of Chinese characters in graphic design works. The Shanghai Permanent bicycle logo, designed in 1957 by Zhang Xue-fu, a famous Shanghai designer, and Shao Caisheng, an artist at the Shanghai Bicycle Factory, is a very creative logo. ^[2] By chance, Shao saw a design in a Japanese magazine that was a clever combination of fonts of an interesting shape. Together they experimented with various compositions and eventually created a logo with the Chinese characters 永" and 久" forming a bicycle pattern.

In his book "Why Design", Kenya Hara, a famous Japanese design guru, mentions: "It wasn't advertisements or posters that led me to the profession of a graphic stylist, but words that have long been a very wonderful thing for me."^[3]

The Chinese Railway logo, designed by Chen Yun-Chan during the same period, uses the graphic technique of the Chinese character "工人" to combine the word "worker" with the image of a locomotive, and the horizontal drawing at the bottom of the character "工" also symbolizes the cross section of rails, which succinctly and figuratively conveys the image of the Chinese Railway. The hieroglyph "工" also symbolizes the cross-section of the rails, which succinctly and vividly conveys the attribute of the China Railway industry as a working class.

Designer Kang Tai-kun widely used the method of graphic design of Chinese characters in his works and was one of the driving forces behind the initial development of this method. His works are strongly influenced by Chinese culture, but he uses modern design concepts. Kang Tai-kun emphasizes that the soul and essence of design lies in Chinese philosophy, and believes that design is not just a collage of external forms, but rather a deep cultural rhythm.^[4] For example, he designed the logo of the Bank of China, which combines the Chinese character "Y" inscribed in the graphics of an ancient coin, conveying the Chinese philosophical idea of "heaven is round, earth is square" and at the same time conveying both the bank's industry attributes and the national attributes of the country. Other designers who also played an important role in the initial development of this design methodology include Herman Chen and Chen Yujian. Chen Hanmin's use of positive and negative forms and graphic design of Chinese characters has led to the creation of more spatially saturated works.

The method of graphic design of Chinese characters began to be widely used in the late XX - early XXI century, for example, the logo of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and the logo of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, in both cases this design method was used.

The logo of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing consists of three main parts: the humanized Chinese character "Y", the Chinese pinyin "Beijing" and the number "2008", as well as five Olympic rings. and five Olympic rings. The Chinese character "Y" (Beijing) is the core of the logo, which is expressed in the form of a seal combining the traditional Chinese art of printing and calligraphy, and using the graphic design method of Chinese characters, it is made in the form of an athletic human figure running forward and dancing, welcoming victory.^[5] The design not only reflects traditional Chinese culture, but also incorporates the urban character of Beijing.

The main part of the logo design of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing is the Chinese character "冬". The logo combines traditional Chinese culture with the passion and energy of winter sports: skaters are depicted in the upper half of the logo, skiers in the lower half, and dancing lines in the center symbolize hills, a stadium, snow and ice slides and festive ribbons, adding a festive touch and symbolizing the fact that the Games will be held in Beijing during Chinese New Year.

With the development of methods of graphic design of Chinese characters, more detailed and diverse ways of expression have appeared. Currently, the main methods of graphic design of Chinese characters are the following.

1. A combination of Chinese characters and symbols

Compared to the written word, the "limitless" nature of reading symbols makes them more flexible than the written word and contributes to their widespread distribution around the world.^[6] Chinese characters have evolved from figurative to abstract, and in terms of appearance, the strictness of the structure of Chinese characters limits general stylistic ideas to a certain extent. Chinese characters should not be divorced from the meaning of the words themselves, but they should be structured in such a way that viewers have new associative thoughts.

The method of combining Chinese characters and symbols is to use characters and words that have the same or similar structure, and using the laws of form beauty combine Chinese characters and symbols to create a design work combining Chinese characters and symbols. The works conceived and created by this method can be free from the limitations of the original Chinese characters, expanding the pleasure and uniqueness of design work, thereby increasing and improving the spread and breadth of design work, as well as giving Chinese characters deeper meanings and connotations.

For example, the logo of the Lexus Communications brand, Miao more, is shown in a drawing in which the Chinese character "妙" is used as the main part of the design and combined with the public key symbol, conveying the concept of a design that opens up a new way of communication and opens up a more wonderful life. At the same time, the English word "more" is cleverly added to the upper right side of the logo, which makes the logo more beautiful and interesting, intuitive and easy to understand.

2. A combination of Chinese characters and graphics

The combination of graphics and text allows you to effectively balance visual and textual elements, create a visual effect from design work using graphics and convey the necessary information and special cultural or historical significance using Chinese characters. Thus, graphic Chinese characters have visually stunning and culturally rich characteristics. In conclusion, it should be noted that increasing the proportion of elements of Chinese characters in design work can effectively increase the depth and breadth of the design, making it more interesting and attractive. However, with this method of design, the readability of some hieroglyphs often suffers. Designers often use graphics to direct the viewer to create associations to restore the image of the text, thereby conveying the designer's thoughts.

For example, in the design of a poster《Writing brush and inkstone》 The designer used the method of graphic design of Chinese characters, replacing part of each character with a geometric figure. With the help of graphics, the viewer is forced to think about the meaning of the entire Chinese character.

3. Deconstruction of Chinese characters

Deconstruction is the separation of strokes of the Chinese character, which can be scattered throughout the image, and the transfer of aesthetic feeling by forming distortions in the form of a single stroke, as well as choreography of the size and position of various types of strokes in the image. Structural kanji is a design that completely abandons the legibility of hieroglyphs and treats them as graphics. As shown in the figure, these four posters use a creative deconstruction technique that splits the strokes of Chinese characters to varying degrees. The stronger the deconstruction, the stronger the abstract form of the drawing, and vice versa, the stronger the figurative cultural meaning of the drawing; different degrees of deconstruction of strokes of Chinese characters allow for different artistic effects.

For example, a poster with Chinese characters created by Wen Hengru deconstructs Chinese characters and assembles them into new images.

4. A combination of Chinese characters and the art of calligraphy

The art of calligraphy itself is a graphic art that shows the beauty of Chinese characters using a brush and ink. The aesthetic value of the art of calligraphy lies in its spiritual connotation and its ability to recreate. In design, it is possible to extract elements of the art of calligraphy, such as the power and rhythm of brush strokes, ink color changes, etc., and convert them into graphic design elements to express the graphic characteristics of Chinese characters. The art of calligraphy and the design of Chinese characters can be organically integrated so that the font design of Chinese characters has the best prospects for development in modern times. Each calligraphy font has its own unique model characteristics, and also forms various forms of calligraphy, which has important reference value and historical value for the design of Chinese fonts.

For example, Kang Tai-kun participated in the Taiwanese Poster Exhibition Impression in 1995 and designed a series of cultural posters with Chinese characters, in which ink and water are combined with the four treasures of ancient writers - brush, ink, paper and inkstone. Four posters are made in common harmony, combining the "reality" of ink and paper with the "emptiness" of ink and brush lines, majestic "mountains", dynamic "water", floating "wind" and bright "clouds". "Clouds", so that the picture is not devoid of liveliness in tranquility, dynamics and serenity, the combination of movement and static, makes the whole picture very vital, showing the visual effect of clouds and fog, flowing clouds and water, giving people the beauty of subtlety, and showing a kind of openness of the kingdom of life. The combination of calligraphy and landscape painting is very beautiful, reflecting the author's deep understanding and application of the aesthetics of calligraphy and the meaning of landscape painting.^[6]

Conclusions

Chinese characters, being the main component of Chinese culture, not only carry rich historical and cultural values, but also play an important role in the field of graphic design. This article examines the methods of graphic design of Chinese characters, traces the development of methods of graphic design of Chinese characters, demonstrates the unique charm and expressive power of Chinese characters as visual elements. In modern conditions of increasing globalization of culture and aesthetics, the demand for cross-cultural design is growing, and the cultural heritage of the Chinese nation needs to be effectively transmitted and promoted. The public consciousness and visual aesthetics of Chinese character design have reached new heights, so design work must include more innovative thinking so that Chinese characters, a visual symbol full of deep subtext, can play a greater role as a bridge for cultural exchange. This not only promotes exchange and cooperation between different cultures, but also gives a new impetus to the development of the field of visual design. In the creative process, designers must continue to explore and innovate based on respect and inheritance of traditional culture, so that the design of Chinese characters can play a more positive role in modern society. The graphic design method of Chinese characters is a bridge for intercultural communication and can contribute to continuous innovation and development of the field of visual design.