May 12th, 2023，from 3:30pm to 5:30pm (Pacific Time) , Liang（Leon）Liu, the global design leader, Internationally Acclaimed Designer, Califor Design Founder & CEO, winner of the Red Dot Design Award and iF Design Award, as the specially Invited speaker, at d.school, Stanford University, shared a wonderful speech on “How to create a global hit design, let industrial design empower sustainable development, generate commercial value, and continue to change the world”.
Liang（Leon）Liu’s speech topic
The d.school at Stanford University was packed out that afternoon, Liang（Leon）Liu talked on trillion-level brand product design, how to combine cutting-edge materials with more humanized design, and AI intelligence, transforming art and technology into beautiful, simple and easy to use products, adhere to sustainable development, achieve commercial viability, build more world-class epoch-making products and enterprises, and promote the development of the world, made wonderful sharing.
The benefit point value theory created by Liang（Leon）Liu broke and reconstructed the way of thinking in design, which made the guests deeply feel the charm of industrial design empowering technology products, guiding innovation, and promoting business success. Through industrial design, the added value of products is increased, and the creativity of design is used to convey the changes and beauty that technological products bring to people. I have gained the warmth and touch brought by the humanistic care of industrial design to the product.
The full text of Liang（Leon） Liu’s live speech is compiled as follows,
Liang (Leon) Liu’s keynote speech
Thanks to the esteemed audience of professionals and enthusiasts gathered here today, I stand here before you as an industrial designer, honored to be invited to speak at the d.school, Stanford University. Stanford University is one of the best universities in the world, and it is also a university I like very much. Today, we exchange design and shape our world power together.
In this fast-moving world, artificial intelligence has become a powerful tool, and AI graphic design allows us to utilize large amounts of data, analyze complex patterns, and visualize concepts in ways we could never have imagined.
But let us remember that technology alone cannot replace the human touch. As an industrial designer, your creativity, empathy, and intuition are priceless. You possess the ability to translate human desires, emotions and experiences into tangible and meaningful designs.
I was lucky enough to start drawing at the age of three, and I fell in love with drawing since I was a child. I developed my observation skills in the process of drawing. And realizing that many products lack practicality and aesthetics led me to choose a major in industrial design.
Due to my hobbies, I studied very hard during university and won a special scholarship. However, after graduation, I faced the challenge of work. At this time, I reviewed my summary and found that I did not have a comprehensive understanding regarding the contribution of industrial design to business and society.
In order to make up for these shortcomings, I went to Huaqiangbei every Sunday, where there are technology malls such as Shundian, Suning and Gome. I visited and made research on the designs of various brands such as Electrolux, Samsung, and Panasonic etc. I had a deeper understanding of how to convert the concept design into a commercial design. This process of persisting for three years has enabled me to comprehensively improve my professional design knowledge, and my income also gradually increased.
However, at work, I found that I could only explore a few industry areas and was unable to contribute to more products of technological industries. Therefore, I chose to establish a design company called Califor focusing on industrial design that explores the sustainable development of products and core values. Califor Design serves clients such as the former CEO of Apple, Panasonic, China Tobacco, and China Resources etc, and won many international and domestic design awards.
Our design company has its own office building in the center of Shenzhen, and has team members from the United States, the United Kingdom, and China.
Our daily work must consider the entire life cycle of products, from raw materials and manufacturing process to use, maintenance and final disposal. Then let’s take a look at the ideas of some of our works (the content of the speech is sorted out below).
Case 1: Filter Broom
We live in the same earth, marine environment, and beach litter is inconvenient to collect up and dispose.
We have designed a filter broom that improves cleaning efficiency in special scenarios and is convenient for environmentalists to carry. It can collect garbage in water and sand, and the gap can automatically filter out sand or water for centralized recycling.
It solves the existing problems of low efficiency of recycling garbage by clamping and the inability to clean up debris. Combining the broom and the broom into one solves the problem of difficult disposal of beach garbage and floating garbage. The convenient folding design is easy to carry and saves storage space and is a filter broom that is convenient for public welfare activities.
Case 2: Convenient Excretor
Due to old age, accidents, genetics and other reasons, the number of disabled people is gradually increasing. They have no ability to take care of themselves. How to take care of such groups has become an important social and medical problem. However, the reality of a severe shortage of nursing workers threatens the quality of care.
The convenient nursing device is an attempt based on this reality. The purpose of this product is to quickly and effectively help nursing staffs deal with the excrement of disabled patients. The disposable garbage bag is very convenient to install, and the large capacity of 1000ml, can satisfy multiple excretion. The installation process is very easy and only needs 4 steps. 1. Install disposable diapers 2. Tighten the bandage 3. Install the battery 4. Install the storage box.
In conclusion, the future of industrial design lies in embracing the incredible collaboration of AI intelligence and human design, cherishing the unique qualities that make us human, and shaping our powerful world. An art form that combines functionality, innovation, sustainability and aesthetics, it is our responsibility and privilege to create products that enrich life, inspire change and leave a positive mark on society, let us push the boundaries of possibility together and design a beautiful future, thank you, may your trip to Stanford University be full of inspiration and infinite possibilities.
After Liang（Leon） Liu’s speech, the top professionals from Stanford University, Microsoft, Google, ARM and others who came to the meeting gave Liang（Leon） Liu an on-stage and off-stage interactive session, made discussions on Stanford University’s educational philosophy, Microsoft and Google’s innovative applications in sustainability field, and the latest development trends combined with design and art, brought unprecedented inspiration to everyone.
