Chinese designers should make the most of the opportunity that the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games offers to promote Chinese culture, said Lin Pansong, a graphic designer from Taiwan and also a member of the selection panel for the logo of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

In his speech "Game Image Design and Its Spread," Lin said young Chinese designers must bravely take part in the design process of the Olympic Games, a good opportunity for them to demonstrate their imagination and creativity.

Designers should dig and fuse the flavour of Chinese culture into their design works for the Games, he said.

Some people may worry over whether to seek inspiration from traditional Chinese culture, for fear it may conflict with the concept of "New Beijing, New Olympics."

"Actually 'new' and 'old' are not absolute, the question is how to present them," said Lin.

He added that although China has such a long history and a great and unique culture, not many designers have successfully combined the ancient culture with modern design methods when designing products, or an integrated look for big events.

"Thus, China has lost many chances to export its culture and values," Lin said.

Lin cited Japan and South Korea, two Asian countries who have hosted Olympics as successful cases for cultural exports.

Their excellent designs enabled the designers of both countries' to be promoted around the world, while the cultural values of the two countries were quickly recognized on the international stage.

"China will be the focus of the whole world by 2008. It is a great opportunity to promote our broad and profound culture," Lin said.

"China has many excellent designers and what we should do next is to integrate the design resources and make the best team possible.

"The success of the logo is a good start. It will enlarge the design market in China, and encourage more and more of the best designers to become involved in the Olympic design work surrounding the Games."

Lin said that follow-up design work includes the designs for the mascot, medals, sports pictograms, typefaces, colours, the Olympic torch, posters, the Olympic gardens and the logo for Paralympic Games.

"It's a vast field that allows many designers to get involved," said Lin.

(China Daily 09/24/2003 page3)