Getting to Know Yunhan Wang
Having recently established her own studio after studying in Milan and heading up a product design department, the young Chinese designer is one to watch
Designer Yunhan Wang, who is based in Zhuhai, China, has had an eventful few years. After completing a postgraduate degree in product design in Milan, she worked as the director of the product design department at Jiang & Associates Creative Design from 2015 to 2019 before setting up her independent design studio, Dorisofia Studio, in 2020.
In 2021, Wang was one of 20 young designers from around the world selected for Discovered, a global collaboration between The Design Museum, London, The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and Wallpaper* magazine. Her design, a tea table called Winding Stream, was the result of combining traditional Chinese furniture elements with modern design techniques.
Besides being part of Discovered, Wang also launched several new projects in 2021, collaborating with Chinese furniture brands on the development and design of new ranges. While working on these products, she pays particular attention to materiality. Applying what she learnt about American hardwood through Discovered, she now works with abundant and sustainable timbers with high replacement rates. She says this also helps to reduce productions costs, thereby increasing commercial value through thoughtful design. ‘As a designer, I love the feeling of a design being produced into a physical product and being sold to more people. In that moment, it transcends from being a blueprint on the computer to a meaningful physical object that can influence people’s lives.’
Despite what she’s achieved, Wang doesn’t consider herself ‘successful’ at this point, since China’s design industry is still largely male dominated. However, she says that she gets ‘the sense that the design industry in China is moving towards gender equality.' 'We receive the same education, and the expectations of both genders in the industry are the same,’ she explains. ‘Like many other occupations, being a designer isn’t easy. The creation of a product requires wholehearted enthusiasm and engagement of body and mind, rather than treating it simply as a nine-to-five job.’
Looking ahead, Wang aspires to break new ground. ‘I hope to one day design a product that goes beyond being practical and aesthetically pleasing,’ she says. ‘Perhaps I’ll work with a unique manufacturing process, perhaps I could create a new economical and sustainable material, or maybe I could come up with a new design process or solve a difficult problem.’ Whatever the outcome may be, she hopes to ‘continue walking down the path of exploration.’
This story focuses on one of the young designers who has collaborated with the American Hardwood Export Council as part of the organisation’s aim to support of emerging talent around the world. AHEC is the leading international trade association for the US hardwood industry, representing the committed exporters among American hardwood companies and all the major US hardwood product trade associations. For over 25 years, AHEC has been at the forefront of international wood promotion, successfully building a distinctive and creative brand for American hardwoods and providing technical advice for manufacturers, specifiers and designers around the world.
Yunhan Wang’s Bloom collection in American walnut, designed for Chinese brand Tian Gong Zhi Zuo
