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Design Tastemaker: Sian Zeng's Magical Prints
Enchanting magnetic wallpaper, surreal cushions and more add an element of fantasy to indoor spaces
Sian Zeng's upbringing was anything but normal. Born in China, she moved to Hungary with her parents when she was seven years old. The many fairy tales she absorbed growing up have influenced her current work, which showcases flying pigs, magnetic wallpaper, talking donkeys and bespectacled bears.
"Being the only Chinese girl in the class meant that for almost six months, I had no other means of communicating with my Hungarian classmates than my illustrations or hand gesturing," says Zeng. "At the time, I loved looking at these beautifully drawn pictures in Hungarian folktale books. I obsessively copied and altered those images so that they would become my stories to tell to my classmates." Her interest in visual story telling has continued in the products she designs.
"Design and art were something I was always interested in, but it wasn’t popular with my Chinese parents, so I had to obtain an economics degree first before I went to Central Saint Martins to study ... which then lead me to a three-year B.A. textile design course," Zeng says.
"Since then I’ve done several client projects and started my own company." She won last year's Elle Dekor's (Hungary) Young Talent of the Year Award and is currently working on expanding her products to speak to a young, mobile demographic with ever-changing decor needs.
"Being the only Chinese girl in the class meant that for almost six months, I had no other means of communicating with my Hungarian classmates than my illustrations or hand gesturing," says Zeng. "At the time, I loved looking at these beautifully drawn pictures in Hungarian folktale books. I obsessively copied and altered those images so that they would become my stories to tell to my classmates." Her interest in visual story telling has continued in the products she designs.
"Design and art were something I was always interested in, but it wasn’t popular with my Chinese parents, so I had to obtain an economics degree first before I went to Central Saint Martins to study ... which then lead me to a three-year B.A. textile design course," Zeng says.
"Since then I’ve done several client projects and started my own company." She won last year's Elle Dekor's (Hungary) Young Talent of the Year Award and is currently working on expanding her products to speak to a young, mobile demographic with ever-changing decor needs.
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| What inspires your work? I draw a lot of inspiration from stories, be it ancient narratives or something that I have experienced myself. I love stories that are funny or a bit weird. I translate those ideas into products so that other people can also experience the stories. With my magnetic woodlands wallpaper, I wanted to create something that allowed users to tell their own tales using the magnetic characters, buildings and dry-wipe speech bubbles. |
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What projects are you working on now?
I am now working on a series of magnetic boards similar to the magnetic woodlands wallpaper that people can easily hang in their homes. Many people may move around a lot or are renting a flat, so these smaller hangable magnetic wallpaper boards will allow them to easily take their magnetic wallpaper with them wherever they move. It can be a piece of art on the wall that changes as you move the magnetic characters, buildings, flowers around and write in the speech bubbles.
I am now working on a series of magnetic boards similar to the magnetic woodlands wallpaper that people can easily hang in their homes. Many people may move around a lot or are renting a flat, so these smaller hangable magnetic wallpaper boards will allow them to easily take their magnetic wallpaper with them wherever they move. It can be a piece of art on the wall that changes as you move the magnetic characters, buildings, flowers around and write in the speech bubbles.
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This magical woodlands wallpaper print in toile is printed in England with ecofriendly inks on paper made from sustainably harvested trees.
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Zeng understands how often our thought patterns change throughout the day. That's why her thought bubble magnets let you write your thoughts over and over again with a dry-erase pen.
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| Using solvent-free inks, Zeng hand-makes and screen-prints these soft toy bears ... |
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... and this giant pair of scissors. Both can be used as graphic throws or pin cushions and are 100 percent machine-washable cotton calico.
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What and who are your design inspirations?
I have a huge admiration for Tim Walker, the fashion photographer. His photos always tell an epic tale and are staged so beautifully. Even though a lot of his themes come from well known fairy tales, he has managed to twist them and present them in a poetic and quirky way.
I have a huge admiration for Tim Walker, the fashion photographer. His photos always tell an epic tale and are staged so beautifully. Even though a lot of his themes come from well known fairy tales, he has managed to twist them and present them in a poetic and quirky way.
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| What are some of your favorite design trends at the moment? I’ve noticed that people love to make their own things and like to buy kits which they can then put together. I’m a big fan of kits or DIY tricks I read on various blogs myself. When they actually work, it's fantastic, and when they fail they become another item in the closet that you will feel bad throwing away for another few years. Do you still draw by hand, or is everything digital in your studio? I mostly draw my designs by hand first and then manipulate them digitally. There are still a lot of advantages with drawing by hand. For example, you can use a huge variety of mark-making tools; the colors mix more randomly, and I feel that I have a better control over my drawings when I draw by hand. On the other hand, drawing digitally with a tablet allows you to manipulate the image more easily to change its shape, touch up on areas, create different colorways and repeat patterns. The most important thing on your work desk is ... A series of colorful plastic mini animals on top of my computer. They look like they are on a march on my computer. I have them there because they make me laugh when I get into my studio in the morning. Also, they remind me when my computer needs dusting. More: Tastemaker: Meet Reiko Kaneko's Modern China Tastemakers: Object Creative DIY Project: Wallpaper Goes Mobile |
Ideabook published on April 9, 2012.
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We have realized that many people novadays move around a lot so we are now developing magnetic boards with my design on so that people can hang the boards on the wall instead of wallpapering.
If you have any questions about the wallpaper please feel free to contact me on info@sianzeng.com
Looking forward to hear from you all!
Sian
So I need to get my notebook and start making lists of ideas to work on!