Press Release
Golden A' Design Award in Cultural Heritage and Culture Industry Design Goes to AI Sealer Personalized Service System by Wenqi Wu and Liang Hou
The international grand jury of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Wenqi Wu and Liang Hou for cultural heritage and culture industry design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 19, 2025 /DesignNewswire/ AI Sealer Personalized Service System by Wenqi Wu and Liang Hou, designed for Zhejiang University, has been granted the Golden A' Design Award in the Cultural Heritage and Culture Industry Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The award was conferred within the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Golden A' Design Award Means
The Gold A' Design Award is granted to designs that demonstrate a high level of innovation and a significant impact on their intended audience. Recognized as a major achievement by the A' Design Awards, these designs are characterized by their visionary approach and the exceptional skill of their creators. Winners of the Gold A' Design Award are noted for their ability to push the envelope in art, science, design, and technology, delivering solutions that not only meet but exceed expectations. These designs serve as benchmarks for excellence, encouraging further innovation and inspiring future generations of designers.
About AI Sealer Personalized Service System
AI Sealer is a personalized seal design and carving system that combines traditional Chinese seal carving with intelligent manufacturing. Users create a seal in three steps: text input, character style selection, and layout adjustment. Deep learning models reproduce ancient seal characters in several traditional styles. An intelligent carving machine with automatic dust extraction and precise tool positioning completes the engraving in about five minutes. Each design can also be certified as a digital token or applied to items such as canvas bags and electronics.
About Wenqi Wu and Liang Hou
Wenqi Wu is a designer integrating digital and intelligent technologies with product development. Wu’s practice focuses on revitalizing traditional arts through technology for cultural preservation and innovation. Key work includes developing art digitalization techniques, resulting in multiple patents and academic publications. The practice has earned recognition through international design awards and national innovation competitions. Their applied systems have supported major public events, noted for blending technological advancement, cultural heritage, and real-world impact.
Award Record
With this recognition, Wenqi Wu and Liang Hou is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Cultural Heritage and Culture Industry Design Award
The A' Cultural Heritage Design Award is an international design competition recognizing good designs that preserve, protect, and promote cultural heritage. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to cultural heritage designers, culture industry professionals, cultural heritage specialists and museum designers from all countries. Typical entries include cultural heritage projects, cultural conversation, preservation and restoration and protection projects. The awarded cultural heritage designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/cultural-heritage
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/165883
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/165883
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!165883
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/360992
- Further Information from the Laureate: http://www.next.zju.edu.cn/seal/#/
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- AI Sealer Personalized Service System
- Function
- Personalized Service System
- Category
- Cultural Heritage and Culture Industry Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Arts and Social Impact
- Colors
- Dark Slate Gray, White Smoke, Light Gray, Black and Silver
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Zhejiang University
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Wenqi Wu and Liang Hou
- Country
- China
- Recognition
- Golden A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2024 - 2025
- Design ID
- #165883
Credits
- Team
- Wenqi Wu, Liang Hou, Hanshu Shen, Yehang Yin, Fengting Ge, Chongjun Zhong, Songruoyao Wu, Mingwei Chen, Zizhen Hong, Yanji Zhao, Lvkesheng Shen and Jiaxing Yu and others
- Image Credits
- The above material comes from our own team.
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- AI Sealer combines Chinese traditional seal carving craft with intelligent manufacturing machines. Users can easily create personalized seals personalized seals through a simple three-step process: text input, character style selection, and layout adjustment. Additionally, each seal creation can be certified as an NFT. Beyond digital design, users can physicalize their seals with our carving machine or apply their unique digital seals to products such as canvas bags and electronics.
- Inspiration
- Seal carving, a world-class cultural heritage, holds significance in East Asian culture but is fading due to its declining practicality and complex production. AI Sealer addresses this by combining intelligent manufacturing with user-friendly design, preserving the craft while making it accessible to the public. Users can participate in the design process without specialized knowledge, equipment, or skills.
- Research
- Seal carving, deeply rooted in East Asian traditional cultural heritage, faces significant challenges due to its complex process and the high level of skill required from practitioners. To preserve this ancient craft in contemporary society, we designed AI Sealer, a system that aims to simplify and modernize seal design through the integration of digital and physical applications while maintaining its artistic essence. Furthermore, AI Sealer establishes a new ecosystem that seamlessly connects design, production, and consumption.
- Challenge
- Preserving and digitalizing traditional seal carving faces challenges due to differences between seal script and modern Chinese characters, complicating character conversion and recognition. The art requires precise microscopic carving, demanding exceptional control over stroke thickness and positioning. Additionally, the practical applications for seals have diminished, calling into question the modern relevance of this traditional craft. Addressing these issues requires a comprehensive approach that tackles technical digitalization while preserving artistic authenticity and developing new applications to maintain the craft's significance today.
- Realization and Technology
- AI Sealer use advanced deep learning models to replicate ancient seal characters in various styles, offering a personalized design experience. The system analyzes historical seal scripts, allowing users to choose from diverse traditional styles. The intelligent carving machine features automatic dust extraction and precise tool positioning, ensuring a clean, accurate engraving process. This integration makes traditional seal carving more accessible while preserving its authenticity and quality.
- Operation and Interaction
- AI Sealer simplifies personalized seal creation. Users design their seals through an intuitive interface, customizing text, fonts, and layout. After finalizing the design, they select a carving machine via Google Maps and scan a QR code upon arrival. The machine then generates the toolpath, completing the precise carving in just five minutes. The finished seals serve various purposes, from stamping to art collections, with an option to convert designs into NFTs.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in Hangzhou, China, in December 2022 and was completed in Decemeber 2024.
- Specifications
- The app features a responsive mobile interface optimized for various screen sizes. The intelligent carving machine measures 421mm in length, 421mm in depth, and 457mm in height. It is made from high-quality materials such as magnesium-aluminum alloy, black PVC, aluminum, tungsten steel, stainless steel, and others to ensure durability, functionality, and performance.
- Keywords
- Seal Carving, Intelligent Design, NFT, Traditional Craft, Modern Technology
