Press Release
Mei Tao Wan Brand Image by Zilong Chen Is Granted the Bronze A' Design Award in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design
Zilong Chen honored for graphics, illustration and visual communication design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 17, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Mei Tao Wan Brand Image by Zilong Chen, designed for City University of Macau, has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design category. The recognition forms part of the 2025 - 2026 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 Bronze A' Design Award Means
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
More About Mei Tao Wan Brand Image
Mei Tao Wan is a visual identity and wayfinding system for a cultural park on a historic ceramic site in Foshan, China. The design abstracts the structural lines of the Nanfeng Ancient Kiln district into a geometric skeleton. This skeleton forms a custom typeface of 26 letters and the numbers 0 to 9, together with geometric icons. The signage is made of high transparency acrylic and stainless steel with a black copper finish. Integrated LED lighting at the base keeps the text legible at night. The system links the history of the site with its new cultural function.
About Zilong Chen
The company is based in China and was founded in 2021. It is a brand design company focusing on visual design and visual planning.It has served large enterprises in China including Alibaba and WeChat.As a trendy and design-driven company, it takes design as the core to solve product problems. It always creates works that fit the current aesthetic and artistic conception.
Award Record
Zilong Chen is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Award
The A' Graphic Design Award is an international graphic design competition recognizing good graphic designs by best creative agencies and designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to graphic designers, communication designers, graphic artists and illustrators from all countries. Typical entries include logos, posters, infographics, brochures, packaging designs and business cards. The awarded graphic designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/graphics
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/180006
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/180006
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!180006
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/378777
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
- Mei Tao Wan Brand Image
- Function
- Brand Image
- Category
- Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Branding & Advertising and Arts
- Colors
- Gainsboro, Silver, Dark Gray, Light Gray and Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- City University of Macau
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Zilong Chen
- Country
- China
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #180006
Credits
- Team
- Designer：CHEN ZILONG
- Image Credits
- 5 : CHEN ZILONG
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- MEITAOWAN transforms the historic ceramic site in Foshan into a cultural hub. The design extracts the architectural structure of the Nanfeng Ancient Kiln historic district. This architectural DNA is rigorously applied to the wayfinding system evolving into a custom 3D typeface comprising 26 English letters and numbers 0 to 9. Distinct from traditional signage the implementation uses black glazed ceramics fired at 1800 degrees Celsius. This approach integrates the material soul of the site into the visual identity creating a system where every character is not just a sign but a durable eco friendly piece of ceramic art.
- Inspiration
- The inspiration is deeply rooted in the Nanfeng Ancient Kiln a living fossil of Foshan ceramic history. We analyzed the structural logic of the kiln sloping roofs and the surrounding historic brick buildings. By extracting these architectural lines we designed a geometric skeleton that forms the basis of the 26 letters and 0 to 9 digits. The choice of black glaze ceramic as the medium is a direct tribute to the site production heritage symbolizing the transformation of mud into eternal art through fire.
- Research
- The project addresses the challenge of revitalizing an industrial ruin into a modern cultural landmark. Research focused on the visual semantics of Shiwans ceramic history. By analyzing the structural lines of local heritage buildings the team developed a visual grammar that unifies the disparate spaces of the park. This approach ensures the brand identity is not just a label but a continuation of the site historical narrative providing a platform for artists to create and exhibit.
- Challenge
- The main challenge was to modernize traditional cultural symbols without losing their historical gravity. We needed to avoid cliché representations of ceramics while ensuring the wayfinding was functional. The solution lay in the strict geometric abstraction of the architecture converting physical building forms into a flexible typographic system that works across various scales and materials.
- Realization and Technology
- To contrast with the rough texture of the historic red brick buildings the signage system employs modern industrial materials high transparency acrylic and stainless steel with a black copper finish. A key technical innovation is the integrated LED lighting at the base which allows the text and icons to appear as if floating in the dark. This ensures maximum legibility for night time navigation while minimizing light pollution achieving a balance between safety guidance and artistic atmosphere.
- Operation and Interaction
- Visitors navigate the park using intuitive geometric icons derived from the brand architectural logic. The signage acts as a silent guide linear patterns on glass surfaces create a rhythmic visual play between transparency and privacy mimicking the stacking of ceramic tiles. This immerses visitors in the ceramic culture atmosphere immediately upon entry making wayfinding an integral part of the artistic experience rather than just a functional necessity.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in December 2023 in Foshan, China and finished in August 2024. The project is located in Shiwan, Foshan, Guangdong Province, China.
- Specifications
- Primary Physical Application Banners and Posters 600mm x 900mm. Wayfinding Totem 600mm x 1800mm x 150mm. Wall Signage 400mm x 400mm. Main Logo Application Variable sizes adapted to building facades. Materials Acrylic Stainless Steel with Black Copper Finish LED components.
- Keywords
- Visual Identity, Wayfinding System, Foshan Shiwan, Ceramic Culture, Architectural Typography, Urban Renewal, Industrial Heritage, Branding.
