On May 5th, Professor Phil Cleaver, a renowned design expert from the UK, was invited to visit Beijing City University for an academic exchange and gave a lecture titled City Image Design for faculty members and students from School of Art Design. Teachers who attended the event included Professor Wang Limin, Dean of the School of Art Design, Secretary-General Liu Cunfang of the China-European International Design Culture Association, Associate Professor Wang Di, Dr.Li Tianyi, and other teachers and students in the School of Arts Design.
Pro.Phil Cleaver, Chinese name Gao Yunfei, is the Design Director of ETAL Design Consultants Ltd, the Art Director of the Type Museum, a professor in the creative industries field at Middlesex University, a visiting professor of visual communication at Birmingham City University, and a fellow of Hereford College of Arts. He is also the Executive Director of the China-European International Design Culture Association (CEIDA), and a part-time professor at the School of Design in Taylor's University in Malaysia. With over 40 years of experience in design, he has held key positions at Pentagram Design, as well as Wolff Olins,the designer of the London Olympic logo.
His major honors include being a Chartered Society of Designers member, a International Society of Typographic Designers member, a Royal Academy of Arts member and Honorary Fellow, a Design and Art Direction member, a Yellow Pencil Club member, a Double Crown Club member.
He has won several major awards, including the D&AD Yellow Pencil Award, the D&AD Annual Award for his book The Ottomans: Splendour and the Arabic Influence in Antwerp's Golden Age and the Evening Standard Best Small Business Annual Report Award.
During the lecture, Professor Phil introduced his research interests and current work to the students, and shared vivid examples of his cross-cultural background, combining specific cases and current research hotspots. He used the image design scheme of Cardiff City Council as an example, which includes a dragon - a typical Welsh symbol. This unique image meets the standards of all brand essence. He introduced the vision behind the case design, the story behind it, and the direction of the city council's future development, explaining how successful branding can transform a city into a place where people want to live, work, and visit, and also promote the development of municipal resources and the promotion of urban culture.
After the lecture, Professor Phil interacted and exchanged ideas with the students. He also gave away signed gifts and took photos with them, which created a warm atmosphere on site. The students expressed that they were deeply inspired and benefited a lot from the lecture, and thanked Professor Phil for his wonderful sharing with enthusiastic applause.
Pro.Wang Limin made a concluding speech, sincerely thanking Professor Phil for his visit and good wishes to the students. He also stated that the school will continue to actively carry out cultural promotion and academic exchange activities at home and abroad, further increasing professional interaction with international scholars, continuously optimizing and upgrading the forms and contents of cooperation, and promoting the internationalization development of the School to a new level.
