With the development of productive forces, industrial design has become the fundamental strategy and effective means for enterprises to improve economic benefits and market competitiveness, and plays an increasingly important role in the economic lifeline of a country. Facts have proved that in the international market, the competition among countries has shifted from price competition and product quality competition to industrial design competition. A thorough study of the development of Japanese industrial design from scratch and its influence on Japan's economic development will help to improve the level and adjustment of China's industrial design.
First, the role of industrial design in Japan's economic development
The so-called industrial design, in a broad sense, refers to "a series of behaviors from conception to the establishment of practical implementation plans and expressed by clear means", including "the whole design process of production and service by modern means". In a narrow sense, product design is the core of industrial design, which mainly refers to those products related to people's clothing, food, housing, transportation and use.
After World War II, Japan rose rapidly, quickly catching up with many developed countries and becoming the second largest economy and trading power in the world after the United States. In just two or three decades, Japan has made such remarkable progress, in which industrial design has also played an important role. After Japan entered a ten-year economic recession in the 1990s, industrial design also played an important role in economic transformation and upgrading.
Second, the development stage of Japanese industrial design
Before World War II, Japan's civil industry and industrial design were not developed, and the trade was mainly based on processing, while the design directly imitated European and American samples. At this time, Japan has not yet established its own industrial characteristics and trade rules. "Cheap and good quality" is the most direct impression of Japan in foreign trade.
(A) the embryonic stage of Japanese industrial design development
The period of 1945- 1952 is the recovery period of Japanese industry and the embryonic period of Japanese industrial design. After the war, due to the serious damage caused by the war, most of the equipment in this industry could not be used, and the rest were outdated, with a total output value of only 30% before the war. During this period, Japan's industrial design and foreign trade were still in the enlightenment stage. There are not many excellent products. Many products are designed by engineers rather than professional designers, and the functional requirements of products are considered more, while the appearance, color and material are considered less. "Made in Japan" has basically no place in world trade.
At this time, the Japanese government deeply realized that to develop the economy, we must attach importance to industrial design. On the one hand, it is necessary to improve the industrial design awareness of enterprises and the whole people through publicity and education; on the other hand, it is necessary to learn from excellent designers and learn from the design concepts of excellent design countries. In 2008+095 1 year, Japan formally introduced industrial design into higher education, established the Department of Industrial Design of Chiba University, and opened the course of industrial design in Japan University of Arts, thus improving the quality of industrial design. 1952, Japan established the Industrial Design Association (JIDA), whose research direction closely followed the situation and trends from the beginning, and closely combined with the development of Japanese design circles and society.
In addition, in 195 1 year, the Japanese government invited raymond loewy, the most famous American industrial designer, to visit Japan. As the first designer to visit Japan, Raymond Loewy not only brought the industrial design course to Japan, but also introduced the latest industrial design theory, technology and design situation in the world at that time, and personally designed the packaging of famous "Heping" brand cigarettes for Japanese enterprises. Luo's visit to Japan has greatly promoted the development of Japanese design industry.
(B) the initial stage of Japanese industrial design
The period of 1953- 1960 was the initial stage of Japanese industrial design, and the development of industrial design promoted the sustainable development of economy and trade. Since the mid-1950s, the Japanese government and commercial consortia have provided financial support to send students to the United States and Western Europe to study industrial design and collect design experience from Europe and America. And bring back the most advanced design concept. During this period, Japanese industrial design paid attention to the batch and standardization of production line design, which made the output of industrial products such as TV sets, automobiles, motorcycles and household appliances surge. By 1960, the output of Japanese TV sets had reached 2.57 million, ranking second in the world. There are 6.5438+0.49 million motorcycles, ranking first in the world. At this time, "Made in Japan" has obvious imitation traces, but it quickly occupied a place in the international market through low prices, and the foreign trade volume increased greatly, making Japan a big trading country.
In the late 1950s, the convening of the World Design Congress became an opportunity for the all-round development of Japanese industrial design, and Japanese industrial design entered its heyday. 1957, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan has established a "good design selection system" and a "G-level" mark on the excellent product certificate to protect good designs and prevent inventions from being counterfeited and patents from being infringed. Subsequently, Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry published the article "The Influence of Time Changes on Design Policy", which shows that the government attaches importance to design in this extraordinary period. Establish GK (Japan Design Award) industrial design institution in Japan; Join the International Federation of Industrial Design Associations (ICSID). Many large Japanese companies actively cooperate with the government's actions, and have set up their own design departments and product development departments, and invested a lot of money in industrial design of products, changing from imitation to independent creation and characteristics. They not only apply Japanese national culture to industrial design and integrate it into high-tech products, but also attach great importance to places that are often ignored by industrial design countries such as Europe and America. Meticulous, fully embodies the people-oriented thinking, forming a major feature of modern design, modern manufacturing and modern trade in Japan, and successfully enhancing the trade image of Japanese products. Japanese products quickly occupied the international market, and Japan became a trading power.
(C) Japan's industrial design has entered a mature stage of development.
From the 1960s to the mid-1980s, after the world experienced two oil crises, the energy-saving and resource-saving designs and practical and reasonable product designs introduced by Japanese industrial designers played an important role in the transformation and upgrading of industrial structure. The World Designers' Congress was held in Japan on 1948+0972. It indicates that the status of Japanese design has been recognized internationally. During this period, Japan gradually transformed into an industrial production structure with heavy chemical industry, energy-saving and high value-added processing and assembly, and technology-intensive pillar industries as the main body. The level of industrial technology ranks in the forefront of the world, and "Made in Japan" enjoys a worldwide reputation. Many industrial products occupy a considerable share of the international market, and it has developed from a small trading country to a world trade export country. With the status of "world factory", it can be seen that industrial design and export have become the key to economic growth in Japan's economic development chain. According to the research of relevant international authorities, during the period of 1973- 1985, the contribution rate of Japan's net exports to GDP reached 42%. Comparatively speaking, other major capitalist developed countries in this period, except Germany, have similar indices. Italy and France are both 24%; The United States is19%; Only 9% in Britain, the ubiquitous industrial design is the main force to promote the internationalization of Japanese products and the surge in exports.
(D) Japan's industrial design has entered the world-class development level.
Since 1990s, Japanese industrial design has entered the world-class development level. 1989 World Design Congress and Design Expo was held in Japan, which further broadened the horizons of Japanese designers. 1993, according to the change of economic situation, the Japanese government published the article "The influence of time change on design policy" again, asking designers to adjust their design concepts and directions according to the changes of the times. In order to promote the transformation and upgrading of Japan's economy, Japanese designers timely adjusted their design concepts and applied internationally accepted design concepts such as barrier-free design, green design and universal design to industrial design, which played an important role in promoting the transformation and upgrading of Japan's economic structure and gradually stepping out of the decade-long economic recession.
Three. Enlightenment of Japanese Industrial Design Development to China
The key reason why Japanese industrial design can play a vital role in Japan's economic development lies in the government's intervention. The Japanese government directly supports enterprises to send designers to study in Europe and America, and invites foreign design experts to give lectures in Japan to help enterprises train design talents. In order to strengthen the guiding role of industrial design in economic development, the government has also formulated a series of relevant design laws and regulations, such as the Regulations on Export Commodities and the Selection System for Excellent Products. Establish the concept that design is "innovation", guide enterprise design to keep pace with the times, let industrial design serve economic restructuring, and promote economic transformation and upgrading. Japanese experience enlightens us that China needs to improve its industrial design level in order to realize the transformation from a big trading country to a powerful trading country.
First of all, the government should play an active role of intervention and guidance to promote the development of industrial design in China. By formulating relevant laws, regulations and policies, we will establish mechanisms and strategies to encourage and guide the development of industrial design and promote the improvement of China's industrial design level. Actively participate in various international exchange activities and relevant international organizations, strengthen international exchanges, introduce foreign design talents and design concepts, and promote the concept that design serves economic development in China, so as to promote industrial design to serve economic restructuring and social development; Actively support the financial development of industrial design for small and medium-sized enterprises and promote their innovative development.
Second, trade associations should play a good role as a bridge between the government and enterprises, actively promote industrial design to serve the adjustment of economic structure, actively explore the strategy of China's industrial design to keep pace with the times by holding international forums, international exhibitions and seminars, and make suggestions for the adjustment of national economic structure; Trade associations should also become the integration platform, publicity platform and design activity platform of China's industrial design forces.
Third, the quality and level of industrial design education in China's higher education should be greatly improved. At present, only a few universities in China offer industrial design courses, and industrial design is still a "cold" major. At the same time, due to the shortage of teachers, some orthodox industrial design theories and methods have not yet fully entered the field of design education in China, which has affected the cultivation of high-quality talents. In view of this, we should establish a design research and development center, train high-level design talents, and improve the level and practicability of industrial design in China. By hiring foreign experts and sending overseas students for further study, the education level of industrial design in China will be improved.