Design Talents in China

Article in Xin Wen Chen Bao, on February 19th, 2009

1. What are the effects of the global economic crisis on the future of design talents in China?
An economic slowdown calls for fewer people with better skills. People with excellent creative thinking abilities, graphic skills, and striving talent will have the upper hand. On an ever increasing level, design talents will need to ask "how" instead of answering yes or no, be comfortable with doing things that they have not done before, and embrace a variety of media with particular focus on any imaginable space between the brand and its consumers.

2. What is the career outlook for creative talents in China?
China's GDP is still expected to grow for many years to come. Secondly, marketing, branding, and connecting to the customers are essential to drive business. Therefore, I am positive about the industry's future and opportunities for creative talents with a strong work ethic and client orientation.

3. What are the major weaknesses of local designers in China?
The main weaknesses of local designers are relatively weak conceptual and English skills. These weaknesses can be overcome by studying and practicing different kinds of art forms, actively engaging in brainstorming sessions, and being committed to continuous learning. In the early career stage, local designers should concentrate on enhancing design skills, learning to manage time and project challenges effectively and efficiently, demonstrating high quality standards consistently, and striving to understand brand essence.

4. What does TBWA\Group\China do to retain creative professionals?
We provide our Employees with opportunities to work on fun, challenging, and exciting projects for world class brands and offer competitive salary and compensation packages with an environment conducive for initiative, creativity, and collaboration. Training and development are also strong pillars of our culture. Last year we launched many new initiatives including Performance Conversation Model, an Organizational Climate Survey as part of the Workforce Scorecard, and RedSlash Awards (employee recognition program). What's more, we create opportunities to build stronger bonds in the workplace. People that easily integrate into our culture are ambitious, open-minded, and honest; while disruption (our philosophy, methodology, and cultural glue) continuously helps us to attract them.

5. What role does Raffles Design Institute play in training creative professionals for the industry?
I appreciate all relationships that TBWA\Group\China has with the educational community in Shanghai. Raffles has been successful at identifying, educating, and inspiring new talent and is one of our key recruitment destinations. In the past, we have been very lucky to work with some of the best students from Raffles. Currently, nearly 10% of our Employees come from our UN-intern program which Raffles and other tertiary institutions partake in.