Many Things are Nicely Made in China

[Tiffany Wan]

Most of us Westerners feel that anything made in China is cheap, either in price and/or quality. Nicely Made in China proves to inform us otherwise. Lionel Derimais, a photographer for over 30 years, is behind the blog that features a weekly original, beautifully crafted, and skillfully designed product or service- from China. I had the chance to chat with Mr. Derimais to learn more about how design is changing in China. For example, one of his recent posts feature Neri and Hu, who's studio shows that design in China is going beyond pure production and manufacturing to embracing, exploring, and producing with unique materials and techniques. We also discussed how NMiC is contributing to the change in perception of Chinese manufactured goods from jewelry to musical instruments, accessories and even surfboards.

DMB: Can you give us some background about yourself? You’re a professional photographer, how and why did you come to China?

LD: I’ve been a photographer all my life, a photographer for over 30 years. I wanted to cover the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and came to China in 2005. The country is still very interesting after the Olympics and I decided to stay longer to figure out where to go next, as all freelancers do. Then, the opportunity to start NMiC came about and it’s bringing me back to China and allowing me to stay. The next step is to turn it into a profitable website.

 

DMB: The introduction of your site says: “Nicely Made in China will help you source products and services to satisfy export markets and increasingly discerning Chinese consumers.”

LD: The sourcing thing is not the sourcing, as you usually understand. Not sourcing like finding electronics or door handles, if you want door handles it will be quality sourcing and craftsmanship. 

DMB: You started NMiC almost a year ago, are you seeing any patterns or trends from starting NMiC blog?  Anything you’ve noticed in this past year versus your initial China experience?

LD: Well, there’s no specific trend. It’s going in every direction, as happens in emerging markets. I’ve noticed that I have featured a lot of foreigners, for example, but not by choice. There are a lot of women, as I’m sure you’ve noticed all the women featured as well. That’s one trend: many, many women are starting companies. There are so many entrepreneurial women in China. If there is [a trend] in design, I don’t see it. It’s coming out in every angle. Maybe if you ask me the same question in a year or two, I will probably give you a more sensible answer. Chinese designers are still experimenting. As you can see with one of my recent posts, Neri and Hu, the trend is a lot of Western educated designers.

 

DMB: Yes, I’ve noticed that many of the people you’ve already interviewed are mainly Western educated. Do you think that a Western education has an affect on the goods that are being produced in China? Will we see more local, Chinese designers?

LD: Westerners had a head start in the last 20 years. And China is closing the gap very quickly. As a foreigner myself, I don’t yet have access to the Chinese designers. They exist. I would need to be more on the ground and seek them out.

 

DMB: How do you find and connect with these wonderful designers and makers?

LD: At first I was working with people around me and people I was recommended to.  And they are just in front of me. It’s true the first few months, I’ve been taking what’s visible and there’s lots that is obvious, but I also want to feature more local designers.

 

DMB: Do you see NMiC as a way to bridge the constantly referenced gap of East-West in anyway?

LD: I’m a little drop of water in the sea of people who are doing that. I hope NMiC shows people out there that there are interesting things happening in China. When you talk to people abroad, people think anything made in China is crap, made by 10 year old children; that definitely has to change. If NMiC does its share to share the truth, that adults are working in decent conditions, I’ll be happy.

 

DMB: I see your blog as a wonderful way to educate and share information to both foreigners and locals. And NMiC has already gained some publicity, where do you see the blog going in the future and it’s contribution to the design community?

LD: Design Day, as in publish a story on design every Monday or Tuesday each week. And having two to three industries that I would focus on. Maybe fashion and things like that because people are interested in that. In the future, I would like to go underground, where other people don’t go, like Chinese universities, go more into the heart of the matter, rather than just the surface.

 

DMB: Anything you’d like to add?

LD: There’s always one thing I’d like to add. Westerners always think that the goods that come out of China is crap, and if it’s quality they think they think it should be cheap. We need to fight and show that quality in China doesn’t have to be cheap. The Chinese also have to work at the right price. They shouldn’t accept top quality for the lowest price: at the right price, not over or under priced, at the right price. 

 

*Photos courtesy of NMiC