Since its establishment in 2007, the HC28, which has taken the road of original design since its birth, is unexpectedly praised and applauded.

 Unlike many designer furniture brands whose customers are mainly from designers, more than 80% of its customers come directly from the C-side. The self-contained HC28 has taken another development path of contemporary Chinese furniture design.

Li Jianwei, the founder of HC28, likes to climb the wild Great Wall in his spare time on weekends. HC28 was founded to fight for a breath. "In the era when there is no modern means of transportation, the Han people can especially build such a huge project in the high mountains. Today, why don't we believe that China can make its own design brand furniture company?"

Don't follow the trend, go your own way. HC28 must become an international original design brand.

Why can HC28 succeed without following the trend?

In the 1980s, the international furniture industry was reorganized and the furniture manufacturing industry shifted from developed countries and regions to developing countries, and China became a production and processing base in the world's industrial chain. At that time, most domestic enterprises adopted a low-cost, low-risk OEM model for their growth. The contemporary Chinese furniture design that has just started, can only take reference and imitation as the main countermeasures.

There is nothing wrong with borrowing and imitating. Germany in the early days of the European Industrial Revolution and Japan after World War II all started from "imitating design". Unfortunately, most Chinese furniture companies stop at this stage after making huge profits. The inertia of design and development has made contemporary Chinese furniture design not recognized by international counterparts for a long time.

Li Jianwei said: "Whether from the national level or the enterprise level, we realize that without core competitiveness, we will be controlled by the market and people. For the past two centuries, China has been gradually developing under an environment of external suppression. I believe that contemporary Chinese furniture design will eventually lead to the Phoenix Nirvana. At that time, we need to embrace the rest of the world with a broad mind."

According to the standards of the National Science and Technology Commission, companies should devote 3% of their sales to R&D and design, and the investment in HC28 accounts for more than 5%. In addition to a design and R&D team of more than 20 people, HC28 has also established various forms of cooperation mechanisms with more than 30 Chinese and foreign designers, including MasayukiKurokawa, Liang Zhitian, and Zhou Chenchen. There were more than 300 design proposals received last year alone, and this number will be refreshed this year.

"From more than 300 proposals, we selected a proposal with innovative design and market potential, and then sampled and produced it. This is what we do every day. This is the direct reason why HC28 has been able to maintain a stable output of new products. This is also the fundamental reason why HC28 products can make designers willing to recommend and consumers willing to pay for it."

What does it mean to endure not to follow suit?

Prior to the establishment of HC28, Li Jianwei had many years of experience as an agent for international brands, coupled with the overseas study background, he has the advantage in terms of knowledge structure, ability and resources. However, it is precisely because the starting point is too "high" to choose the road of original design since its establishment, HC28 has experienced a difficult start-up period.

OEMs only need to solve the problem of product appearance, and solve the uncertain factors of consumers when they buy through design imitating behavior; follow-up designers only need to solve the immediate market demand and obtain temporary profits through the flow of play; and originality designers need to face more complex problems. It can be said that "original design" is a comprehensive method that combines product design with market operations to realize consumer demand, market competition, and economic gaming. Neither can it be too close to the current market and become a product that follows the trend, nor can it be too close to the category of art, creating a gap with consumers. Whether it can find a balance point is the key to success, and this is not an easy task. HC28 took ten years to explore.

In ten years, sort out three kinds of relationships!

The first relationship is the relationship between the design brand and the designer.

This is divided into three dimensions: ①The brand clearly knows what it wants, and at the same time, it can clearly express its needs to the designer, instead of letting the designer do their own design; ②The designer selected by the brand must have a "common language with the brand in the design context" "of;③Brands can empower designers in many aspects such as craftsmanship, materials and aesthetics, and create better design works together.

The second relationship is the relationship between design and market.

Product design is not only creative, but also suitable for the market. Designs that do not have market potential cannot survive. Brands must know how to control market demand, select and produce designs that can be accepted and recognized by the market.

The third relationship is the relationship between design and factory.

We can't realize the design with artistic methods, but need to restore the design with the concept of industrialization, efficient and sustainable.

After more than ten years of combing and polishing, we and the market have become more confident. Now, we think about the relationship between modernity and tradition, the relationship between ourselves and the world from our own perspective.

After experiencing the impact of the waves of customization and replacement, HC28 has maintained a steady growth trend. Li Jianwei believes that the key is to believe in the underlying logic. He believes that every year there will be various changes in the industry, and as a brand, you must see some constant things, and then build a development strategy on this basis. "You must have your own brand DNA, and all evolution must take place on the mainline. You cannot follow the trend of developing new products, you cannot open many stores because of a product with traffic, and you cannot take the pursuit of economic efficiency as the only goal. You must bear loneliness."

HC28-IHOME Emma series

In the eyes of social scholar Yin Zhixian, Li Jianwei is a person with professional dignity. Don't work hard because people don't know, don't shirk responsibility because they don't understand. As a brand owner, he needs to be profitable, but he never slackens the quality. Every time he develops a new product, he has to go to the factory to stare. Some people treat business trips as hard labor, and they will enjoy them as life, staying in a design hotel, and eating seasonal delicacies.

The character of the founder is deeply embedded in the DNA of HC28.

What is the uniqueness of HC28?

Yin Zhixian is a sociologist and a user of the first generation of HC28. She said: "I was particularly impressed by the colorful paint-baked pier (TOY). Baking lacquer is a traditional craft, and the shape of the pier can also be found in traditional Chinese furniture. The traditional craftsmanship and traditional utensils are actually not traditional. It feels very modern and refreshing in a modern space."

HC28-TOY toy seat

Liang Zhitian, a world-renowned Chinese designer who has cooperated with many international big names, gave a very high evaluation after cooperating with HC28 for the "PianPian" series. He said: "We adhere to a very high standard in the production process and detail processing. I really appreciate the point of HC28, which allows us to design products more perfectly."

Li Jianwei believes that there is no craftsmanship, no design. In terms of design, the gap between China and the world is not big, and the real challenge lies in craftsmanship. Without good craftsmanship, no matter how good the design is, it will not fall to the ground.

In the Lombardy region of Italy, there are almost all the conditions for design practice, whether it is materials, structure or process technology, as long as the designer puts forward the requirements, someone will definitely help him realize it. In China, it is difficult to do well as long as it goes beyond the conventional products. First, the supply chain is particularly difficult to find, and secondly, the suppliers are difficult to understand, and the final product is not so well completed.

"When we make more and more complex and heterogeneous products, it is difficult to complete without a certain technological ability, structural ability, and production capacity as the support. We need to cultivate a high-quality team, including the entire industry also need to continue to improve ."

HC28 has a principle of breaking through one or two new processes every year, challenging the boundaries of its own capabilities. They believe that only by constantly breaking through the boundaries of design, craftsmanship, and quality can the brand continue to move forward.

HC28-process details

Chinese designers are also very good!

In the eyes of his peers, Li Jianwei has an advantage, that is, he is very good at communicating with foreign designers. However, he feels that since the establishment of HC28, what he is most proud of is that he has spared no effort to support Chinese original design forces. "China needs original designers who can lead the world's design trends. There are many potential and creative designers among the new generation of Chinese designers. They just lack an opportunity and platform, and we are willing to do our best."

In Milan Design Week 2016, HC28 cooperated with the new generation of Chinese designer Zhou Chenchen to launch the BOLD series. BOLD was invited to return to Milan's "SaloneSatellite 20th Anniversary Exhibition" and became a Chinese design in the "NYC×DESIGN Awards" of New York Design Week. During this period, Zhou Chenchen became the first Chinese designer to be personally awarded the "SaloneSatellite Design Award" by the former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

HC28-BOLD Armchair

In addition to Zhou Chenchen, HC28 has also pushed many new-generation Chinese designers such as Li Ximi and Cai Liechao. Zhou Chenchen said: "HC28 has unique values, propositions and souls. The highest level of cooperation in the world is to reach a consensus based on values and the same vision. With a consensus, the next thing will be smooth, because you want to the things to express and the questions to think about are all on the same channel."

According to official website data, HC28 currently has 104 specialty stores, including 73 stores in Mainland China, 7 stores in Asia (excluding Mainland China), 7 stores in the Americas, 7 stores in Oceania, and 1 store in Africa. The initial layout shows its ambition to compete in the international market. However, those who have this ambition don't know where they are, and there are bound to be many who will sink the sand. Whether HC28 can break through or not, it will take time to witness.

Slower and faster

For this year's Design Spring Exhibition, HC28 only did two things, one is looking back, and the other is looking forward. Through the re-interpretation of classic products, it tells the development history of HC28; presents the four seasons through the exhibition hall space, showing its thinking about the future, including four dimensions: future-oriented design, technology and wisdom, ecology and sustainability, and art.

It is a common practice for most brands to launch new products at the exhibition. In this exhibition, HC28 did not follow the rules. Li Jianwei said: "We must restrain and restrain the launch of new products to ensure that the six months to one year new product launch cycle will not be broken. Launching new products too intensively will easily lead to frequent elimination of potential products. We should pay more attention than quantity. It' s quality, which we can think outside the product and build consumer perceptions of the brand.”

Wen Hao, chief curator of Design Spring, believes that the foundation of the successful development of HC28 is to stick to value, create value, and share value. As one of the earliest design-driven brands in the Chinese furniture industry, it plays an important role in demonstrating the development of Chinese furniture brands and leads the transformation and upgrading of the industry.

Where is the road to design industrialization?

HC, Home Collection.

28. The earliest factory is 28 kilometers away from the Forbidden City in Beijing.

HC28 early plant

HC28 has a modern factory of 50,000 square meters. The investment in equipment is increasing year by year. They have two principles: what can be done by the machine, try not to be done by others; if you can find a cooperator, don't produce it yourself.

Integrating the world's best design resources, material resources, technical resources, and marketing resources is one of HC28's efforts. Li Jianwei believes that China's next decade will be a particularly golden decade. People's yearning for a better life will continue. Great market prospects are a great opportunity for the development of the furniture industry. In this context, design industrialization is particularly important. "A country that has truly developed well and has done a good job in design must be an industrialized operation."

After decades of rapid development, the Chinese furniture industry has become quite mature in terms of procurement, production, warehousing, logistics and sales. These have not only promoted the development of Chinese furniture design, but also laid a material foundation for the development of original design.

"If more and more factories and enterprises can adhere to the road of design innovation and insist on making differentiated products, then the realization of design industrialization will not be a castle in the sky. If everyone is doing homogenous things on the same track, It is difficult to realize the industrialization of design." Li Jianwei said.

Conclusion

With 14 years of practice, HC28 has designed a brand for contemporary Chinese furniture and has taken a different development path, namely: brand-based, design-based, market-based, and craft-based. It is the footnote that the development of China's furniture industry is gradually moving towards maturity, and it is also a road of rational development that gradually moves towards maturity.

HC28 also gave a definite answer: Chinese manufacturing companies and local designers have the opportunity to develop better, and China is not synonymous with plagiarism and poor quality. Inviting "foreign designers" to recite scriptures is the norm for home furnishing companies, but HC28 is willing to give patience and equal opportunities to Chinese growing local designers while cooperating with international big-name designers in the initial stage. This kindness is the entrepreneurial feelings and firm ideals and beliefs. Facts are also proving the power of this belief. Those young local Chinese designers who initially cooperated with HC28 have also become the up-and-coming domestic designers.