We speak to A-Jian, graphic and packaging designer, and founder of Liangchen Brand Design, sharing his inspirational journey adding value to the packaging design industry

Tell us something about yourself

I have enjoyed art since I was a child, and I started my design career after graduating from high school after studying art for three years. Before I set up my own design studio, I worked for a design company with a business in real estate promotion in Shenzhen, China. After working hard in the agency, I became seriously ill and burned out.

I spent more than a year recovering, and it made me think seriously about the meaning of life — how to maintain a work-life balance and incorporate a healthy lifestyle. Of course, it took me some time to figure out what the meaning of life really is. I replaced a mundane and unhealthy lifestyle and started to develop ideas for establishing my own studio, despite the uncertainties waiting ahead.

What is the story behind your agency/independent studio? What inspired you and what is the driving force behind it?

With my health and the awakening to a more meaningful lifestyle, I began to think about my target clients for my design studio. Growing up in the countryside of China, I have a great affection for countryside life and agricultural products. Inspired by this, I wanted to add more value and meaning to Chinese agricultural products through new design techniques and styles, breaking the old stereotype that ‘farm produce is always tacky’.

Wuming orah tangerine packaging

Chinese agricultural products needed a brand new voice and image to promote themselves in front of the younger generation, and I found my calling!

Why did a rural lifestyle and agriculture appeal to you? Has it impacted you as a designer?

As China's economy continues to develop, the living standard and the people’s way of life have evolved too which includes food, clothing, accommodation, and transportation, which are regarded as the ‘four basic needs of living’ in Chinese. And with a growing need for a healthy lifestyle, the quality of food became more important, and healthier lifestyles became people’s priorities. With this emotional value, I found my calling: packaging healthy products in interesting packs.

Honey melons packaging

A good design calls for an instant connection with the target audience, directly developing a relationship with the consumers and not only meeting their basic needs but also conveying spiritual and cultural inspirations.

How do you plan on making an impact in the packaging industry and your goals?

I became very interested in the study of developing strategies for rural revitalization, and that’s why quite a lot of my designs are for empowering the presentation of agricultural products for farmers in the countryside. I’ve found the meaning of my life as a designer. I’m inspired to give agricultural products a new life, making them less tacky and boring, as they were regarded traditionally, and to help the farmers sell more local products and live a better life.

Of course, my current design scope is not just limited to agricultural products but also involves other products, and being a designer without limits, exploring and learning new areas and forms of design will give me more creative inspiration.

Here are some of A-Jian's works:

Super Jelly Kiwis packaging

The super jelly ready-to-eat kiwi from Mugenben is packaged as an illustration of four monkeys in different shapes. The pack displays identification carriers, symbolizing the four states of life, waiting, good luck, indulgence and youth. Monkeys are inseparable partners of kiwifruit, which reflects the advantages of the product's growth environment.

Honey Love apples packaging

The packaging acts as a direct interactive medium with consumers making agricultural products more ritualistic with two main elements - honey and love. A silhouette of eight apples adorns the pack. The illustrations take on modern aesthetics and target new consumers of agricultural products.

Find out more about A-Jian and Liangchen Brand Design here.