■ 深圳特区报记者 范京蓉

　　“中国要提高工业设计水平，首先要加强对教育的投资。教育的水平决定着10年以后工业设计的水平。”德国iF国际工业设计论坛主席拉尔夫·维格曼昨天接受本报记者专访表示。

　　他建议，中国要聘请全球最好的师资，如知名教授、业内设计大师等。虽然昂贵，但是物有所值，因为什么样的教育会产生什么样的学生，教育对一个行业的影响是长期而且深远的。

　　iF国际工业设计论坛是国际当代工业设计领域中的一流设计机构，其每年评选的IF设计奖是国际上最著名的奖项之一。维格曼表示，IF设计奖在中国的认可度逐年提高，参选的中国产品每年都在增加，获奖的设计产品数量也在增长。

　　这说明中国的工业设计日益与国际接轨，设计水平也在不断提升。“虽然我不记得具体的数据，但是，应该说中国设计师的获奖几率正从10年的大约5%提升到20%，中国的设计水平越来越得到国际评委的认同。”维格曼说。

　　正因为如此，iF也在加强与中国的合作。例如，iF在海口和杭州都设立展厅，展出iF的获奖作品。

　　由于工作的关系，维格曼经常到中国出差。他有个有趣的发现，就是中国的设计师常常把自己的工作向艺术家靠拢，认为设计工作也是一门艺术；欧洲的设计师却更多地认为设计是一门职业，设计师是像律师、会计师一样的专业工作人员，主要职责是为客户提供最好的服务。

　　“我们在欧洲经常说，艺术家是当不了设计师的，设计师也不可能是艺术家。”

　　不过，他也承认这是句业内戏言，主要是强调设计师作为一种职业，首要的任务是圆满地完成客户的委托，以客户至上，而不可能像一个真正的艺术家那样以自我为中心，全心全意探求表达自己的最佳方式。

　　为了推动工业设计的发展，iF最近设置了一个全公益性的比赛，即iF青年人才奖，专门评选世界各国年轻学生的设计作品。这个奖项在亚洲反响热烈，大概70%的参选作品都来自亚洲。维格曼说，这与亚洲学生喜欢参与国际奖项并渴望得到认可的文化有关，实际上亚洲学生不断提升的水平已经对欧洲学生形成了竞争的压力，值得欧洲设计业界重视。

　　"The most important thing is to invest in education， which decides the quality of industrial design 10 years later." said Ralph Wiegmann， chairman of iF International Forum Design， when asked by Shenzhen Special Zone Daily to offer some suggestions for the development of China's industrial design.

　　"You have to hire the best professors and professionals worldwide even if they are expensive， as good design training will have life-long influences on the younger generation." said him.

　　iF International Forum Design is a Hanover-based organization providing design-related services. It is well known internationally for awarding the annual IF Design Awards. According to Wiegmann， the number of Chinese participants to the contest has been drastically increasing in the past 10 years due to the strong eager of being recognized internationally from Chinese designers， and the number of winners from Chinese Mainland also increases year by year.

　　There are great improvements in the quality of the handed-in works from Chinese designers. "I don't remember the exact numbers， but we do have more Chinese winners. They are doing great jobs， so the opportunity of winning the award of Chinese designers has been raised， say， from some 5% 10 years ago to 20% now." he said. And a most recent example is that a Shenzhen mobile maker has just happily announced that it is on the shortlist for the 2012 iF Design Award.

　　To his observation， however， there are some interesting differences between Chinese and European designers. For example， while industrial design is regarded a kind of artistic work in China， the European designers tend to regard themselves as professionals to offer best services to their clients.

　　"An artist can't be a designer and a designer can't be an artist either. That is what we often say in Europe."

　　Admitting there are some exaggerations in the saying， Wiegmann said the ultimate goal of a designer is to satisfy his client instead of making something to please or express the feelings of the designer himself.

　　（范京蓉）