CHAPTER 17

Chongqing’s City Branding: The Role

of Graphic Design
Freeman Lau and Angelica Leung

INTRODUCTION
The contribution of graphic designers to city branding has evolved from
relatively isolated projects, such as designing stamps and posters, to much
more of a visual communication strategy within city branding. In this
chapter, we will explore the role of graphic design in city branding and offer
introductions to various projects, many of which may not initially seem to
be the work of a visual communicator. Graphic designers can use a multi-
tude of media, ranging from a few centimeters on a stamp to the label of a
water bottle, to visually communicate city branding.
A graphic designer communicates information, ideas and concepts
through a visual language. The language is made up of images, illustrations,
icons, photographs, typography and other graphic elements and moving
images. Graphic design is all around us, but is rarely noticed unless done
poorly. The design of book covers, posters and brochures, product labels,
directional signage, logos and corporate branding all involve graphic design.
Before the days of mass email, letters were sent by post. The stamp
can be considered a small advertorial a few centimeters large, and sent to
a worldwide audience. The challenge for a designer is how to communicate
the theme in such small dimensions. Most cities do not have their own stamps,
but in Asia due to historical reasons, the ex-colonies of Macau, Singapore
and Hong Kong all have their own philately. The first Macau stamp was
issued in 1884. In Hong Kong, the Stamp Advisory Committee, comprising
prominent local citizens, professional graphic designers and philatelic experts
along with government officials, work with the Postmaster General to con-
sider the postage stamp themes, up to 18 months ahead of issue. For each

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© Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011
132 Chongqing’s City Branding: The Role of Graphic Design
theme, the post office then commissions several designers to submit designs.
The challenge for a graphic designer is then how to interpret the theme and to
use their understanding of printing techniques to realize the design on a stamp.
In 1997, a new set of definitive stamps was required after the return
of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China. A new design was needed to
replace the profile of Queen Elizabeth II which had been featured up to
then. Kan Tai-Keung, an established Chinese graphic designer and artist,
came up with a design that featured the world famous skyline of Hong
Kong and a gradation of color for the different denominations of stamps.
He also took references from the traditional Chinese scrolls, which often
featured continuous landscapes. Hence, it was possible over the years to
create a continuum of ‘mini-stories’ that would be sent all over the world, to
build up a snapshot understanding of the place where the letter originated.
Graphic designers are commissioned to create corporate identities, often
including the design of the company or organization’s logo. Studies have
shown that consumers can often recognize a logo, even when only shown a
small part of it.
The use of graphic design in city branding is not limited to signage and
maps, but can extend to product packaging. In 2002, for example, Watson’s
Water commissioned Kan & Lau Design Consultants to do a redesign of
their bottle to celebrate their 100 years of history. In Hong Kong, distilled
water is often preferred over mineral or spring water. The brand is a market
leader in Hong Kong and is often supplied to delegates at international con-
ferences and events, which are important venues to showcase a city to
incoming visitors. Riding on the launch of the new bottles, a subsequent
limited edition series of 12 labels was created, inviting 12 popular culture
local artists and graphic designers to feature their work. This limited edition
series was available on the market in 2003. The series created a buzz both
locally and amongst visitors, and many bottles were saved as collector’s
items. As the official drink of the 5th East Asian Games held in Hong Kong in
December 2009, the labels of the bottles were once again used as a medium
of communication, featuring renderings of icons of the nine participating
countries and regions.
A pro bono project by Milton Glaser illustrates how great graphic design
can be simple, yet deliver a clear and powerful message. He used a rebus,
which is a representation of words by pictures of objects or by symbols to
develop a very successful campaign in the late 1970s to promote tourism in
New York State. The I ‘heart’ NY (I Love New York) has become an icon
and is now widely associated with New York City. During that period, the
crime rate in New York City was high and many businesses left the city. The
campaign generated a lot of support from the public and was furthermore
 Freeman Lau and Angelica Leung 133

widely used in tourist souvenirs. In 2003, in response to 9/11, Milton Glaser

revised the logo, adding a burn mark on the heart symbol, but the original
design still remained most popular and a relaunch in 2008 was undertaken
by Empire State Development (ESD), New York’s chief economic develop-
ment agency. In response to the many counterfeit products that proliferated
over the years, a set of brand guidelines was also created, which aids the use
of the brand’s logo in a consistent manner. The guidelines offer 15 ‘Logo
Usage Don’ts’ ranging from resizing the various elements, changing the
colors and redrawing the heart. The entire brand book is 50 pages long.
Other cities have also commissioned graphic designers to create logos
and brand usage guidelines for their locations, often choosing familiar icons as
the main inspiration. For example, Venice has worked together with Philippe
Starck on the ‘winged lion’ logo, and in 2009, Rome launched a competition
for a new logo, complete with brand book to promote tourism and culture.
However, does holding a competition or hiring a well-known designer auto-
matically ensure that the logo will be embraced by the community? How does
a designer cater for the many different stakeholders involved in city branding?
In response to these challenges, some graphic designers have now taken
up the role of working with the client to identify their core values and then
to communicate these values through graphic techniques.

THE GRAPHIC DESIGNER AS RESEARCHER

In the United States, there are less than ten cities with a population of over
one million people. According to the Blue Book of Cities in China (Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences, 2009), China has 118 megalopolises of more
than one million people, and 39 super-metropolises such as Beijing, Shanghai
and Shenyang with more than two million residents. City branding is already
an important topic to many municipal governments, who are vying to attract
tourism and investment and for national resources. But in a large country such
as China, what icons are specific to a region or to the country? For example,
the dragon motif is used to represent ‘Chinese’ in general all over the world,
and is not owned by a specific region. How is the particular region perceived
and represented within China? What city emblems and motifs are instantly
recognizable?

CHONGQING: 3,000 YEARS OF HISTORY AND A POPULATION OF

30 MILLION
Chongqing, also known more popularly as Chungking, is a major city in
central-western China and served as its wartime capital during the Second
134 Chongqing’s City Branding: The Role of Graphic Design
Sino-Japanese War. In 1997, it became a provincial level municipality. The
other three provincial level municipalities are Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin.
Located at the confluence of two strategic rivers near the Three Gorges, the
municipality is seen as an important economic hub for access to west China,
with a strong tradition in heavy industry and agriculture. There is a regis-
tered population of over 30 million in an administrative area that spans over
80,000 km2.
There were many negative stereotypes attached to the municipality over
the last 50 years, impeding its growth and the attraction of talent and foreign
direct investment. These negative images are present both locally within China
and also overseas. To name a few of the general impressions – pollution (the
area is a heavy industrial base), poverty, hot-tempered people. Many of the
more recent developments in transportation, education, arts and the econ-
omy went unnoticed. As a directive of the upper echelons of the local gov-
ernment, action had to be taken to remedy the city’s negative image and to
show the world what the new Chongqing had become.
The city’s new visual system would be used to communicate the new
developments of the municipality and to give it a strong identity separate
from the adjacent province of Sichuan, which Chongqing was formerly part
of until 1997. It would also be used to enhance investor confidence in the
organizational structure of the government and to communicate the interest
and professionalism of the administration. At the same time, there was a
need to communicate the local tourism opportunities and to encourage the
flow of human talent from around China, attracting and retaining quality
residents and their families, contributing to social cohesion by providing a
focal point and renewed interest in the image of the municipality.
The government bureau in charge of the project, the Chongqing In-
formation Office, started with the most popular way to get lots of ideas in a fast
and convenient manner, by organizing a competition with a prize and some
form of publicity for the winner. From November 2003 to June 2004, the
Municipal Government of Chongqing organized the Taiji Cup Competition
for the Chongqing Slogan and Visual Identity System – ‘New Chongqing,
New Image’. However, the resulting entries did not provide a level of pro-
fessionalism that the administrators had hoped for, which led to the decision to
invite bids from professional design consultancies. Through a comprehensive
and transparent tendering system, Kan & Lau Design Consultants was selected,
with Kan Tai- Keung taking up the role of Chief Designer.

WHAT DOES A CITY MEAN TO YOU?

Designing a city logo is a participative event, involving both the public and
private sectors. The absence of such a participative approach risks the
 Freeman Lau and Angelica Leung 135

designs not being accepted by the public. Before the design process can
begin, it is paramount to understand how the city sees itself and how it wants
to be perceived externally. When multiple stakeholders are involved, this
task can become complex.
In the early brainstorming sessions, workshops were set up with the art and
design students of the local universities. They were given the opportunity to
interact and become involved in the process of city branding, and they pro-
vided invaluable insights through ‘core value’ brainstorming sessions, as well
as the design of posters which featured their interpretation of the city.
Taking the initial flood of ideas and transforming them into visuals
was the next step. A panel of local government officials was then invited
to vote and give their opinions on almost 50 variations of designs. The key
stakeholders in terms of Offices and Bureaus that were involved in the
discussions are shown in Table 17.1.
For the initial proposals, the design consultants looked at tourist products,
maps of the region and government publications aimed for the local market.
One important source was the local weather report that shows iconic pictures
of each city as the weather was reported. This was an important and insight-
ful guide to which images the local residents associated with each city from
a regional perspective. For example, Chengdu (the capital of neighboring
Sichuan province) is well known for Sichuan opera, tea-houses and pandas.

TABLE 17.1 Stakeholders in the design discussions

Stakeholder Organization Role

Mayor’s Office Final decision maker

Representatives of the People’s Congress
Chinese People’s Political Consultative
Conference Committee (Party representative)
Chongqing Information Office
Cultural Bureau
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
City Committee
Communication Bureau
City Planning Bureau
External Trade Bureau
Tourism Administration
Urban Construction Bureau
To ensure Party interests
To ensure Party interests
Project leader and operations
To ensure cultural dimension of the city brand
To provide input as a social policy think tank
To represent local interests
To advise on communication strategies
To advise on planning issues
To incorporate external audience perceptions
To advise on domestic and international tourism
To ensure feasibility of construction agenda
136 Chongqing’s City Branding: The Role of Graphic Design
The logo featured on the Chengdu Government website is a curled-up panda.
Chongqing was identified with the city’s more iconic structures, notably the
Chongqing People’s Assembly Hall, built in the 1950s with a traditional
glazed green roof, and also the cityscape at the confluence of two rivers.

LOOK TO THE PAST FOR INSPIRATION

The area where Chongqing is located is also historically important, with
early records of the Ba ethnic group living in the area documented in Shang
(c.1600–c.1100 B.C.) and Zhou (c.1100–771 B.C.) dynasty artefacts. Later,
during the Three Kingdoms period (c.220–280 B.C.), the Kingdom of Shu
was located in this area. A visit to the local museum and important histor-
ical locations was an effective way to find inspiration. In Ba culture, the
tiger had important significance, and other motifs derived from early writ-
ing styles were incorporated into the supporting graphics. Having a variety
of images allowed for greater flexibility in the usage of the designs.

THE FINAL DESIGN

Many places use famous architectural sites or other landmarks to represent
the city, for example, the Eiffel Tower for Paris or the Opera House for
Sydney. However, other inspirations should also be considered, such as use
of the abstract or other symbols to represent the city’s spirit. Through the

FIGURE 17.1 Chongqing design

 Freeman Lau and Angelica Leung 137

two-year process of refining the design and eliciting feedback, ten discus-
sion sessions, and numerous interviews with top government officials,
expatriates and consular representatives, over 80 design concepts were
presented. In the media and in online polls, over 80,000 members of the
public voted for their favorite designs. The final developed design (see
Figure 17.1) reflected the theme of ‘double celebration’, the literal meaning
of Chongqing, and incorporated two persons forming the character qing
of the city’s name. The color was selected to be vibrant and energetic,
like the local people, moving hand in hand with the government to build a
prosperous future.

SUMMARY
Graphic design should be an integral component of any city’s overall brand
strategy. The power of graphic design to influence perceptions, emotions,
and attitudes represents a key resource for city branding policy makers in
their attempts to develop a strong and distinctive brand identity for their
city. We have shown how the Chinese city of Chongqing has harnessed
the power of graphic design in order to create a rejuvenated city brand
that appeals to the full spectrum of city branding audiences, both dom-
estically within China and also internationally. A participative approach
between the public and private sectors, allied with the strategic use of high
quality graphic design, represents a solid foundation upon which to build a
powerful city brand.