There are two important rings in Zheng Xiwen's career trajectory, one of which is Rhinozhao Technology, and the other is COSMO CROSS, which are interlocking, independent and inseparable.
The June wind wakes up the romance of summer, and the atmosphere of design is also diffused in Shanghai, a city full of legends.
Following in the footsteps of history, we arrive at the Seagull Regent Hotel, a modern building that blends history and luxury at the confluence of the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek. The interior design of the hotel is designed by Hong Kong-based Zheng Chung Design Firm (CCD), inspired by the magnolia flowers of Shanghai, to create a gorgeous "flower world".
Since its establishment in 1994, CCD has gone through its 30th anniversary. Today's CCD has stood in the center of the world stage and shines brightly. During the 2024 Design Shanghai, Forbes China and RENEE CHENG, Partner and Vice President of CCD Hong Kong, met with Seagull Regent to have an in-depth discussion on topics such as how AI technology empowers design and the philosophy of space operation for home buyers in the new era in this unique space that is integrated with Shanghai-style culture.
A "spiritual understanding" with his father
When a building, a space, or anything is designed around people, around stories and emotions, they reveal a deep meaning. CCD understands that the time you spend at home is the way you treat life. Adhering to the design concept of "East and West", following tradition but breaking conventions, Zheng Zhong, as the helmsman of CCD, is committed to creating the ultimate living experience, making design a starting point for improving the quality of life, and leading people to a world-class aesthetic realm.
"The core charm of CCD's brand genes is the combination of design concepts, innovative spirit and quality control advocated by my father. The design style he insists on is not only the inheritance and development of traditional culture, but also an innovation and exploration of modern design. "Zheng Xiwen tells us about East and West, nature and modernity, past and future...... These blended beauties permeate each of CCD's creations and become the most distinctive brand identity.
My father, Zheng Zhong, once said: "I am very glad that the greatest wealth and luck in my life comes from this job which is my favorite, because I love it, I will especially get into it." "My father's extreme love for work has imperceptibly influenced Zheng Xiwen." How rare it is to persist in one thing to the extreme, because of love, he rarely complains about the pressure that comes with work. His success has taught me that as long as I have dreams, determination, and action, I will definitely be able to achieve my goals. ”
Zheng Xiwen and his father Zheng Zhong
Since childhood, Zheng Xiwen often spent time in his father's studio. Growing up in a family full of design and artistic atmosphere, she has always had a curiosity about the world and her own unique insight into the spirit of innovation.
In addition to the role of a father, in Zheng Xiwen's eyes, Zheng Zhong is his life mentor, partner, friend and supporter. Growing up, her father always supported her quietly and unreservedly. Father and daughter are also teachers and friends, respecting and appreciating each other. In between work, they often drink coffee and chat in the downstairs restaurant of the company like friends, she can share her thoughts as she likes, and her father will listen patiently and give suggestions from his own perspective in a timely manner.
This tacit relationship also deeply affected her outlook on life and values in the future. "I have great admiration for my father's expertise in the field of interior design, his achievements inspired me to pursue my dreams and provided me with a platform to learn." Zheng Xiwen said, "He used his wisdom and experience to point out the direction for me, so that I took a lot of detours on the road of life." Maintaining his original aspiration and the spirit of pursuing excellence not only inspired me to continue to explore new growth points and breakthroughs in the field of science and technology, but also allowed me to maintain a firm belief and positive attitude in the face of difficulties and challenges. ”
Always maintain an attitude of gratitude and humility, and retain the ability to see things as they are while constantly absorbing new knowledge and skills...... A long time ago, Zheng Xiwen understood these truths from his father.
The ability to know what you want is not so easy to achieve, and it often requires tenacity and hard work. Zheng Xiwen is precisely the person with a clear goal, determined that once he has made up his mind, he will be indomitable to open the way in the mountains and sail in the water. Like her father, she poured her love into her career and pursued her dreams without hesitation.
On top of design, technology has set off a new revolution
When she was an undergraduate at Parsons School of Design in the United States, Zheng Xiwen often fell into certain thoughts: about digital transformation, about technology-enabled design, etc., "whether digital upgrading can help the design industry optimize the way of working", this question kept echoing in her mind.
In 2019, Zheng Xiwen returned to China after graduating from the University of Southern California with a master's degree in management; The following year, she founded Xizhao Technology to help the transformation of the interior design industry with digitalization, bringing a new and efficient way of working for design and related groups, thereby improving work efficiency, reducing costs, and providing more business opportunities for suppliers, designers, and design agencies. Let design return to design, make design easier. ”
For designers, the SaaS system can greatly simplify repetitive work, and the digital assets of past projects can be quickly reused, and only one click can be used to generate a standardized material book, so that designers can be freed from tedious work and focus more on the volatilization of creativity and design optimization.
SINCE THEN, XIZHAO TECHNOLOGY HAS LAUNCHED A ONE-STOP FULL-PROCESS DIGITAL PLATFORM FOR INTERIOR DESIGNERS, "IDEAFUSION", WHICH WILL BE OFFICIALLY OPENED TO THE PUBLIC IN JULY 2023. This digital library integrates the world's best brands and currently contains more than 1,800 suppliers covering the full range of interior design materials.
"THROUGH "IDEAFUSION", DESIGNERS CAN QUICKLY SELECT MATERIALS ONLINE, DOWNLOAD HIGH-DEFINITION MATERIAL FILES, EACH PRODUCT HAS DETAILED PARAMETERS, WE ALSO SUPPORT QUICK ONE-CLICK GENERATION OF MATERIALS BOOK OR BILL OF MATERIALS, AI ONLINE INTELLIGENT MATERIAL FINDING AND OTHER FUNCTIONS, CAN ALSO QUICKLY CREATE TEAM PROJECTS, GREATLY SIMPLIFY THE COLLABORATION PROCESS BETWEEN MEMBERS, PROJECT INFORMATION CAN ALSO BE SHARED COLLABORATIVELY," ZHENG XIWEN EMPHASIZED THAT ALL MATERIALS ON THE PLATFORM CORRESPOND TO REAL SUPPLIERS, WHICH ALSO BREAKS THE GEOGRAPHICAL RESTRICTIONS WHEN ASKING FOR SAMPLES. The designer directly contacted the sample online to ensure that the project could be implemented smoothly.
Here, AI has become the "partner" of designers who know best, and technology can do a lot of tedious work for designers: such as making material books, filling in list information, and searching for the materials they need. Designers can also unlock any scene with one click through AI, allowing design to efficiently step into a new form of interaction.
"The AI drawing products we have developed can better help designers output renderings in the project concept stage, so that customers can understand our design ideas more quickly, and help designers improve efficiency in a more directional manner, and at the same time, they can help designers contact manufacturers who can purchase in the landing stage." In this way, designers have more time and resources to focus on deeper design issues.
Entrepreneurship is a process of "perfecting" people, and there are many painful trials during it. Because of love and perseverance all the way, she became her own energy source. Being able to perceive problems from a deeper perspective may be the confidence for her to overcome many challenges. Up to now, Xizhao Technology has obtained a total of 5 utility model patents and more than 20 software copyrights, ushering in its "highlight moment".
The team is designing Shenzhen
"Because the process of the indoor industry is very professional, the product team and R&D team need to conduct a lot of research, learning, self-digestion, and present it on the Internet platform through code, and then after more than 1,000 designers with industry experience to test, use, and our continuous optimization, we have the products mentioned above." Zheng Xiwen sighed, "We have gone through nearly three years of technology research and development to have more than 350,000 material data that we see today. In the early stage, these data were manually entered one by one, and these non-standardized parameter information were all standardized, sorted out and uploaded by a little bit, relying on the cooperation of the rhino team and partners. ”
"There is no shortcut to design," Zheng Xiwen repeatedly emphasized, technology is a tool to empower design, and the foundation of design lies in creativity