For Microsoft’s ongoing limited edition artist series (and to celebrate the “Year of the Snake”), we created a unique graphic treatment for the brand’s Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500. For this project, we collaborated with Shanghai-based designer Left.
The creative inspiration for this design concept comes from the ancient Chinese text called “Mountains and Seas,” which documents various facets of nature, geography, and biology. “Mountains and Seas” says that snakes rise from the sea each year and journey to land, only to return to sea at the end of the year. The snake is an important creature mentioned throughout the book. Furthermore, many monsters and gods that are mentioned in the book have human heads and snake-like bodies. An example of this is Fu Xi and his wife Nu Wa, the Chinese goddess who, according to legend, created the world and its people.
该设计概念的创意灵感来源于中国古籍《山海经》，其中记录了关于自然、地理与生物的方方面面。《山海经》中提到蛇会每年从海中而生，然后前往陆地，只有在年终才会再回到海里。书中也提及蛇是自然界中一种重要的生物，并且，书中的许多妖兽和神仙都是人头蛇身。比如这个设计中就是凫徯和女娲，后者在中国古代传说中创造了整个世界和全人类。
Desktop Wallpaper Design
We took characters from “Mountains and Seas” and presented them in a style that is similar to the shadow-puppets that were used by Chinese storytellers in ancient times. The red seal at the base of the mouse is Left’s name represented in a traditional artist mark. The overall result is an inspiring cultural remix full of Chinese traditional imagery and modern graphic elements.
我们借鉴了《山海经》里的人物并将其以类似中国古代皮影戏的艺术风格表现出来。鼠标尾部的艺术家签名以传统红色印章的形式呈现。总体上，整幅作品充分地体现出中国传统意象和摩登图形元素的灵感碰撞。
Packaging Design
