Prof. Renke He
Professor Renke He, born in 1958, studied civil engineering and architecture at Hunan University in China. From 1987 to 1988, he was a visiting scholar at the Industrial Design Department of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and, from 1998 to 1999, at North Carolina State University’s School of Design. Renke He is dean and professor of the School of Design at Hunan University and is also director of the Chinese Industrial Design Education Committee. Currently, he holds the position of vice chair of the China Industrial Design Association.
Red Dot in an interview with Prof. Renke He
Red Dot: What do you enjoy about working with students?
Prof. Renke He: Most of my students were born after the new millennium. They are natives of the mobile Internet age and have the best perspective of globalisation. It is an exciting experience to interact with the new generation. They are very creative and open-minded. I can learn a lot from them, and I feel I am still young!
What advice do you give to young designers?
Just like Steve Jobs said, “Stay hungry, stay foolish” to be a designer who will change the world.
To what extent has the role played by design in our everyday lives changed?
As our everyday lives face many challenges globally, design can look at the world in a humanitarian and comprehensive way – this is the core of our design profession. Design is expanding from physical products to service design, business model design or environment design. Thus, it will play a more and more important role in the future.