Rip-offs, fakes, counterfeits, pirates, copies: a few of the words used to negatively describe ‘unoriginal’ products, a result of the strange perception that western contexts have solidified towards the supposed immorality and inferior standard of anything that isn’t from the ‘original’ brand which holds a legal document of ‘ownership’.
Attaching a brand or known name to a product is common practice for design firms in Europe and the US, and with the tendency for businesses to use this as a profit tool, through exclusive ownership and licencing of product patents, it’s easy to start thinking that this might not be positively affecting the design industry or its consumers.
Aiming to shed more light on the history and present practice of ‘shanzhai’, oftentimes translated as ‘copying’, David Li, from Shenzhen Open Innovation Lab in Shenzhen, China, joins us to give insights into a parallel reality that is normally hidden from mainstream narratives. A scenario where possessiveness through IP and patents takes a backseat to opportunity and growth through collaboration and sharing.
author + guest
This is a contribution by a projektado member, supported by open collective discussions and feedback from the rest of the projektado collective. The decision to not individually name the authors is to take clear distance from the overwhelming presence of individualistic and self-serving practices in design today, and instead focus on the role of collective action and shared values.
Whilst we maintain at times contrasting individual and personal opinions, styles and approaches, we all understand that our production is part of a discussion we share and that is motivated by a collective goal, and that therefore, we all feel represented by.
David Li is the director of the Shenzhen Open Innovation Lab in China. He has decades of experience with the theory and practice of open source, and has been instrumental in several open source software and hardware projects throughout his career. He was one of the founders of XinCheJian, the first hackerspace in China, as well as of Hacked Matter and Maker Collider .
https://www.szoil.org/
first published for projektado magazine issue 1: anonymity in design / may 2021
