Chen Chun-Liang: Redefining Taiwanese Design Through Poetry

30-second overview: Chen Chun-Liang was born in Tainan in 1958 and is known in the industry as the "Design Poet," one of the most representative graphic designers in Taiwan since the 1980s. After working at *CommonWealth Magazine for four years, he founded Freeimage Design Co., Ltd. on his 29th birthday, using the fusion of Eastern calligraphic imagery and modern layout composition as the core of his design practice. In 2005, the "Heaven Round, Earth Square" state banquet tableware series won the Asia's Most Influential Product Award and the Grand Jury Award at the 6th Macau Design Biennale, marking a landmark expansion beyond print design. He has long been dedicated to design education and Eastern aesthetic discourse.

Chen Chun-Liang was born in Tainan and grew up immersed in the traditional cultural atmosphere of the ancient city, exposed from a young age to calligraphy, ink painting, and other Eastern art forms, developing an early sensitivity to visual language. He majored in fine arts, read extensively in Western design theory, while contemplating how to preserve the spiritual core of Eastern culture within modern design—a question that became the central axis of his entire career.

The 1980s: The Beginning of a Design Career

In the early 1980s, the professionalization of graphic design in Taiwan was just beginning, with most design work still at the level of art editing. Chen Chun-Liang began taking on numerous projects during this period, and his early work already showed a distinctly personal language that set him apart from commercial design. His designs for literary publications and cultural activities frequently incorporated calligraphic lines and Eastern imagery, yet presented in a thoroughly modern compositional approach. This style established his recognizability in Taiwan's design circle and earned him the title "Design Poet."¹

Freeimage Design

After leaving CommonWealth Magazine, Chen Chun-Liang founded Freeimage Design on his 29th birthday, as a gift to himself. The name "Freeimage" is derived from the physical phenomenon of free fall: regardless of client size or budget, he gives his maximum effort equally to every project. The studio's design style is known for abundant white space, meticulous typography, and Zen-like visual composition. While pursuing commercial effectiveness, each work seeks to find the rhythm unique to that particular project. Freeimage Design's services include exhibition planning, store design, corporate identity, product packaging, and integrated graphic design.²

Chen Chun-Liang emphasizes that good design comes from observing and feeling life: if a designer does not understand the texture of life, it is difficult for the work to transcend the level of pure graphic form. He advocates a "less is more" aesthetic, but his minimalism is not empty—it is precision left after removing the superfluous.

Representative Achievements in Publication Design

Chen Chun-Liang has significant accomplishments in publication design. His covers for literary works and art books typically employ abstract visual language while precisely conveying the emotional atmosphere of the book. His philosophy of publication design is that cover design should be a visual translation of the book's content, not merely packaging to make the book stand out on the shelf. This thinking has built his reputation in Taiwan's publishing industry, making him a long-term collaborator with many literary authors and publishers.³

International Recognition

Chen Chun-Liang's work has been selected for Germany's "Most Beautiful Books of the World" competition in Leipzig, bringing the Eastern aesthetics of Taiwanese graphic design into the view of international jurors. He believes Taiwanese designers do not need to fully Westernize to gain international recognition—on the contrary, rooting in local culture and articulating it clearly through modern design language creates a more distinctive competitive position.⁴

Entering the 2000s, Chen Chun-Liang also provided brand identity design for corporations and public institutions, with works spanning various industries. Among these, his "Heaven Round, Earth Square" tableware series for the Presidential Office state banquet transformed Eastern aesthetics into modern ceramic forms, winning the Grand Jury Award at the Macau Design Biennale, a representative case of Freeimage Design's expansion beyond print.⁵

Long-Term Commitment to Design Education

From the 2010s onward, Chen Chun-Liang appeared more frequently in design education, teaching at universities and conducting workshops, transforming decades of practical experience into transferable teaching materials. His teaching emphasizes the cultivation of humanistic literacy: designers must read widely and observe extensively; software operation is merely a means of execution, and technique without content is an empty shell. He encourages students to transform personal life experience into design language rather than copying visually "designed-looking" ready-made styles.⁶

He has also organized his creative insights, writing design discourse exploring the application of Eastern aesthetics in modern design, providing a practitioner's perspective for theoretical discussions in Taiwan's design community.⁷

References

Further Reading

• Freeimage Design Co., Ltd. — Taiwan Company Directory — Company registration information for Freeimage Design (FREEIMAGE DESIGN CO., LTD.)
• Fang Hsu-Chung — A contemporary Taiwanese visual designer, responsible for Golden Melody Awards and Golden Horse Awards visual identity