Zhu Yingchun（朱赢椿）
Book designer, artist and book planner
CHINA

Storydrive interview: 8 Questions for Zhu Yingchun

Book designer, artist and book planner, Zhu Yingchun is also Director of Nanjing Normal University Research Center of Book Culture, and Director of the Jiangsu Province Publishers Association Design and Binding Arts Committee. He was named a Leading Talent of the News and Publishing Industry of China, and has won the “Chinese Government Award for Publishing” Outstanding Editor Award. He is also the recipient of the international award, “The Most Beautiful Books in the World”. His book designs have been exhibited in many countries and territories around the world including Germany, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Since 2004, Mr Zhu has independently planned, selected topics for and created books. The books he planned, with their perfect combination of unique binding and design characteristics, and content, have attracted widespread attention. In particular, Stitching Up won the 2007 “The Beauty of Books in China Award“ and the “World’s Most Beautiful Book” award. The Ant’s Talk won the “The Beauty of Books in China Award” in 2007, and a “Special Award for the Most Beautiful Books in the World” in 2008, with its copyright exported at the same time. In 2011, he created and published a picture book, The Slowpoke Snail, and pioneer experimental text, The Designing Wordsmith; the two works saw numerous reprints and their copyrights exported. The Slowpoke Snail won “The Beauty of Books in China Award” in 2012, and his concept photography book, Kong Du won the 2013 “Beauty of Books in China Award”. Fat Meat or which he was planning editor, was the recipient of “Good Chinese Book” in 2014, while Next to Bugs was rated among the “2014 Good Books of China". ​

Bugs' Book, published in 2015, was many years in the making. The book, devoid of words, is independently created by the bugs themselves, triggering widespread controversy in mass media. As a result of the unique artistic nature of the book’s content, the Art Museum of Nanjing University of Arts held the “From the most beautiful book to the best of exhibition - the exhibition of Zhu Yingchun” in September 2015. Then in September 2016, the “slow ...... Zhu Yingchun dialogues with European Artists” contemporary art exhibition with held in London, UK, receiving much attention from artists, publishers and designers alike. At the same time, Bugs' Book became part of the permanent collection of the British Library, and won the silver medal in the 2017 Most Beautiful Books in the World awards.

Storydrive interview: 8 Questions for Zhu Yingchun