| The Republic of China, for today’s people, is familiar and strange. It is familiar because of the fact that Republican period is not far away and there are too many historical materials and pictures for us to know that period of history. It is strange for the fact that there are dim memories and fragments in our minds when stepping back to that history. Fortunately, a large number of Yanbiaos retained so far represent that history – the extraordinary years and make us appreciate the culture of that period again with new eyes.Republican period is special in history with only 38 years, during which the whole Chinese society was unprecedentedly affected. There were foreign concessions, Imperial China, Pseudo Manchuria, tangled warfare among warloads, National Government and the Soviet Government coexisting in that dangerous period. Various ideas and cultures came clashing together and influenced each other. As a visual text, Yanbiao in Republican period mainly transfers product-related messages through five fundamental parts – cigarette brands, designs, cigarette factory information, packaging and slogans. Studies on visual culture of Yanbiao in Republican period should base on investigations and analysis of Yanbiao’s visual symbols, the construction of which directly reflects the visual culture of that period. We know that visual culture involves disciplines such as philosophy, aesthetics, literature and art, art history, sociology, psychology, semiology, history, Internet technology, media communication and so on. It is a comprehensive, cross-cultural and interdisciplinary area of research and an important branch of cultural research. Visual culture studies are open, which represents both expansion of research areas and exploration of methodologies in cultural studies. Based on general visual culture studies and from the perspective of design, this paper probes into the visual cultural characteristics of Yanbiao’s design in Republican period with a focus on the visual styles of Yanbiao. Therefore, it is meaningful for both theories and practice to analyze the causes of the visual culture from the dimension of Yanbiao’s design.This paper explores the visual culture of Yanbiao’s design in Republican period from five aspects. The first part introduces tobacco and the historical process of how people smoked and the development of mechanical cigarette industry in Republican period. This part also tells that the development of commodity economy, fierce competition in the tobacco industry and commercial art education and design are essential elements which contribute to Yanbiao’s production and design. The second part analyzes the visual forms, structures and functions of Yanbiao’s design in Republican period and reveals Yanbiao’s basic design features. This part explains the great importance of Yanbiao, as the packing of cigarette, to the identification of cigarette brands, the cognition of commodities, product image-building and product marketing and promotion as well. The third part, from the view of design, discusses the western characteristics of Yanbiao’s design under the influence of western cultures and modern design movement and classifies the design styles and patterns of expression. From perspectives of traditional Chinese culture and the special social historical background in Republican period, the fourth part reveals that the localization trend of Yanbiao’s design is reflected in three aspects – Chinese elements for western use, Chinese elements for self-use and a combination of Chinese and Western elements. The last part probes that Yanbiao in Republican period, as a kind of visual texts and culture symbols, objectively characterizes cultural phenomena such as national spirits, women images, leisure fashions, blesses and good luck from the token of visual culture. |
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