Design city Shenzhen draws global businesses

Futian-based entrepreneur sets up company in district for its great lifestyle and working environment

Lured by Shenzhen, Guangdong province’s semi-permanent summer climate and increasing creative opportunities, Russian graphic designer Elena Balakhnova has decided to start her own business and settle down in the city.

After two years of language studies at Shenzhen University, she worked for different companies across Shenzhen, from being head of graphic design at Detekt Design at the City of Design in Futian district’s Tianmian Village, to working at Kappa, DJI and Anker.

Balakhnova, who has lived in the district for nearly seven years, says she loves the area for its lifestyle and business options.

Now, she is joining the ranks of business owners and runs her own design company. It was one of the first batches of foreign-owned industrial design companies established in Shenzhen.

“We have an excellent and international team. Thirty to 50 percent are local Chinese and the rest are foreigners from New Zealand, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Russia and Thailand. It’s truly multicultural,” said Balakhnova, referring to Detekt Design.

When she began her work as creative director at giant Chinese dronemaker DJI in 2013, the company was not as big and well-known as it is today.

“When I arrived, it wasn’t a brand like it is right now. No one knew DJI in China because it didn’t sell in China. There was a lot of work to do because visually, DJI didn’t exist at that time.”

Balakhnova led a team dedicated to the development of the company website, responsible for remaking nearly all visual branding for DJI.

One of her most unforgettable experiences was helping to reposition the company’s target customers from hobbyists to the general public.

DJI originally specialized in remote control airplanes, which made the target segment for DJI products mainly a hobbyist-oriented market. However, remote control planes hobbyists were often also interested in drones.

For Balakhnova, drones are not only for a small niche. Everyone can use them. For example, a mother could buy a drone to record the daily life of her kids, as long as the procedures are explained in simple, everyday language, she said.

Instead of giving information about speed and transmission signal data, Balakhnova and her team added images of people having fun with the product.

They retained the technical details but only as a part of the specifications. The language became more lifestyle-focused, sending out the message that “everyone can use drones to shoot amazing videos and images from totally different angles”.

She also worked closely with the marketing and video production teams to organize events from which they were able to collect user-generated videos.

For Balakhnova, repositioning the company’s focus, challenging though it was, was ultimately an interesting and rewarding task.

I think Shenzhen is definitely a city of design.”

Elena Balakhnova,

“I like the whole process of creating something which is really meaningful,” she said.

Helping firms go global

Balakhnova is opening her own company with her partner, focusing on helping Chinese producers and companies to create strong branding and to compete in the international marketplace.

“You want to sell your product directly in the market. But you don’t have a brand or packaging. You just have the bulk goods. But by developing brands you can earn more money and get your company known. This brings the future,” she said.

Balakhnova mostly works with startup companies that produce innovative products. One brand that they helped develop was for a small device that helps shoes stay odorless.

“Shoes start getting smelly, not because of sweat, but because of the bacteria inside. The product is a small device that you can put in your shoes to kill bacteria so your shoes won’t smell. It uses ions and ozone, which are good environmentally.”

“I think Shenzhen is definitely a city of design,” said Balakhnova, explaining that she didn’t just mean graphic design, fashion design or industrial design.

“It’s about design in general. Shenzhen is where ‘most’ products are created. For example, for drones, DJI is the world-leading company. UBTECH makes small robots that everyone can buy for their children. This company is also becoming very famous in the world right now. Tencent is also here.”

For the future, Balakhnova hopes Shenzhen will become a design destination, drawing in more exhibitions and designers from around the world, which can be inspired by the city’s unique vibes and replenish the creative wellspring of Shenzhen-based designers.

Shenzhen Daily provided the story.