Thinking out of the box"Demos is really a completely unorthodox, daring and bold thinker. If someone says he can't walk, then he will fly," is how DEM's innovation strategy division director Jimmy Mo describes him. "In both image development and design, judgments based on experience are key--what is popular? What is most likely to succeed? What sells best? Old-timers in the business feel they know just about everything, but Chiang is always challenging them."
Sometimes such a high-profile approach runs into a brick wall, says Mo. "Many times Demos has not gotten a contract because he was too cocky." One of the original founders of DEM, famous British designer Michael Young, suddenly quit, leaving the company's design team greatly weakened. Young's departure was said to have been due to his and Chiang's different approaches.
"A lot of people explain this rebellious nature as the result of 15 years in the US, but actually it's part of my personality. I've been like this since I was little."
Rebellious, daring to break through convention, "daring to be No. 1," and "daring to be demanding" have, indeed, brought the company many unexpected dividends. Last year the Renault F1 Team promoted the "Art on Car" movement and solicited submissions for a logo from design companies around the world. Chiang instructed his colleagues to make every effort to win the contract. Used to having concepts drive the designers' imagination, he spent several days tirelessly holding meetings with his colleagues to spark the creative spirit, and looking back into Chinese history for ideas.
Chinese legend tells of the "Four Holy Beasts"--the Blue Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird and Black Turtle--all symbolizing the imminent appearance of sages and emperors. Chiang decided to use the Vermilion Bird concept to design a phoenix logo. "There is nothing greater than history. Selecting this logo is like selecting history and glory itself." When the competition was over, the "Guardian Phoenix" had been chosen the winner.
"This contract naturally would put a design company right on the map. The kind of publicity such a contract provides could make people very self-satisfied," says Jimmy Mo. "But Demos was still not satisfied and wanted us to get the usage rights to the design."
Carrying strict orders but with filled with trepidation and sure that a large international automobile company would be unwilling to accede to his request, Mo nevertheless gritted his teeth and visited France and Switzerland for negotiations with Renault and F1 racing headquarters. In the end he actually succeeded. After this, DEM took the "Guardian Phoenix" logo over to Levi's jeans for a limited, exclusive run. It was like "eating twice from the same plate" and increased the profit margin of this one design.