From the street, the first impression of Gideon Loewy's Scandinavian Design Consultant Co. on Chingchung Street is that it blends in almost too well with the rather ordinary looking four-story houses among which it is situated. It would be easy to miss it altogether. So this is a Scandinavian design company? Is this the consulting company that counts Denmark's Bang & Olufsen, the Nordic store in Taipei, and Teco (for whom he designed a new LCD TV) among its clients? On entering the building, visitors face a wall decorated with two huge photos of a forest and a large desk with smart-looking computers in the middle of the room. The impression is of unusually uncluttered spaciousness.

Loewy's relationship with Taiwan began in 1995, when he was invited to be the keynote speaker at the World Design Congress, which was held in Taiwan that year. Over the following years, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Industrial Development Bureau, and other government agencies invited Loewy to Taiwan to speak at international conferences and to judge the Good Design Awards. An indissoluble bond with Taiwan was created. "When I decided to move to Asia, I considered Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan, because we did business in all of those countries," recalls Loewy. He later chose Taiwan because it was a convenient springboard to the rest of East Asia, but more importantly because it was a young country in the field of design. "We had an opportunity to create something different."

Five years ago, industrial and interior designer Gideon Loewy relocated from Denmark to Taiwan and settled in Taichung because he liked the city's human touch and easygoing and lively atmosphere. The photo shows Loewy and his wife, Liao Chia-ling.

Taichung, a big village

"Taichung is a pretty livable city," says Loewy effusively. Compared to cities that look outward to the world, such as Taipei because it is in the throes of globalization or Kaohsiung because it is a port city, Taichung is like a mass of sprawling villages. It has therefore retained a human touch and an easygoing character. Loewy says, "Taipei is conservative, orderly, and rule-bound. Taichung doesn't have too many rules; it's very casual." By way of example, Loewy notes that there are "No Left Turn" signs all over Taipei, but in Taichung a motorist who actually signals when he turns left is an oddball!

Moreover, Taichung's geographical center changes every few years. It has shifted from the National Natural Science Museum district to the Fifth Redevelopment Zone to today's Seventh Redevelopment Zone. The city is full of innovative energy. As Loewy puts it, "An environment undergoing rapid transformation is ideally suited to creativity, while it is difficult to be creative in a stagnant puddle."

Loewy also thinks that Taichung is a "Woman's City" with a booming service sector. Its restaurants, cafes, teahouses, and health and beauty centers mainly cater to female consumers. He finds that Taichung men are hardworking money earners, but they are also ready to let their wives buy luxury products and drive fancy cars, and they take pride in their wives' appearance. Not surprisingly, many international brands, including LV and Chanel, have opened stores in Taichung, and almost every street has a health and beauty center.

"Taichung's streets and houses are not beautiful, and the boundaries between public and private spaces are blurred, but I've never considered moving away from here," says Loewy. This easy-going, disorderly grassroots lifestyle is what makes Taichung a charming place.

Loewy's wife Liao Chia-ling, who is in charge of brand strategy planning for Scandinavian Design Consultant Co., told us the following anecdote: Chingming 1st Street, a pedestrian zone that started out as an artist colony with a Bohemian atmosphere, used to attract crowds of shoppers and street vendors. Because the city government could not regulate the number and location of the street stalls, it simply decided to build a flashy 3.3-hectare air-conditioned underground shopping center and move all the vendors into it. But to everyone's disappointment, the brand-new shopping center drew very few shoppers, the merchants suffered heavy losses, and in less than a year it was announced that the shopping center was closing down. "When Chingming 1st Street was restored to its old self, the crowds of shoppers reappeared."

SMEs' potential and challenges

Besides the fact that Taichung offers a rich and varied living environment, another reason Loewy settled on this city is central Taiwan's traditional industries and their solid supply chains.

"Although a lot of manufacturing companies have gone overseas, traditional industries have deep roots in central Taiwan and the local materials, processing, and manufacturing supply chains are fairly complete, which is extremely important for our design work," explains Loewy. Compared to northern Taiwan's concentration of big manufacturers of display panels, cell-phones, and other computer, communication and consumer electronics products, Loewy prefers the household, commercial and industrial-goods industries that are the bread and butter of small and medium-sized companies in central Taiwan. The rich variety of materials available in central Taiwan offers designers greater scope to develop a wide range of products.

For example, for one of IKEA's contract manufacturers in central Taiwan, Loewy designed an "intelligent computer desk" that was exhibited at the Milan Design Fair. The design had to integrate IT-related, wood, forged metal, and metal tube components. The contractor was able to find companies to turn the design into a marketable product very quickly. When Loewy designed a leisure bag, he suggested that the manufacturer use materials from the sports equipment or footwear industry, which they also found very quickly. "Companies in central Taiwan are smaller, but big on networking, which is conducive to fast decision making and implementation," says Liao Chia-ling.

Loewy thinks that when a designer creates a successful design for a big company, it primarily enhances the company's brand recognition. For example, the high-end audio systems he designed Bang & Olufsen remained on the market for 20 years, but everyone remembers B&O with no inkling of the designers who did all the hard work behind the scenes. On the other hand a designer who creates a successful product for a small company enables it to gain a foothold and grow, and experiences a major sense of achievement himself. There is also the satisfaction of having created something of value together with the client. In central Taiwan, such opportunities abound.

"SMEs have to climb; they have no alternative," insists Loewy, who is also a brand consultant for TAITRA. Taiwanese companies, be they in Taichung, Vietnam, or China, cannot avoid innovating and moving up the competitive ladder. The rise of China over a few short years as a force to be reckoned with in the field of design is clear proof of this. What's more, big multinational companies essentially no longer design and manufacture their own products. They focus on marketing and brand management and then scour the globe for products that fit their profile. This trend has become increasingly pronounced in recent years.

There is, for example, the notion that "design" is synonymous with styling. Actually, good design is about improving the lives of the people who use it. Companies also show undue haste in trying to establish a brand. Some companies have asked Loewy what they need to do to launch their own brand in a year or less. "It takes at least five years to develop a brand. In fact, the first five years are the learning-to-walk stage," says Loewy.

No pride, no future

All too many SMEs want immediate results and are unwilling to invest in building up lasting values for the user. But Loewy remains enthusiastic and offers Taichung and Taiwan a sound piece of advice: "The country's diversity and vitality are its strength, but its weakness is that it has not made an effort to forge a clear image and identity. Therefore, it lacks a distinctive culture and message." Loewy thinks of culture as the way people live together. Putting on a showy Lantern Festival show is not culture, but if on the night of the Lantern Festival every street in a neighborhood competes to have the most beautiful lanterns and people come together in a spirit of community, the "local color" they produce can become a part of a culture that will draw people eager to experience and enjoy it.

Loewy recalls that when he decided to settle in Taiwan, it was his Taiwanese friends who questioned him most. He finds that Taiwanese people have little confidence in their government, in themselves, or in their country. Nor do young people have any hope for the future. He believes that this is for the most part the media's doing. "Taiwan's freedom and plenty are very precious, but Taiwanese people don't realize it." Loewy, who also teaches design at Chaoyang University of Technology and at National Taichung Institute of Technology, often talks with his students about the limitless possibilities he sees in Taiwan. He encourages them and tells them with sincerity and affection, "no pride, no future."