Designers should give more consideration to being low-carbon in their creations, Harald Leschke, a former design director of Daimler Benz, told Friday’s international design symposium of the 7th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair (ICIF).

The symposium was attended by well-known designers from home and abroad, who exchanged views on the development of the design industry.

"The low-carbon concept has become a major trend in modern design. Designers can practice the concept in the choice of materials and the way their design concepts are realized," said Leschke.

"I’m happy to see the progress and achievements the city has made in industrial design," said Leschke, who inspected several design companies in Shenzhen before attending the ICIF.

Leschke said a good design should be practical, comfortable, stable and pleasing, good quality and environmentally friendly. "A good design should be able to explain itself," he said.

"Creativity alone cannot produce a good design. Each person is creative in different fields. A good designer should have indispensable professional skills and know well how to express himself through sketch maps, concepts and modeling," Leschke said.

Michio Akita, a renowned industrial designer in Japan, said although the combination of Eastern and Western cultures would be a trend in the design field, people would only choose useful designs.

Akita said Chinese classic readings such as "The Analects of Confucius" provided inspiration for many of his designs.

Li Leshan, a professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University, called attention to lagging design education in China. "Chinese design students lack motivation and responsibility," Li said.

Chinese students relied heavily on computers for their designs, but freehand drawing in pre-design stages could result in a good design.