Promotional Publications Have Got to be of Quality-An interview with Shih-wen Yeh, Director-General of CPA
In the 1980s, many government publications were official, bureaucratic and hardly appealing to people. Director-general Yeh decided to turn it around with a group of specialists and Yushan was where it started.
In 1984, Kenting National Park (KNP), the first in Taiwan, was born.
A year later came Yushan National Park (YNP).
Amid the spreading air of environmental protection, “national parks” were new to Taiwanese. The uniqueness of a national park and things being conserved in it need to be reminded and emphasized through promotional publications.
“Compared to KNP, Yushan is more like the first national park in Taiwan,” said Director-general Yeh.
No sample? Create!
KNP, a former scenic area assigned by the Tourism Bureau with many artificial designs and buildings, had a long- existing system of operation in place but YNP was completely primitive and natural, requiring lots of exploring and planning.
“Beauty is subjective and controversial. There is no right or wrong when it comes to beauty. Different backgrounds and educations nurture different ideas about aesthetics. You just can’t define beauty. Scholar paintings, the great cultural asset for the Chinese people, may make no sense to western painters. However, ancient Chinese scholars wished to pronounce the great nature and emphasize the insignificance of humans. This way of thinking may be closer to how national parks want to demonstrate their beauty.”
An expert on humanities and arts, Director-general Yeh indicates that art works leave room for discussion but the great nature does not. “No one will criticize a natural landscape, regardless of its location. Criticism is unnecessary for the beauty of nature, which is undisputed beauty of harmony.”
- upper: Mr. Ming-ching Chuang was the person who took the pictures in Beauty of Yushan. The pictures he took perfectly catch the beauty of mountains in different seasons, changing clouds, flowers and birds. / Photo provided by YSNPH, taken by Ming-Ching Chung
- Left to right (lower):
The series of Unnamed Realms was officially published and even won an award for its artistic design in 2009. / Photo provied by TNP.
Interview & Text / Wan-ching Lai
Special thanks to Yueh-Wen Huang, Associate Professor, Department of Tourism, Shih Hsin University; Shu-fei Lu and Ruei-jhen Sie, Senior Inspectors, National Parks Division, CPA
Photographer / Chieh-yang Su
Upon the establishment of national parks in Taiwan, the pioneer managers with backgrounds of U.S. national park management, Taiwan national scenic areas, or other forestry or agriculture agencies, all shared a firm consensus. “The major challenges national park managers face is to market the park by sharing the beauty of nature with people, and educate them how to treasure and conserve the nature.”
Printed and audio publications were accordingly needed. However, at the time government publications were official, bureaucratic, and hardly appealing, so Yeh worked with experts on YNP publications for a change.
Government Publications with an Artistic Touch
“These designed YNP publications paved a new way to aesthetics for not only the national park system but also the Forestry Bureau. The way is not dazzling but filled with deep-reaching quality to present beauty of the nature in pictures, paintings, and words.”
A big part of this wonderful memory was the famous designer Ms. Rong-ling Huo. “Her style matched what I wanted and the beauty she presented was based on her deep respect for the great nature. The harmonious interpretation ran deep. The conservative color choice and the simple strokes gave rise to many natural and lasting works. One can never appreciate her works enough.”
“In 1987, we published Beauty of Yushan. Years later I visited Yushan again and was surprised to see the book still available at the gift shop. It’s still a classic, although the design and printing quality has something to be desired in today’s standards. So after I was transferred to Taroko, I tried to publish a book series better than Beauty of Yushan. It was not easy.”
Since it’s about Taroko, there have to be mountains, rivers, the Taroko Gorge in particular, whose magnificence is pronounced by the water, flowers and birds, trees and rocks, to fully present the beauty of TNP. “Again, Rong-ling Huo was the design commander. The text was written by Hsun Chiang. And works of famous photographers were collected. Everyone was excellent. The only pity was that the series was not published since I was transferred elsewhere.”
- upper: Director-general Yeh took unconventional approach and the result was successful. It is our belief that the creative team under his leadership will continue to impress peole with more outstanding creations.
Director Yong-fa Lin of TNPH with company of Hen-biau King, head of Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, and expressed their desire to publish the series. Lin said yes and the four- book series, with cover inscriptions by Ms. Cing-fen Pan, was officially published and even won an award for its artistic design in 2009. The book was also at display in the 2009 Taipei International Book Exhibition.
The success of this government publication must be ascribed to Director-general Yeh’s efforts to gather all the artistic talents to make it happen.
The Honor Belongs to Everyone
If Huo’s designs are the “powder” put on the face of government publications, then the inscriptions from Pan, her favorite student, are the “rouge” to make them distinguishable.
Maybe you have noticed that each national park has its own standard font. It was not selected from those in the computer but was carefully written by the calligrapher based on features of each park.
“Fonts used for Yushan, Taroko, and Yangmingshan were inscribed all by Ms. Pan reflecting their specific traits. It was uneasy. The font of Yushan expresses the magnificence and tolerance of the mountain, welcoming yet authoritarian, indicating that tourists have to be prepared for the changing facets of the mountain.”
Director-general Yeh told the story behind each park’s inscription. "Yangmingshan is drastically different from Yushan. It is smaller and its mountains, fauna and flora, Japanese architecture and hot springs all give people a sense of elegance. So its font appears to be elegant. On the countrary, and unleashed."
Speaking of these admirable publications, one shall not forget the photographers. Without them carrying the heavy gear, taking pictures throughout each park in sultry summer or freezing winter and leading the life of a hermit, there will be no beautiful pictures of landscapes.
“Another important figure is Mr. Ming-ching Chuang, who took the pictures in Beauty of Yushan. He is retired now but the pictures he took of mountains in different seasons, changing clouds, flowers and birds, among others, continue to be examples looked up to by successors. Many people followed his steps to record the beauty of Taiwan.”
17-minute Appealing Film
The aesthetic management of Director-general Yeh while at YNPH included not only printed publications but also audio-visuals. “Multimedia briefing is the best tool to educate tourists. If it is boring, it only helps tourists “catch up on sleep.”
Director-general Yeh knew this. He put himself in the shoe of the tourists and tried to produce touching films "In the earlier times, we hired musicans Chien-hung Pan and Nicholas Fan to produce a 17-minute film, a short yet sweet film. Every scene and topic took into consideration emotional changes of tourists. Upon entering the auditorium, tourists might be sweaty after a long walk so the film started with refreshing yet soothing music and color, followed by attractive images. Lighting, color, and music were all carefully thought out. The background music was determined after several trials. The final quality music was later made into a cassette and well liked.”
- Left to right (upper): Each national park has its own standard font. It was not selected from those in the computer but was carefully written by the calligrapher based on features of each park. /Provided by YMSNPH, SPNPH, and TNPH.
An Open Mind Sets No Limit in Hiring Talents
This history of publication reform is touching. Participants at that time have all become well-known professionals nowadays. It makes one wonder: how could a busy man like Director-general Yeh have the time and strength to discover these great talents? Another story from Yeh showed the answer.
“I have a friend Mr. Long-Hsiung Tsai, who likes to collect inkstones and picks stones in Jhuoshuei River. Many stone carvers collect them and carve them so that they can hold ink but my friend never changes the original appearance of the stones he picks. He just digs a slot and each of them becomes a one and only inkstone. Many people asked him how he picked stones. He replied: ‘They picked me.’
Yeh says modestly that the talented show up when it’s time. You only have to open your heart and offer them a stage. Ms. Rong-ling Huo was already famous only that her style was not well appreciated but she was there. Cing-fen Pan, Ming-ching Chuang, Hsun Chiang, etc. are all talented. I only opened my heart and made friends with them. We communicated our ideas and grow and benefit in the process.
A people person, Yeh shows extraordinary devotion and passion promoting the beauty of national parks. Despite the success, he is never complacent. His efforts continue to make perfect publications.
“I always hope that young people can be given more room to demonstrate their creativity. Doesn’t the nature changes its look regularly? To promote environmental education, national parks need new sparks and new communication lexicon acceptable to the new generation.”
Indeed open-minded, Yeh also pays attention to web logs and blogs. He thinks that modern young people just don’t read lengthy articles with patience but catch new information rapidly. “Maybe national park publications can be transformed into online games in the future so that young people can learn ecology while playing games. Wouldn’t it be great?”
His passion for the nature drove him to work for national parks. His love for aesthetics made him take the pain and produce exemplary government publications. His insights and wisdom helped him draw creativities and contributions from the talented. Director-general Yeh took an unconventional approach and the result was successful. It is our belief that the creative team under his leadership will continue to impress people with more outstanding creations.
- upper: Yuangmingshan is drastically different from Yushan. It is smaller and its mountains, fauna and flora all give people a sense of elegance. / by Guo-cheng Song(The excellence of "eyes on NP photography Contest" in 2008)
