China General Interest
The “Business Innovation Award” winner of “New Zealand Chinese Business Elite Awards 2012” - Sophia Zhang, is a talented graphic designer and promoter of cross-cultural communications between New Zealand and China. As a former major designer of Bananaworks Communications creative team, she has contributed much to the creative design of the New Zealand Year of the Tiger 2010, Year of the Dragon 2012 and Year of the Snake 2013 stamp collections. She is also a passionate promoter of the New Zealand Post stamp products, especially the CNY (Chinese New Year) Lunar stamp collections and personalised stamp products.
These beautiful and meaningful stamp collections are officially issued by New Zealand Post to reflect the increasing cultural interaction between New Zealand and China. Sophia says that the New Zealand CNY Lunar stamp collections provide excellent opportunities for New Zealanders and Chinese to learn more from each other, as the stamps contain many significant cultural and iconic links between these two countries. Since 2012, Sophia has been travelling to most of the developed eastern areas of China, running many featured seminars, and giving multi-format interviews with the leading philatelic and public medias in China.
A well-known Chinese philatelist Mr. Dingguo Dai commented that: “the New Zealand CNY Lunar stamp collections have begun to raise more and more keen interest from philatelists also public in China as well as New Zealand, and this further promotes the keenness in China to understand more of New Zealand and its culture.”
Sophia has also successfully promoted the stamp collections as gifts in diplomatic and corporate circles:
- April 2013, Prime Minister John Key presented a “Numbered and Framed Gold Foiled Miniature Sheet” and the presentation pack of the New Zealand Year of the Snake stamps to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
- April 2012, New Zealand National Party President, Mr. Peter Goodfellow, presented the Limited Edition of the New Zealand Year of The Dragon stamps to now Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang.
- The Chinese Embassy in New Zealand, the New Zealand Ministry of Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) and Tourism New Zealand (China Division) have used the New Zealand CNY Lunar stamp collections as diplomatic and corporate gifts.
Courtesy of Sophia, we have 3 sets of Year of the Snake and 3 sets of Year of the Dragon Presentation Packs to give away to NZCTA members. To enter the draw please email offers@nzcta.co.nz. Please also specify whether you would like the Dragon or Snake Presentation Pack.
Click HERE for the official distribution details of the Year of the Snake Stamp Collection on New Zealand Post website.
Click HERE to download a PDF of a detailed introduction of the New Zealand CNY Lunar stamp collection and the triggered cultural exchanging events, including the design team and creative concepts. (3.3MB)
Click HERE to download a PDF of a detailed introduction for the Year of the Dragon Stamps Limited Edition – A distinguished tribute of the Year of Dragon and the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations establishment between New Zealand and China (896KB)
Click here for Sophia and the stamp’s intro video clip on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8KDxf3pBRc&feature=em-upload_owner
Click here for the intro video if you are not able to access Youku:
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTU3NTcwNDEy.html
This is a video interview with Sophia made by NZWTV, which introduces her story from China to New Zealand; the creative concepts of the stamp design, promotion challenges and the implicated cultural exchanging / integration significance behind the stamps.
Click here for the video interview on Youtube:
http://youtu.be/ZneX3ve237Y
Click here if you are NOT able to access Youtube:
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjI1NDcxMTk2.html
Sophia Zhang was educated at South China Normal University, Guangzhou with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and spent over 5 years as a Fine Arts teacher and graphic designer at Shenzhen Art School before immigrating to New Zealand in 1998. She has been deeply involved in countless cross-cultural creative communication projects and campaigns since 2002. Sophia has spent much of her time promoting the New Zealand CNY Lunar theme and Personalised stamp collections to the China market and met many leading philatelists in China and worldwide since 2012.
For more information about the stamps or advice on how these beautiful stamps can be used as corporate gifts to enhance cross-cultural communications and marketing please contact Sophia Zhang at sophia777xyz@gmail.com
(Article based on the NZCFS webpage article by Duncan France, October, 2013)
Nov 3, 2013