Caochangdi (simplified Chinese: 草场地) is an urban village and renowned arts district located in the Chaoyang District of northeast Beijing at the intersection of the 5th Ring Road and Airport Expressway. Translated as "grasslands" in Mandarin, Caochangdi is home to a diverse group of residents, including migrant workers, farm-ers, students and artists, most notably, Ai Weiwei. Caochangdi developed into a thriving arts and cultural hub when artists began to move into the area around 2000, attracting international attention similar to the nearby 798 Art Zone.
For this project, students had to share different tasks to organise the Beijing Design week, a creative event which was held at that time, in Caochangdi. I was in charge of designing the typeface for the signage, while other students needed to think about its fictional names to differentiate each street and thus helping the visitors to find their way more easily. Because Caochangdi meant literally ''grasslands'' in mandarin, all the names have been inspired from the theme of vegetation and nature.
This is why, The typeface's style came to my mind quite naturally. I designed the strokes based on grass features: irregular and sharp.
