The global design dialogue converges in New York City each May. ICFF 2025, set within the Javits Center’s impressive space, brought together creators from across the world to present their future visions for living, making, and meaning. Among the highlights were two official NYCxDesign exhibitions: RE-CRAFT, a showcase of material innovation and cultural heritage, and INFINITE WEAVING, presented by NotYetArt, exploring the links between tradition and technology.

For Asian designers Qihang Zhang and Tina (Hua Hsuan) Tsung, the event was more than a public showing; it was a landmark in their collaborative pursuit of merging heritage with innovation. Their project, Radiant Embrace, was featured across both exhibitions, standing as a compelling expression of cultural resonance and emotional design in the smart technology landscape.

Radiant Embrace: A Fusion of Story, Craft, and Smart Design

Radiant Embrace is an IoT-connected lamp born from the designers’ shared exploration of East Asian cultural values. Their collaboration draws on philosophies of harmony, sustainability, and human connectedness, reimagined through a lens of modern innovation. Crafted from recycled materials using slow-speed 3D printing techniques, the lamp responds to both voice commands and mobile controls. This allows users to create personalized lighting rituals that invite mindfulness and presence in daily life. As its glow shifts gently with environmental cues and user input, it forms a quiet dialogue between tradition and technology, marking time, emotion, and everyday reflection.

This project was exhibited internationally at Dutch Design Week in 2024, Art Shopping Paris at the Carrousel du Louvre in 2025, and ICFF New York in 2025.

Tina (Hua Hsuan) Tsung: Design as a Language of Inclusion, Sustainability, and Global Dialogue

Tina (Hua Hsuan) Tsung is an award-winning designer. Her career includes digital experiences, physical products, and design systems. Since 2015, her consistent international recognition reflects work that merges innovation, emotional depth, and social impact. Her design methodology blends systems thinking with a genuine sense of purpose. She integrates sustainability and cultural storytelling into her creations.

Her impact can be seen in the series of recognitions she’s received over the years. In 2025 alone, she earned multiple Indigo Design Awards, including a Bronze in Interaction Design for Social Change, and three Silver honors for UX, navigation, and socially purpose-driven web design, notably for her work with FHLBank San Francisco. Her previous Indigo wins in 2023 recognized her UX and interface work on the Bank of the West’s digital banking transformation, an effort that also secured an iF Design Award in the Website / Mobile App category.

Tsung’s design sensibility has also reached into wearable tech, earning her the Golden Pin Design Award in 2019 for the “Mission One” dive computer. Earlier in her career, her solo-travel product system “Pingo” became a finalist in the prestigious IDEA Awards (2017), and her conceptual packaging for Vans 2025—EXPLORE garnered a Red Dot Design Award in 2015. Even her earliest design projects, such as her 3rd place Dieline win in 2015, signaled a deep interest in how systems, objects, and identity converge.

Beyond her creative output, Tsung is also a dedicated advocate and mentor. She has judged and mentored at leading hackathons such as HackDavis (UC Davis), WildHacks (Northwestern University), and SF Hacks (San Francisco State University). Her commitment to excellence and community is further reflected in her service as a Grand Jury Member for the Wonder Global Design Awards 2025, Motion Design Awards 2025, as well as a juror across multiple categories, including AI, Customer Excellence, Disruptors, Excellence, and Technology at the Globee® Awards, and Orpetron Web Design Awards.

With a unique perspective shaped by her background in life sciences and product design, Tsung is committed to inclusive, emotionally resonant design that connects culture and utility. She emphasizes, “Design, in my view, goes beyond mere aesthetics. It offers a lens for societal understanding, a bridge linking cultural nuance and scalable systems, and a practical way to make sustainability actionable.”

Qihang Zhang: Designing Systems That Bridge Data and Emotion

Qihang Zhang is a product designer whose work spans music, data analytics, AI tools, and interactive storytelling, all unified by a commitment to human-centered systems. He received academic training in China, the United States, and the United Kingdom. This includes a master’s degree from Harvard University and a visiting year at the University of Oxford. Zhang’s diverse background gives him a globally informed design perspective that’s both analytically rigorous and emotionally attuned.

In his role as Senior Product Designer at Chartmetric, a leading music analytics platform, Zhang is instrumental in shaping the design of web and mobile products used by music industry professionals worldwide. One of his most widely recognized contributions is Talent Search, an AI-powered artist discovery tool that analyzes over 12 million artist profiles to detect early indicators of breakthrough potential. The tool has been adopted by major record labels and talent agencies to proactively identify emerging artists, especially those overlooked by traditional A&R workflows, thereby reshaping how the music industry discovers new talent.

“Memory Land” is one of Zhang’s most personal and widely recognized projects, reflecting his ongoing pursuit of emotionally resonant digital design. The interactive experience invites users to engage with their own memories and grief through a narrative journey shaped by gentle motion, layered visuals, and an intuitive interface. Instead of offering a detached or clinical perspective, it creates a quiet, reflective space that honors the complexity of loss. Celebrated by the iF Design Award and over 15 other international honors, “Memory Land” demonstrates how design can thoughtfully translate intimate human experiences into immersive, healing encounters.

Qihang Zhang’s work has earned over 50 international design awards, including the A’ Design Award, Indigo Design Award, Muse Creative Awards, Vega Awards, and London Design Awards. Beyond his individual contributions, Zhang is recognized as a design leader: he has served as a judge for over 20 competitions, ranging from international design awards like the Globee® Awards, Online Design Awards, Wonder Global Design Awards, and Orpetron Web Design Awards, to tech and design-focused events such as HackDavis, HackMerced, WildHacks, and Designverse.

More than just a tool for efficiency, design for Zhang is a method of cultural intervention. His work consistently centers on equity, accessibility, and emotional resonance. He redefines how technology can serve society when built with care, insight, and intention.

A Shared Philosophy: Systems + Storytelling

While Zhang’s core medium lies in digital ecosystems and Tsung’s in physical and hybrid experiences, the two designers are united by a shared philosophy: bridging systems thinking with deep emotional and cultural storytelling.

As a collaboration between Asian designers Zhang and Tsung, Radiant Embrace signals a new generation actively involved in innovation worldwide. The project redefines the visual and emotional aspects of global design. Its significance was highlighted by its juried selection into two prominent exhibitions at NYCxDESIGN during ICFF 2025: RE-CRAFT, organized by NYCxDESIGN, and INFINITE WEAVING, presented by NotYetArt.

Radiant Embrace showcases a unique design sensibility that transcends geographic boundaries. This approach incorporates holistic and cross-cultural elements, rooted in personal and societal meaning. Beyond these exhibitions, their success launches a continuous mission to shape design’s future. Their work centers on mindful innovation, inclusive narratives, and design systems that prioritize care and performance.