Recently, the list of winners of the 2026 DNA Paris Design Awards was announced. Yang Yong, a PhD student (Class of 2024) in Design from the Faculty of Innovation and Design, City University of Macau, won the Paris Design Award in the Graphic Design category with his work "Maritime Silk Tales Chronicles Study Kit". This is the only award-winning entry from City University of Macau this year.

Originating from Paris, the art capital of France, the DNA Paris Design Award is an internationally renowned and highly influential design competition. While recognizing innovative design achievements in various fields and discovering outstanding designers worldwide, it builds a platform to showcase design trends and progress.

Centered on the Maritime Silk Road and Macao, the Maritime Silk Tales Study Kit adopts the United Nations Key Competencies Framework to transform historical narratives into gamified learning experiences. Built upon the mechanics of snakes and ladders, the kit incorporates character story cards and scenario-based tasks, guiding teenagers to grasp the context of Sino-Western exchanges through interactive participation while cultivating their skills in teamwork, foresight and critical thinking. Integrating board games, study manuals and urban itinerary planning, this work boasts profound value in cultural communication as well as practical educational significance.

The design inspiration behind the Maritime Silk Tales Study Kit revolves around the design proposition of converting "historical comprehension" into "experiential learning", defining the product as a cultural and research creation system targeted at teenagers. Its core concept lies in how to restructure the narrative of the Maritime Silk Road through gamification. Instead of learners receiving knowledge passively, they actively construct cognition via scenario-based choices, role-play dialogues and collaborative missions.

Built on the basic mechanics of snakes and ladders, the study kit links key historical milestones and iconic figures of Macao. Guided by task cards, it fosters systematic thinking, predictive competence and cross-cultural understanding, reviving the spirit of the Maritime Silk Road through participatory experience. Serving as both a carrier for cultural communication and a training tool to cultivate literacy for future global citizens, the design process consists of four phases: historical sorting, competency decomposition, mechanism matching and scenario transformation. First, a systematic framework of exchanges along the Maritime Silk Road is established. Second, eight core competencies are translated into observable behaviors: collaborative tasks correspond to teamwork competency, value-based choices align with normative competency, and future scenario cards develop predictive competency. Finally, streamlined snakes-and-ladders gameplay frames key story plots, delivering simplified rules while clarifying learning objectives.

Official Exhibition Link of the Work: Click to view

This project is an achievement from the training and creation program for cultural and creative design talents themed on the Maritime Silk Road under the National Arts Fund 2025, and it has been publicly presented and exhibited in Macao. (For details: Click to view)

Winner's Remarks

Yang Yong (Ph.D. student in Design, Class of 2024)

Winning this prestigious international award, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Faculty of Innovation and Design for offering an international academic platform. Special thanks to my supervisor Professor Wang Fangliang, whose professional guidance has underpinned the construction of design logic, iterative innovation and the integration of humanistic connotations. I am also thankful for the support from the National Arts Fund project. Rooted in Macao's unique strengths as a hub where Chinese and Western cultures converge as well as the Greater Bay Area development strategy, I adhere to the research orientation of empowering regional development through design and serving national strategies. Going forward, I will stay true to my academic aspiration, polish my capabilities in innovation and collaboration, keep delving into the field of design, and strive to produce higher-quality academic and practical outcomes.

This award marks a phased achievement in my personal academic practice. More importantly, it serves as compelling evidence of the teaching and research strength as well as the disciplinary innovation vitality of the Faculty of Innovation and Design at City University of Macau. Closely aligning with national development strategies and deeply integrating into the industrial upgrading of cultural and creative industries in the Greater Bay Area, the Faculty leverages Macao's geographical advantages of opening up to the outside world and cultural integration to focus on cultivating high-level design talents and advancing high-quality disciplinary development. Grounded in professionalism and centered on innovation, the Faculty continuously fosters top-tier design talents with global vision and local sense of responsibility, consistently driving industrial upgrading in Macao, innovative growth of the Greater Bay Area, and the development of design disciplines nationwide.