【Design Shanghai 2026】How many stories can a wall tell?

[Design Shanghai 2026] How many stories can a wall tell?
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As I Am

At this year’s Design Shanghai, materials took center stage in spatial storytelling.

The focus of spatial narrative has shifted from furniture and decor to walls, making them a key medium. Materials are no longer just a backdrop; they now participate in the mood of a space, determining the final feeling a room evokes.

This shift was magnified particularly clearly in one installation this year.

IDEAT Ideal Home collaborated with renowned designer Wu Bin and his “Wu Bin Design” to present a spatial installation titled “As I Am” at Design Shanghai. iLuvVivid participated with its art paints, completing the wall presentation for this installation.

For 65 years, iLuvVivid has focused on one thing: ensuring that colors retain their original vitality once applied. This time, at the Design Shanghai venue, more people witnessed this commitment.

In the design of this installation, Wu Bin wrote:

“A person is like their home; home is the most direct projection of the self. This is not an exhibition to be viewed, but a vessel for returning to daily life, carrying our exploration of the self. The spatial design also takes inspiration from the redesigned Chanel No. 5 Eau de Parfum, translating its spirit of ‘being true to oneself, undefinable’ into a perceptible spatial language.”

This wall hides a counterintuitive secret

In the dim, immersive space, it wasn’t the most conspicuous—just standing quietly as an entire projection wall.

The wall was coated with iLuvVivid’s black art paint. A 1950s French black-and-white film was projected directly onto it: light fell on the texture, giving the image a grainy quality, as if the texture of old film stock had been reawakened.

The black-and-white imagery drifted across the wall, light and shadow gently scattered among the undulations, pulling the entire space back into the atmosphere of that era—not like watching a screen, but as if stepping into the film itself.

Behind it lies a counterintuitive fact:

This black wall contains no black pigment.

In this installation, all black walls were created layer by layer using full-spectrum color-matching technology to produce black.

Unlike traditional color mixing—where dark shades are often achieved by simply layering carbon black or black pigment, resulting in a heavy, dull color—we use a full-spectrum pigment system. Through precise proportioning, we reconstruct color as a layered structure.

Why not using black can create a better black

For iLuvVivid, full spectrum is not a “gimmick effect” but a color-matching principle we’ve adhered to for years: every hue contains no black pigment, using purer colors to let light handle the layering.

Traditional Carbon Black

Single dark pigment layered to cover the wall. Light is only absorbed, unable to reflect. The color is dull, lifeless, and lacks depth.

Full-Spectrum Black

But the black wall you saw on site was not a surface “smothered” by black pigment. It was the result of a layered structure—within the deep black, subtle color reflections are always hidden.

When light falls on it, the black subtly shifts with the angle and shadows: sometimes cool, sometimes warm; both weighty and fluid. To us, it’s not a static boundary, but a material ready to converse with light at any moment.

This pursuit of black layering is very close to the Eastern ink-wash concept of “ink has five shades”: burnt, thick, heavy, light, and clear. Each layer of black interacts differently with light.

Our original intention with full spectrum is the same—in iLuvVivid’s understanding, color is never just about covering a wall; it should become a material language that the body remembers.

When design truly lands on the wall, color has the opportunity to “grow life” in the space, and full spectrum is the way we choose to make this happen.

“A state that is invisible, yet can be remembered.”

— Wu Bin, Founder of Wu Bin Design, renowned designer

What Design Shanghai confirmed is more than just technology

From left to right: Yang Ying, Publisher of IDEAT Ideal Home; Huang Yizhong, Chairman of iLuvVivid; Lin Zhi, Founder of Moz Space; Wu Chen, CEO of iLuvVivid

From left to right: Zhang Chenlu, Lighting Design Expert at Gerui Lighting; Li Hu, Founder of Open Architecture; Yang Ying, Publisher of IDEAT Ideal Home

Yuan Zonglei, Founder of MOK Design

Wei Hongtao, Founder of Hanqi Architecture

During the exhibition, people constantly lingered in front of this wall. Some adjusted their angles repeatedly to photograph, trying to capture the flow of light and shadow at that moment—the camera could capture the depth of the black, but couldn’t fully reproduce the color temperature that subtly shifted with the viewing angle.

For us, this was enough to prove one thing: truly good art paint can only be fully perceived when a person stands in the space. The photo is just an entry point, not the whole story.

At this Design Shanghai, iLuvVivid also brought one more thing.

At the 8th “IDEAT Future Awards” ceremony, iLuvVivid was awarded “Annual Pioneer Brand of Spatial Art Paint.”

iLuvVivid wins “Annual Pioneer Brand of Spatial Art Paint”

iLuvVivid reconstructs space through anthropology and defines artistic pioneering with technology. It breaks the long-standing supporting role of paint, making the wall the protagonist of spatial narrative and an emotional carrier.

From left to right: Huang Yizhong, Chairman of iLuvVivid; Wu Bin, Founder of Wu Bin Design

When iLuvVivid Chairman Huang Yizhong took the stage, he said:

“While everyone is chasing ‘speed’ and ‘newness,’ iLuvVivid chooses to focus all its energy on ‘guardianship.'”

Guarding the purity of color, the designer’s original intent, and the dignity that every application deserves.

Those present this year likely felt it: in space, in materials, in what a wall can truly carry, there is still much room for imagination.

For 65 years, what iLuvVivid does has never changed: faithfully translating the colors on a designer’s drawing onto the wall.

Eliminating regrets in application, making design more effortless.

Why choose iLuvVivid art paint?

We understand that our clients need not just art paint, but a great assistant to enhance spatial quality. iLuvVivid art paint: beautiful color, done in one step!
Website: www.iLuvVivid.com
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