Recently, the results of the Media Communication Design Track of the second “Beautiful China” Innovation Design Competition for Chinese Postgraduates were announced. This competition was guided by the Department of Degree Management and Postgraduate Education of the Ministry of Education and hosted by the Chinese Degree & Postgraduate Education Association and the China Science and Technology Association Youth Science and Technology Center. The postgraduate representative teams from the School of Art at Huzhou University won 1 first prize, 2 second prizes, and 5 third prizes at the national level. Notably, this marks the first time that Huzhou University has won a first prize in this competition.

　　The “Beautiful China” Innovation Design Competition for Chinese Postgraduates is classified as a Class A discipline competition at Huzhou University and is one of the themed events under the “Series of Innovation Practice Competitions for Chinese Postgraduates.”. A total of 2,246 participating teams from 232 postgraduate training institutions submitted works for the Media Communication Design Track of this competition. Eventually, 45 first prizes, 112 second prizes, and 355 third prizes were awarded through the final review. The competition aims to comprehensively present and disseminate the new era features of “Beautiful China”, promote professional exchanges and progress among postgraduate students majoring in art design in China, stimulate postgraduates’ awareness of innovative design, improve their innovation and design practice abilities, cultivate postgraduates’ sense of social responsibility and carry forward the spirit of Chinese aesthetic education, actively display and disseminate Chinese culture to the world, tell Chinese stories well, and cultivate and discover art innovative design talents for the country, society and enterprises.

　　In recent years, the School of Art at Huzhou University has lain great emphasis on the cultivation of postgraduates’ innovative practice abilities, thus having specifically established a management and guidance team for postgraduate discipline competitions, targeting at selecting candidates for competitions and incubating competition projects in advance. The team led by Jin Jingyi, which won the first prize this time, submitted a series of illustrations themed on the “Shanlian” Hu brushes, a form of intangible cultural heritage, under the guidance of Professor Li Zhigang, the instructor. Centering on the Hu brush culture in Zhejiang, the works expanded on it, extracting elements such as Hu brushes, the production process of Hu brushes, and traditional Chinese paintings as the basis for design, and presenting them through illustrations, information charts and cultural and creative extensions. The works were designed around the theme of “Beautiful China”. The works have inherited and developed the intangible cultural heritage of “Beautiful China” and conveyed this concept to the audience: No matter how the times develop, traditional painting and calligraphy materials will always be our precious cultural treasures. In the constantly innovative modern design, modern elements can be combined with traditional intangible cultural heritage. Illustrations can be used to introduce the production process of intangible cultural heritage, and information visualization can be used to introduce the raw materials, development and historical stories of Huzhou writing brushes.

　　Looking ahead, Huzhou University will continue to improve the project-based management system for special discipline competitions for postgraduates, intensify support for postgraduates to participate in top competitions such as the “Challenge Cup” and “Internet Plus” and special discipline competitions such as the “Series of Innovation Practice Competitions for Chinese Postgraduates”. The university will adhere to promoting creation and research through competitions, enhance postgraduates’ abilities to solve practical problems by using their discipline and professional knowledge, and comprehensively improve the quality of postgraduate talent cultivation.