Invited by the well-known cultural heritage brand “Ru Shan Ming" (汝山明), StudioHVN designed a unique coffee mug for it.

With the rising popularity of modern coffee culture in China, the first piece we designed for Ru Shan Ming is a coffee mug for home and office use. Ru Shan Ming is known for their tea ware based on the traditional Ru glaze. A ceramic glazing first developed in the Song dynasty.

The inspiration for the mug comes from the ancient Chinese geographical thought of a Round sky, and square earth. We translated this idea to a pared down design for a mug with a round form when seen from above, and rectangular when seen from the side. The glazing is applied fully inside the mug and represents the color of the sky. While on the outside of the mug the glazing is only partly applied. This reveals the clay that is used to make the mug and represent the earth.