"Serving the people"is an important achievement of Yanan's literary and art thought.Under the background of building a new China,the design field of New China has inherited,strengthened and practiced this idea,and expanded new service methods.Based on the research of the historical literature of design,this paper reviews the historical development of the design thought of"serving the people"in New China of the past 17 years,and further discusses its important influence and contemporary contribution.