Making the transition from kelp to lamp: the research on forming a design process model for cultural creative products

Abstract

The policy of cultural creative industries is regarded as an important contributor to accelerate economic growth and employment creation in Taiwan. Developing cultural creative products is crucial for expressing cultural values, establishing brand images, and creating business value. This study proposes a novel design process model for developing cultural creative products, which was tested and applied via a realistic case study, i.e. designing a lamp from kelp. The case study was conducted through a practice-based research approach, i.e. research through design (Schneider, 2007). A series of workshops were carefully organised to form a structured design decision-making process for conducting the case study, in which 31 novice designers as participants had to make critical decisions in the end of every workshop. Three different data collection methods were simultaneously applied during the workshops: observation, research diary, and interviews. It was demonstrated that the proposed design process model could facilitate the efficiency of design project and guide the participants to being identifying and using proper design methods to deal with different design issues in different phases. The study's outcomes indicate the effectiveness of the design process model, making it a valuable reference for developing various types of cultural creative products.