Message Delivery of Cultural and Creative Products Under Cultural Industries

Abstract

Taiwanese culture is diverse, rich and sophisticated. After a long-term accumulation, it also has acquired solid cultural capacity. In the meantime, in recent years, the government has actively promoted policies on the cultural and creative industry, which has stimulated the developmental trends of creative industries and created new opportunities for many cultural and creative products. As a result, it has brought a lot of negative phenomena of “cultural industry” to Taiwan. Consequently, the initially good intention of the government in promoting the cultural and creative industry has eroded away the subjectivity and creativity of culture. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore and find the balance between two aspects – “commercialization” and “preservation of the spirit of cultural connotation” – in the process of developing cultural and creative products. Through case studies and fieldwork survey, this study performed analysis based on observations of special cultural activities and sceneries in Taiwan. Questionnaires were designed through the three-level theory of cultural coding. Design patterns and indicators of cultural and creative products were formulated based on visitors’ feedbacks and will be provided as a basis of reference for future designers of cultural and creative products. There are three findings obtained from this study: (1) High degree of correlation between cultural and creative product designs and cultural activities is fundamental and will create a memory connection with the products in a consumer’s brain. (2) Experiential models and handmade designs can enhance consumers’ understanding of culture. (3) Through the three-level theory of model design – integrated thinking of the strategic level, the connotative level, and the technical level – cultural products can effectively deliver cultural messages to consumers and at the same time create cultural styles.