Contemporary Product Design Research Articles

From Traditional Perspectives to Design Innovation

This paper elaborates on the process of digital restoration and redesign of the konghou depicted in the murals of Mogao Grottoes' Cave 465 from a product design perspective. Through an in-depth analysis of the konghou's form, precise application of digital technology, and the clever integration of modern design concepts, this study not only achieves effective protection and inheritance of ancient cultural heritage but also explores innovative applications of traditional cultural elements in contemporary product design. This research is significant for promoting the digital preservation of cultural heritage and fostering the fusion of tradition and modernity.

The Application of Ancient Chinese Creation Wisdom in Contemporary Product Design

The creation activity is the product of culture. Human beings started the creation activity from the manufacture of tools and daily necessities. With the help of dexterous hands, the creator uses the surrounding materials to create exquisite daily necessities on the basis of personal life and cultural cultivation, and realizes the interaction between craft creation and real life. Chinese traditional craft and culture are inseparable, and the spirit of traditional creation has become an indispensable part of Chinese culture. These core features of traditional creative spirit are not only reflected in the technical level, but also contain rich cultural connotation and philosophical concepts. By studying and summarizing the characteristics of traditional Chinese creative wisdom, this paper understands the deep thinking of craftsmen in functional design in ancient creative culture, as well as the exquisite skills in material selection and form shaping period, and probes into the important significance and application value of traditional creative wisdom in contemporary product design, hoping to provide some reference and inspiration for today's contemporary design.

Integration of Mata ni Pachedi Art in Contemporary Product Design

Integration of Mata ni Pachedi Art in Contemporary Product Design

Research on the innovative inheritance application of Guangxi minority elements in clothing design under the perspective of rural revitalization

Abstract To be able to protect the historical culture better and cater to public preferences, this paper proposes the innovative inheritance of Guangxi minority costume design under rural revitalization. According to the object similarity shift, make all the objective function values reach predetermined values, iteratively calculate new clustering centers, and select initial values so that the minimal local values converge. Using Euclidean distance to calculate the distance between objects and divide them into corresponding clusters, we continuously process the data set and complexity to ensure that no clustering bias is formed. The curve relationship is constructed through a nonlinear function to reflect the possible probability change of clothing innovation and inheritance events, and the function is logarithmically transformed to increase the probability of occurrence of ethnic clothing innovation and inheritance under rural revitalization. The nonlinear relationship was transformed into a linear one so that the variables conformed to the normal distribution, and the clothing design innovation inheritance under rural revitalization was extracted. The analysis of the results shows that ethnic elements have a greater influence on contemporary product design under the perspective of rural revitalization, and the algorithm proposed in this paper has a high accuracy rate of 65% for the study of clothing design.

Research on the design of domestic makeup products from the perspective of design culture

Objective To explore new ideas and paths for the development of domestic cosmetics products. Method from the design culture, this paper discusses the relationship between culture and products based on this, will focus in product design field, analyses the current domestic cosmetics product development problems, based on the design of cultural context to carry out specific analysis on west product design, new ways to explore the Chinese color makeup product design development. Conclusion of modern product design and national culture, ancient creation thought and aesthetic advocated organic fusion is conducive to enhance the cultural content of contemporary product design, increase the added value of products, products more and update the vitality, the form of comprehensive promotion of Chinese culture, let the world know China and let China brand in the world.

A Consensus-Reaching Approach to the Evaluation of Product Design Alternatives with Multiple Preference Structures.

With interdisciplinarity being an important characteristic of contemporary product design, the evaluation of design alternatives also involves multiple disciplines, and the evaluator group usually consists of evaluators from different fields and with obvious heterogeneous characteristics. To effectively satisfy the heterogeneous needs of evaluators and improve the credibility of evaluation results, the paper introduces a consensus-reaching approach that incorporates multiple preferences to the evaluation of product design alternatives. First, in order to obtain individual preference information, each evaluator is asked to evaluate all the design alternatives using a preference structure that he/she is familiar with. Second, we use a transfer function to uniform the evaluation information obtained from various preference structures into a complementary judgment matrix. Then, we use the Hybrid Weighted Averaging (HWA) operator weight determination model to aggregate the preference information and obtain the group preference information. Then, we measure the consensus degree between individual evaluators and the group using a consensus measurement method. After that, we use the feedback mechanism to instruct individual evaluators to modify their preferences until a consensus is achieved. We explain the application steps and the feasibility of this approach through the evaluation of the design alternatives of multichannel fluorescence immunochromatography analyzers (MFIAs).

Research on the Innovative Approach of Intergrowth of Xipi Lacquer Art in Huizhou and Modern Product Design

Xipi Lacquer Art in Huizhou was once well-known all over China with the brilliant Huizhou merchants and it was once also annihilated in the river of long history. The surface of Huizhou Xipi Lacquer Art is so bright that it can serve as a mirror, and the swirling, complicated and changing patterns endow it with mysterious and gorgeous beauty. In modern times, since the technique of Huizhou Xipi Lacquer Art recovered all that was lost, its special aesthetic sense of beauty and the craftsman’s pursuit of superlative craftsmanship have led to the increasing emphasis on the objects produced by it for people to appreciate. This deviates from the public’s demand for stable quality and economic utility, and it is difficult to integrate into the consumer market. In this paper, through the in-depth analysis of the history and context of Huizhou Xipi Lacquer Art, the author combines with the theory of contemporary product design to explore the advantages and disadvantages of Huizhou Xipi Lacquer Art into modern product design. Besides, the author uses the scientific research method to find a breakthrough for the two symbiosis and concludes the approach to realize the innovation and development of the excellent traditional technology in the era of science and technology.

The Cultural Jordanian "Shammagh" in the Context of Contemporary Product Design

The Cultural Jordanian "Shammagh" in the Context of Contemporary Product Design

Development of high performance parasport prosthetic limbs: A proposed framework and case study

ABSTRACT Sport with a disability has progressed from undertaking physical activity for recreation to one of a high performance environment at competitions such as the Paralympic Games. There is currently limited information and guidance to help inform stakeholders as to how to develop the high performance technology of elite athletes who possess limb absence. In this manuscript, a conceptual framework for high performance prosthetic limb creation is presented. This utilises a synthesis between contemporary product design theory and a review of existing case studies. This proposed framework is then applied to a case study. Ultimately, the framework provides an indicative guide to the creation of prosthetic limbs that emphasise technological performance enhancement over that of mere sporting participation.

Potensi padung-padung sebagai alternatif elemen estetik pada pengembangan desain produk kontemporer

Karo tribe in North Sumatra as one of the ethnic variety in the archipelago has its own art and cultural heritage, one of which is a unique jewelry called padung-padung. This jewelry was used by Karo women in the past as jewelry as well as status symbol. Currently, padung-padung completely no longer used, even many Karo people, especially younger generation, do not know it. The strong influence of foreign culture due to the advancement of technology has become one of the reasons for the increasingly displaced padung-padung. This article is a summary of the result of previous research that aims to re-examine the existence of padung-padung in the past, identify the meaning and role and cause of the loss of padung-padung from the life of Karo tribe. In addition, this study also aims to explore the potential of padung-padung as an alternative aesthetic elements in the development of contemporary product design in order to preserve the diversity of art and culture of Indonesia.Keywords: padung-padung, nine elements of artifact forming, aesthetic element, contemporary product design

Paper strips driven design: Application on doubly curved surfaces

In this paper, we address the challenge of overcoming the problem of developing doubly curved surfaces in product design. Product design uses two kinds of surfaces, developable surfaces and non-developable surfaces, which are also called singly and doubly curved surfaces, respectively. A developable surface has zero Gaussian curvature at all points, while a non-developable surface has non-zero Gaussian curvature at least in some region. Surfaces of many product design object are commonly created as doubly curved shapes to meet requirements of structure and aesthetic. The problem of creating the planar development of 3D surfaces with double curvature in the product design depends on the shape of the surface and the material of the surface cover. Therefore, the method of deriving a pattern is different when external forces are used in order to generate the plane patterns such as paper strips from the case when the plane shape can stretch or deform to fit on the 3D surface. Given a three-dimensional object surface, the first step of the fabrication process is flattening or planar development of this surface into a planar shape so that the manufacturer can not only determine the initial shape of the object but also estimate the strain distribution required to form the shape depending on a material. The paper is analysing and rationalizing doubly curved surface of a given shape by multiple strips of paper glued onto a surface. Results are addressing possibilities of achieving an overall smooth surface and developing a model for the generation of curvature continuous surfaces composed of paper strip surfaces, as well as generating alternative solutions that are in the domain of contemporary product design. The paper illustrates usability and different variations of the proposed design.

Thermo Mechanical Modeling of Selective Inhibition Sintered Thermoplastic Parts

Contemporary product design and development efforts of various engineering organizations have experienced the emergence of Additive Manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technology as a competent fabrication option for converting digital data into physical parts without using part-specific tools or fixtures. This paper presents the results of coupled field structural thermal analysis carried out on an innovative variant of AM technology called selective inhibition sintering wherein near net shape parts are fabricated through sintering of thin layers of powdered material while inhibiting the boundaries. Thermal gradients that are inherent to the process cause significant residual stresses affecting the part stability. Hence this study evaluates the effect of layer thickness and heater spot size on temperature gradient, displacement and thermal stress of two different polymers is assessed by numerical analysis. Results of the current study are relevant to enhancing the quality of sintered polymer parts with reference to dimensional fidelity and stability.

The Local and the Global: Hokusai's Great Wave in Contemporary Product Design

This article examines the impact and significance of Hokusai’s so-called The Great Wave in contemporary product promotion and design. Arguably Japan’s first global brand, this influential 19th-century woodcut has been widely adopted to style and advertise a wide range of merchandise, most of it neither manufactured in Japan nor primarily dependent on the commodification of the Japanese aesthetic or locale. Interpretation of the varied contexts in which the distinctive cresting wave appears challenges essentialising narratives that see the modern adoption of such traditional non-Western motifs as expressions of Japonisme or Orientalism. Taking an interdisciplinary approach that brings to bear design and global studies theory, Guth instead focuses on how this highly adaptive motif, with its connotations of being both nowhere and everywhere, serves to mediate between the local and the global. Despite the ubiquity of The Great Wave in the commercial realm, to date there have been no studies of its cross-cultural significance. To carry out this project, Guth conducted extensive research into the merchandise on offer in museum shops and online websites, and among global brands such as Patagonia that have made use of the motif. Guth also interviewed designers and users of the products to assess the rationale for the choice of this form of branding and the degree to which awareness of its origins influenced purchases. Guth was invited to present this new research on the global commercial impact of Hokusai’s The Great Wave at an international conference on ‘Hokusai in Context’ in Berlin in 2011. The conference paper and resulting published essay were developed to form a chapter in a book-length investigation into the global iconicity of Hokusai’s wave from its creation to the present day. The book, Hokusai’s Great Wave: Biography of a global icon, will be published by University of Hawai’i Press in 2014.

Exploring materials: creative design for everyday objects

Materials are like words. The richer your design vocabulary, the more distinctive the design solutions you can express. Sketching ideas with a pencil or rendering them with computer software are useful experiences, but there is no substitute for confronting physical forms and materials directly. Exploring Materials is an action-oriented, accessible guide to design thinking that addresses both the and why of product design. In place of the abstraction of pure forms or the whimsy of virtual objects, it encourages designers to make and test real objects in a studio environment. Best-selling author Ellen Lupton (Thinking with Type) and her colleague Inna Alesina examine materials from several points of view, including traditional uses, experimental uses, techniques and directions for prototyping with everyday objects, and environmental implications. Student exercises and inspiring examples from the world of contemporary product design show readers how to use materials as tools for thinking and making. The book opens with two extensive studies: one for a place for sitting and one for a method for carrying. By considering what is needed instead of what specific product can be made, designers examine the methodology of designing. The core of the book is a visual glossary of thirty-two materialsfrom corrugated cardboard to molded felt to plastic film. It highlights the materials' behaviors and propertieswhich suggest different types of structure, surface, and connectionand it shows experimental uses of these materials, demonstrating how designers from around the world have exploited their characteristics in inventive ways. The book concludes with a section on making it real, moving beyond the prototype to create a product that can be manufactured and marketed. Exploring Materials contains everything designers need not only to jump-start their design process, but also to follow a project through from idea to prototype to finished object.

A new product design method based on virtual reality, gaming and scenarios

Through the years, many methods and tools have been developed that support designers in creating good products. Current trends, for example, are to use virtual reality (VR) simulation, gaming principles, and scenario based techniques during product design processes. Each of these methods and tools contributes to the potential effectiveness and efficiency of product design processes. However, in current practice, they are often applied in an ad-hoc manner. This paper presents a new product design method that integrates elements of a number of important trends in contemporary product design processes. Using VR simulation, gaming principles and scenarios, the new product design method gives non-designers (e.g. users, production engineers, marketing managers, maintenance workers) a proactive role in the design process. Within a dedicated design environment, all stakeholders are allowed to create their own designs and immediately test these in a wide variety of use scenarios. By letting stakeholders realistically interact with their personal creations, designers can quickly and reliably pinpoint their needs and preferences. At the same time, good designs are generated. The new product design method was applied to the design of a lane change support system; a system that supports the driver of a vehicle in performing lane change maneuvers. Using the design environment that was established for this case, the designer was able to get a consistent image of everyone's preferences as well as to draw a reliable conclusion about what would be a good design.

After the End – Game: Creating Objects in a Saturated Culture

This paper discusses the idea that current approaches to product design and manufacturing, developed largely during the early years of the twentieth century, are reaching the end of their tenure: to a great extent they are no longer environmentally conscionable nor socially beneficial. The endless design and production of ‘variations on a theme’ in the consumer product sectors, for the purposes of market stimulation and company profit, must be revisited if our material productions are to be meaningful, responsible and of value. When an end-game is reached - where the moves are infinite but without meaning - it becomes necessary to start anew. The direction suggested here is a culmination of several years of experimental or ‘academic’ design research that attempts to give physical expression to functional objects in ways that adhere more closely to sustainable principles. The examples presented reverse conventional hierarchies in design in order to stabilize form and moderate change - but still embrace progress. These experimental designs suggest a direction for defining functional objects that provides an alternative to the barrage of often trivial and unnecessary permutations that comprise much contemporary product design. These objects, while functional, may not be entirely pragmatic, but it is hoped that they will provide food for thought.

Beyond Aesthetics Identity, Religion and Design

Product design is considered in terms of utility, aesthetics and ‘higher’ or spiritual meanings. Drawing from other creative sources, such as music, literature and art, the argument is made that enduring and profound meaning is found when worldly or mundane considerations are infused with ‘higher’, religious or spiritual understandings. This can in certain cases be explicit, in other cases it is implicit. In religion there is a long history of spiritual meanings informing the creation of artefacts. However, most contemporary products lack such considerations and because of this, it is argued, our material culture is often bereft of higher meaning, unfulfilling and consequently highly transient. The question is raised as to whether or not spiritual meaning can or should be part of contemporary product design, and if so, how this might be achieved. This paper explores issues of identity and our responses to environmental and social concerns in seeking answers to these questions.

Web-based knowledge management for distributed design

Contemporary product design is a knowledge-intensive process undertaken by virtual teams dispersed across multiple organizations. Successful design requires contextual knowledge of the target market. Knowledge management and decision support can assist in this task. By considering AI as a form of writing, we can represent knowledge in a transparent and modifiable form, which better supports the multiplicity of contexts required in real design. To assist designers in conceptual-design evaluation, we have implemented the WebCADET Web-based decision-support tool. Based on a knowledge-server architecture, WebCADET operates in design-guidance, knowledge-viewing and knowledge-capture modes. We discuss our efforts in developing WebCADET and deploying four WebCADET servers at different locations for various applications.

The Manifestation of Meaning. A Discussion of the Environmental, Social and Spiritual Aspects of Product Design

The cultural aspects of product design are considered here in terms of significance and meaning. Industrial design, from its early Modernistic roots to the present, is briefly discussed in order to consider its positive and negative impacts, and the application of the principles of sustainability to the field is described. Development of the discipline, to embrace and articulate ethical, spiritual and environmental sensibilities is considered as a way of overcoming the instrumental and often vacuous nature of much contemporary product design. Re-establishing a sense of connection, in process and product, is suggested as a way of creating more environmental, socially responsible and meaningful objects. ‘Meaning’ itself is also described, and differentiated from ‘acquired significance’, in order to consider a more insightful and mature approach to the design of ‘the material’.

The partial information case for multivariate tolerance design using scrap or rework costs

Contemporary product and/or process design consists of three phases, which involves system design, parameter design, and tolerance design. The focus of this paper is on tolerance design, where cases considered involve multiple performance measures that are influenced by a common set of design parameters. Procedures are developed for assessing tolerances on design parameters where the only information available consists of the mean and variance of each design parameter. This is called the partial information case (as opposed to the full information case, where design parameter distributions are known). Minimax cost models are derived to determine appropriate tolerance allocations. Models are constructed that consider operational environments for both suppliers and manufacturers where a nonconforming product is scrapped and/or reworked. Examples are also used to compare the minimax model tolerance allocations to those achieved by standard, full information, statistical models.