Applying Chinese Philosophical Thoughts into Product Design

Abstract

Nowadays, with the trend of globalization, not only cultural diversities are being threatened, designs are also getting more and more homogeneous, too. In general, designs seem to conform to popular trends and aim for profits. According to design history, it is acknowledged that various design styles are generated from different cultures. Hence, it is indispensable to retrieve design diversity by looking into individual cultures. And Chinese culture, with a unique and broad cultural heritage, has potential to re-diversify design styles. However, only starting with superficial cultural signatures is far from enough; it is badly needed to combine the essence of culture, cultural beliefs and values, in order to seek a unique distinctive design style. This thesis brings up a new series of design principles generated from Chinese philosophy, as well as a design guideline for applying these principles into design projects. Hopefully, this thesis will provide a new design direction for designers; and designers who follow this adapted design process will come up with distinctive yet various ideas that provide for a diversity of design styles as well as unique products.