Heritage Spark Design Thinking Toolkit by Liang Hou is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award i Jern in Uddannelse, Undervisningsmidler og Uddannelsesindhold Design Competition Category.
JernUddannelse· 2025
Heritage Spark Design Thinking Toolkit
by Liang Hou
Client: Zhejiang University
A' Design Award i Jern Winner in Uddannelse Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #170646The Design
About Heritage Spark Design Thinking Toolkit
Heritage Spark er et undervisningsværktøj til designarbejde baseret på immateriel kulturarv. Værktøjssættet indeholder tre sæt kort. Arvekortene introducerer ti former for immateriel kulturarv til hurtig forståelse. Karakterkortene gør det muligt at studere hver arveform fra forskellige roller. Teknologikortene foreslår tekniske muligheder, der kan inspirere til nye idéer. To tankelærreder, et personligt og et til teams, understøtter samarbejde. Kortene er digitalt printet på coated papir og stanset. Heritage Spark er udviklet til studerende uden forudgående kendskab til emnet.
The Recognition
About the A' Design Award i Jern
Heritage Spark Design Thinking Toolkit er vinder af A' Design Award i Jern, en prestigefyldt anerkendelse, der tildeles gode designs, som opfylder de professionelle og industrielle krav, man forventer af veldesignede skabelser. Jernvinderne viser stor dygtighed, høj specialisering, ekspertforståelse og kreativ kapacitet hos deres skabere. Heritage Spark Design Thinking Toolkit forventes at være en højt estimeret, beundret og kær skabelse, der er praktisk og innovativ. Dette design, der har vundet A' Design Award i Jern, integrerer branchens bedste praksis og har kompetente tekniske egenskaber knyttet til knowhow og talent. Heritage Spark Design Thinking Toolkit respekteres for sin grundighed og er designet til at levere forbedringer af livskvaliteten, der er med til at gøre verden til et bedre sted.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- Heritage Spark is one of the few auxiliary tools for Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) designing in China. It is highly accessible to students unfamiliar with ICH, enabling them to quickly grasp its various types. Using a collaborative role-playing analysis method, it streamlines the design and creative process. Beyond being a design aid, it also plays a key role in promoting ICH.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The cards measure 95mm x 133mm with a thickness of 0.3mm. The toolkit includes two thought canvases: a personal canvas (A4 size, 210mm x 297mm) and a team canvas (460mm x 960mm) for collaborative work. The packaging box measures 460mm x 320mm x 80mm, designed for convenient storage and transport. The materials and dimensions ensure durability and usability, making the toolkit suitable for various design and brainstorming scenarios.
- Tags
- ICH Design, Inspiration Inspired, Design Assistance, Toolkit, ICH
- Production Technology
- The design was created using Photoshop and Illustrator, then digitally printed on 300g coated paper and die-cut for precision. The process included user research, workshop testing, and design thinking methodologies to refine content and usability, ensuring the toolkit aligns with user needs. The cards were produced in small batches, ensuring quality and adaptability.
- Design Challenge
- The challenge lies in designing a set of cards that can enable ICH (Intangible Cultural Heritage) novices to quickly understand its value and essence, while also effectively stimulating user empathy to identify pain points from the perspective of ICH bearers. The cards must balance knowledge dissemination with thought stimulation, ultimately encouraging users to contribute innovative ideas for the future of ICH.
- Research
- Heritage Spark cards are designed to provide a quick entry point for users with no prior knowledge of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). This research explores how card design can effectively convey ICH knowledge, foster user empathy, and encourage users to adopt the perspective of ICH bearers. The cards guide users to identify challenges facing ICH, define problems, and utilize divergent thinking to generate innovative solutions for ICH protection and transmission.
- Inspiration
- In the era of rapid technological growth, the protection and promotion of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) face major challenges. Our course experience and student feedback reveal a lack of ICH awareness. To foster innovative ICH design, it is essential to quickly grasp its essence, analyze its status from various angles, and explore its fusion with new technologies. Thus, we created Heritage Spark, a toolkit to inspire creative ICH design.
- Project Duration
- The project started in Hangzhou, China, in January 2024.
- Operation Flow
- The toolkit includes ICH cards, introducing ten ICH to build a quick understanding. Character cards help users explore ICH from different roles and perspectives. Technology cards offer various tech options to inspire diverse designs through integration. Additionally, two thought canvases support process development and idea exchange, fostering collaborative design.
- Team Members
- Creative Director: Liang Hou, Researcher: Wenqi Wu, Designer: Qianyu Tang, Designer: Yixuan Gao, Designer: Xiaoran Zhang, Designer: Chongjun Zhong, Designer: Songruoyao Wu; Designer: Yingping Cao; Tutor: Zhibin Zhou and Tutor: Kejun Zhang
- Image Credits
- The above material comes from our own team.
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