Yen Chang Chen · CLIENT: Yuan Ze University
The Kaobei Cup is a ceramic design that transforms everyday vernacular expressions into tangible objects for communication and interaction. Inspired by daily conversations and digital culture, it converts commonly spoken phrases into visual forms that enable emotional expression and social connection. Beyond its function as a cup, it acts as a cultural interface, turning language into a shared and interactive experience across physical and social contexts. It creates a repeatable system that can expand across different languages and cultural contexts, enhancing its scalability and impact.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The KaoBei Cup is a ceramic design that transforms vernacular language into a functional communication interface. It goes beyond conventional products by integrating language, object, and social interaction into a scalable cultural system. By materializing informal expressions, it creates a new form of engagement that connects everyday use with digital sharing and cultural participation.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Dimensions: approx. 90 mm (W) × 90 mm (D) × 100 mm (H); capacity approx. 300 ml.
Material: high-fired porcelain with glazed finish.
Production: slip casting with decal transfer printing and kiln firing.
Packaging: recyclable paper box with protective insert.
Series-based design with multiple typographic variations ensuring consistency and scalability. - Tags
- vernacular design, cultural communication, language-based design, product system, emotional interaction, typographic design, social engagement, everyday object, cultural identity, design innovation
- Production Technology
- The KaoBei Cup is produced using ceramic slip casting with high-fired porcelain for durability and fine detail. The vernacular typography is developed through iterative graphic translation and applied using precision decal printing and kiln firing. The process integrates linguistic research, visual abstraction, and material prototyping to ensure consistency across series production.
- Design Challenge
- The main challenge was translating informal vernacular language into a culturally acceptable and functional design without losing its original tone. Balancing humor, sensitivity, and readability required careful iteration. Another difficulty was standardizing non-structured expressions into consistent visual forms for production. The project addressed these through linguistic analysis, typographic refinement, and prototyping, ensuring both authenticity and scalability.
- Project Duration
- The project started in 2024 in Taiwan and was completed in early 2025. It was implemented in museum retail and social media contexts, where it was presented as part of cultural promotion initiatives. The design continues to be developed and expanded as a series-based product system.
- Operation Flow
- Users interact with the Kao Bei Cup through daily use, where each printed phrase expresses a specific emotion or attitude. The cup functions as a conversation starter, allowing users to communicate indirectly through language embedded in the object. Its interaction extends beyond physical use to social sharing, enabling engagement across both personal and digital contexts.
- Research
- This project is qualitative design research exploring how vernacular language can be transformed into product-based communication. The objective is to materialize everyday expressions into interactive objects. Methods include linguistic observation, visual translation, and prototyping. Data were collected from daily speech and digital communication patterns. Tested through real-world use in cultural contexts. Results show increased engagement and sharing. Insights reveal language can function as a cultural interface, impacting design, communication, and cultural industries.
- Inspiration
- The KaoBei Cup is inspired by the everyday vernacular expressions widely used in contemporary communication, particularly those shaped by digital culture. These phrases, often casual, humorous, and emotionally expressive, have evolved into a shared linguistic system reflecting how people interact and connect in daily life.
The project explores how language can move beyond text and speech to become a tangible cultural medium. By transforming commonly spoken expressions into physical objects, the design materializes intangible communication and repositions it within everyday use.
The inspiration also emerges from the contrast between informal language and formal cultural contexts. Expressions that are typically considered trivial or marginal are recontextualized into designed objects, creating a dialogue between everyday culture and institutional spaces. This approach has been applied in museum and social communication settings, where the design enables audiences to engage with cultural content through familiar language and interactive experience.
Ultimately, the project is driven by the idea that design can translate ordinary language into a shared cultural interface, allowing people to express emotions, build connections, and reflect collective memory through everyday objects.
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