This study aimed to explore the experience of painting appreciation through desktop virtual reality (VR) and a heads-up display (HTC Vive) and compare it with those of a physical painting and album. The study included 52 university students who viewed paintings in all four environments and answered a subjective feelings questionnaire. The results show that the physical paintings generated more positive emotions, such as pleasure, relaxation, and calmness, than virtual paintings. Additionally, the physical paintings were perceived and evaluated as more original, attractive, and valuable. Moreover, among the virtual paintings, the landscape paintings were more popular than abstract ones, whereas among the physical paintings, the abstract paintings were preferred. The head-mounted display made the participants feel uncertain about moving in the physical environment, and the transmission line connecting it to the computer limited their movements. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance the quality and ease of interactions in VR environments to make virtual paintings appear as impressive as physical ones.

In essence, cultural and creative design features humanity and culture. The process of how to transform culture into creativity is an essential subject of design education, which, in turn, calls for a new design teaching system. In regard to combining traditional Chinese thinking with modern design experience, the question of how to apply traditional Chinese thinking to design concepts, methods, and education is systematically explored in this research. Firstly, the question of how to transform the philosophy of “Tao, Vessel, Change and Comprehensiveness” in the Book of Changes into “design thinking” in order to establish the learning process of creative design with added value—as well as to set up the teaching model of cultural and creative design under “Tao, Vessel, Change and Comprehensiveness”—is discussed. After this, two cases of the Aboriginal Harvest Festival’s cultural creativity “Dancing Together” candlestick and the animation, cultural, and creative design of the “Wind Lion God” are used in order to examine the effectiveness of the specific design and to verify the feasibility of this teaching model in the development and application of cultural and creative products. The results demonstrate the feasibility of this teaching model, which provides a new systematic approach for the purposes of teaching and practice in the field of cultural and creative design.

This study explored two issues: (1) could the number of design awards represent the design level of a country? (2) If the design award is not suitable as criterion, is there a more appropriate one(s)? Beginning with the phenomenon that use the number of design awards as a benchmark for evaluating national design capabilities, its rationality through objective data is examined. The research reviews the existing mechanisms and attempts to establish a more comprehensive one through expert interviews and questionnaires. Six criteria were identified: international activity, designers’ level, future trends, historical impact, lifestyle taste, and environment standards. When these criteria are used to evaluate a country’s design level, the results are in line with the overall impression of design experts. Conversely, the framework based on the number of design awards leads to a significant gap. The results overturn the evaluation systems of design awards. In terms of academic contribution, through the establishment of a new mechanism, the lack of existing ones can be made up. In terms of practical implication, design stakeholders in various countries have a benchmark for inspection when trying to improve their design level or international reputation. The research provides reference for policy formulation and strategy development.

There have been many studies on the effectiveness of the STEAM model since its integration into design education, but further investigation is needed to determine whether teachers and students truly understand the meaning of STEAM. The aim of this study is to evaluate people’s perceptions of the STEAM model in design education. Respondents from four universities on both sides of the Taiwan Strait participated in the study. Following expert evaluation and a number of tests, the revised questionnaire was used to survey the attitudes of respondents. The results indicate the following: (1) Respondents were more familiar with universities in their area and therefore rated them relatively highly. While this is reasonable, it suggests that respondents may lack a global perspective. (2) The proportion of arts courses is generally high, but further analysis is required to determine whether they in fact play a role in connecting to STEM. This study concluded that educators and researchers need to have a deep understanding of the essence and connotations of STEAM. Students must also consider how to acquire the knowledge and skills needed for 21st-century design through STEAM courses. Furthermore, the use of STEAM in design education needs to be continuously evaluated and improved.