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Article

Exploring the Green Design of Hakka Cultural Creative Textiles for Sustainable Development

by
Wen-Cheng Wang
1,
Chi-Hsiung Jou
2,
Jung-Mei Kao
2,
Wan-Cheng Wu
2 and
Ya-Hsien Ko
3,*
1
College of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education, Yango University, Fuzhou 350015, China
2
Department of Materials and Textiles, Asia Eastern University of Science and Technology, New Taipei City 22061, Taiwan
3
Department of Industrial Management, Asia Eastern University of Science and Technology, New Taipei City 22061, Taiwan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(19), 10042; https://doi.org/10.3390/app121910042
Submission received: 7 July 2022 / Revised: 21 September 2022 / Accepted: 26 September 2022 / Published: 6 October 2022
(This article belongs to the Section Green Sustainable Science and Technology)
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Abstract

:
This study explored Hakka cultural creative textiles using the green design concept, the cultural creative product design model and Hamilton’s three-component unifying metatheory based on ideology, social structure and technology to analyse the effect of blue dye colour, floral pattern size and pattern type on the preference for natural indigo dyed and stonewashed Tung blossom denim. Two hundred and twenty-nine subjects aged 18–24 years (M = 19.5, SD = 1.25) participated in this study. The results demonstrate that the main effect of blue colouring was significant and that Hanaasagi and Ai-iro were the most preferred colours. The main effect of floral pattern size was significant, and the subjects exhibited the strongest preference for the large size and the weakest preference for the extra-small size. The main effect of pattern type was also significant, and the subjects’ preference for the two-dimensional repetitive pattern was always stronger than that for the one-dimensional repetitive pattern. These results show that green design may be combined with cleaner production, such as using natural indigo as a raw material for sustainable development, to create new luxury fashions of cultural creative textiles for consumption.

1. Introduction

“Dress” is a subcultural system that exhibits the uniqueness of a specific culture and, in fact, its wholeness. In terms of the functions of dress in macro-cultural system, the cultural subsystem is composed of three main components—ideology, social structure and technology that are distinct, interactive and closely correlated and contribute to various mechanisms, including ideological organization, social organization, governmental organization, economic organization, art and aesthetics, etc., through which humans organize themselves to solve a variety of issues and optimize the quality of life [1].
It is appropriate to interpret the “green design of Hakka cultural creative textiles” with the three-component unifying metatheory of Hamilton [1]. First, regarding ideology, we need to trace the origin of the Hakka people. The Hakka people are Han Chinese that originated in the Yellow River Basin, and starting from the late years of the Qin Dynasty, they began to migrate towards the south from the Central Plains and arrived at the junction of Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangxi provinces, where their culture has been melded with that of the local minority groups, gradually forming stable Hakka ethnic groups after thousands of years of evolution and later spreading an masse to various provinces in southern China and the rest of the world [2]. Therefore, Hakkas are likely called “Hakka” (which literally means “guest families”) because they are “foreigners everywhere they go”, having undergone a long history of migrating from place to place and wandering and enduring hardship and life uncertainty; the nickname “Jews of Asia” intimates these mass migrations and this group’s pioneering spirit [3]. Regarding their dress, Chen et al. [4] noted that the most representative Hakka clothing item is the “blue dress” (blue blouse), which is the traditional garment worn by Hakka women. From a material perspective, the “blue dress” has a durable and solid texture, and its cotton fabric is suitable for a subtropical climate environment, consistent with the needs of local residents [5].
Second, regarding social structure (including social behaviour), according to Taiwan’s official survey data, the Hakka population, estimated at over 4.53 million, is the second-largest ethnic group in Taiwan, accounting for 19.3% of Taiwan’s total population [6]. Zhong and Huang [7] showed that the world’s Hakka population is approximately 65.624 million, of which 61.078 million (93%) are in China and 4.546 million (7%) are overseas, indicating that Hakka people have become one of the world’s important ethnic groups. From more than a thousand years of migration hardship experience, the Hakka people generally exhibit fine traditional characteristics, such as diligence, thrift, contentment, a tendency to choose what is good and hold fast to it, a hardworking nature, cooperation, hospitality, engagement in actions that suit local circumstances, etc. [8], which are also unique social behaviour manifestations of the Hakka people. In terms of the mechanism of government and economic organizations, the Hakka Affairs Council in Taiwan has been promoting the Hakka Tung Blossom Festival and, thus, the development of the Hakka cultural industry since 2002 [9]. Wang [10] argued that Hakka images may be appropriated to generate capital, an opportunity that has been validated by the Hakka Tung Blossom Festival. Lu and Cho [11] found that the distribution of Tung Blossom and the region where the Hakka people reside are highly correlated and that the features of the Tung Blossom (e.g., its shape, colour, flowers, growth characteristics, and low profile) are consistent with the characteristics of the Hakka people. Therefore, the Tung Blossom is a fitting visual image to represent the Hakka people.
Third, regarding technology, it refers to material culture, to the physical things used in adaptation to one’s physical and social environment in the cultural system [1]. Taking the textile industry and denim fabric as an example, nearly 60% of the world’s jeans are produced in Mainland China. “Chemical blue dyeing” of denim requires the use of azo dyes. Some of these dyes degrade during the dyeing process and release aromatic amines that may be carcinogenic [12]. The European Union (EU) has banned the use of azo dyes that release carcinogenic amines in textiles that are in direct contact with human skin. In addition, the wastewater produced by dyeing with azo dyes is not biodegradable, and when discharged without wastewater treatment, it will seriously affect the ecological environment [13]. In contrast, the traditional Hakka blue dress is mostly made of cotton and uses natural indigo dye, posing the least impact to the environment and hazards to human health [14].
With today’s rising environmental awareness, the concept of green design has emerged, and sustainable product development has become a goal that is pursued by the governments of all countries, in addition to enterprises [15]. Green design is also known as ecological design or “design for the environment” (DFE) [16]. Fiksel and Wapman [17] define DFE as the systematic consideration, during new production and process development, of design issues associated with environmental safety and health over the full product life cycle. In pursuing this goal, starting from product design, the negative impacts on the environment of various aspects, such as the choice of raw materials, organizational design, manufacturing process, packaging design, distribution transport, consumer use, parts and repair, and disposal and recycling of waste products, must be considered to reduce the environmental pollution and impact generated by the design process [18].
Using Hamilton’s three-component unifying metatheory (ideology, social structure and technology) to delineate the cultural and history background of Hakka, it naturally revealed the evolution path leading to Hakka’s symbolic fabric, dye colour, and floral pattern, which can then be leveraged for green design and sustainable development. Since the traditional Hakka blue dress is mainly blue in colour, mostly made of cotton and unisex, it is convenient to use, durable and washable and is thus very similar to denim. Moreover, the visual image of the Tung Blossom represents the image of the Hakka people well, and in the context of green design, realizing the specifics of this culturally creative textile, including subjects’ preferences for certain colours, floral pattern sizes and pattern types, warrants further in-depth exploration.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Colour Preference and Association

Regarding colour preferences, it implies that preference for a colour should change over time and/or differ between individuals when there are differences in the valences of objects associated with the colour, when there are differences in the set of objects associated with the colour, and when there are differences in the activation of objects that are associated with the colour [19]. Casas and Chinoperekweyi concluded, based on literature they reviewed, that blue is the safest colour option for fabric from three perspectives: biology and evolution, ecological valence, and gender schema theory. In particular, blue is the colour closely tied to water, which is the most important source of nourishment and most abundant source of life [20]. Silver and Ferrante [21] showed that blue is the most-preferred colour for both men and women, followed by red. Spruiell and Jernigan [22] noted that older American women favour blue dress the most. Choungourian [23] found that cross-culturally, men’s preference for blue (55.0%) is significantly greater than women’s preference for blue (44.6%). An associative learning framework can be used to explain human physiological response to colour [24]. Jiang, Chen and Zhang demonstrated that the “hard-to-match/easy-to-match” response, a determining factor for consumers’ willingness to buy, was found to be highly correlated with “dislike/like” [25]. In the late 1970s, a study conducted at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) revealed that when looking at the colour blue, subjects have lower blood pressure, show reduced brain wave activity, breathe slower, and sweat less. Some dentists have noticed that walls painted blue help ease the patient’s uneasiness [26]. It is generally believed that warm colours such as red and orange make people aroused, whereas cool colours such as blue and green are calming [26,27]. Mehta and Zhu [28] found that blue helps people focus and perform better on creative tasks and elicits a more pleasant reaction from consumers. Hemphill [29] studied colour-emotion associations and found that bright colours induce positive emotional associations, whereas dark colours induce negative emotional associations; for both positive and negative emotional associations, women respond to colour more profoundly than men. The primary association of colours and emotions is mediated by perceived temperature, these primary associations were observed widely across different cultures [30].
Conceptual colour associations appear to be universal across all cultures (e.g., white—purity; blue—water/sky related; green—health; purple—regal; pink—“female” traits) [31]. Ko [32] argued that when colours are associated with products, the subject’s preference may change, and the association between colour and product features may vary by gender and culture. Holmes and Buchanan [33] showed that overall, both men and women prefer blue; however, when colour is associated with an object, the preferences are quite different. In addition, individuals whose favourite overall colour is blue mostly prefer blue clothing, a preference that is consistent in both men and women. Plajh et al. [34] presented evidence that blue colouring and printing are among the oldest technologies in India, Tibet, China, Java and Africa, having been in use for the last several hundred years and once highly popular in 19th-century Europe.
In 1873, Levi Strauss and Nevada tailor Jacob Davis patented the process of putting rivets in pants for strength, and the world’s first jeans—Levi’s jeans—were born, which were available in brown cotton duck and blue denim [35]. Today the American denim jeans can be considered as the most widely used garment in the fashion business, and among all the textile products, no other fabric has received such a wide acceptance as denim [36]. Undoubtedly, blue is one of the most popular primary colours for dress items (e.g., jeans), yet thus far, people’s preferences regarding shades of blue-coloured fabric have seldom been investigated.

2.2. Floral Patterns and Pattern Types

Regarding floral patterns, Zheng [37] noted that in the era of the Republic of China (1912–1949), silk products with floral patterns were the most popular, followed by those with striped and checked patterns, appearing mostly on women’s cheongsam. In the future, we should take advantage of the rich cultural resources and design modern Chinese fabric products by providing designer’s inspiration and integrating various patterns, such as floral, striped and checked patterns. Lee [38] studied the fabric design of the traditional Korean floral patterns and found that the factors that have the most impact on consumers’ aesthetic assessment are hue and tone contrast. Hsu et al. [39] investigated the factors affecting colour preferences for Taiwanese floral pattern fabrics and found that splendidness and harmony are two essential criteria and that the interaction between colour and patterns significantly affects preferences for fabrics in Taiwan.
Regarding pattern type, it belongs to wallpaper group (or plane symmetry group or plane crystallographic group) [40]; such patterns occur frequently in architecture and decorative art, especially in textiles and tiles as well as wallpaper. The work of Andreas Speiser and his student Edith Muller was perhaps the first attempt by outsiders to describe the symmetries in repeated patterns [41]. Piotrowska [42] noted that repetitive patterns were widely in use in 19th century Eastern Europe. Agustí-Melchor et al. [43] reported that symmetric patterns are some of the most common types and that basic wallpaper includes 17 types of patterns. Nawawi et al. [44] indicated that the traditional Maleic fabrics have six pattern types (e.g., stripes, grids, and zigzags) and that by classifying mathematical pattern groups (e.g., wallpaper patterns) of transformative geometry, additional patterns for use in modern knitting fabrics can be explored. Engel-Enright [45] collaborated with craftsmen from Guatemala and Peru to develop cultural creative goods in the two countries through codesign to cater to consumers’ preferences, and the results indicate that modern designs used in combination with some traditional patterns are generally more attractive than other designs.

2.3. Cultural Creative Product Design Model

On the other hand, the traditional industrial product development process involves idea generation, conceptual design, business (commercialization) analysis, product development, product (market) testing, mass production trials and mass production, test sales and marketing, and tracking and improvement (see Figure 1).
The greatest difference between the design of cultural creative products and that of traditional industrial products occurs in the phase of product development between “conceptual design” and “business analysis”, during which “design attributes” must be interpreted. To facilitate interpretation, the three levels of cultural connotation, namely, spiritual/psychological (intangible), social/customary (behavioural), and physical/material (tangible), must be understood because they are closely related to “design attributes” [46,47].
In summary, in the context of green design, new Hakka cultural creative textiles can be made by using pure cotton denim fabric as the raw material and then processing with natural indigo and stonewashing, followed by repeated launderings, to create the appearance of an indistinct Tung Blossom pattern. Due to the high costs of natural indigo dye and manual stonewashing, the product should be visually tested to determine the subject’s preferences before being formally manufactured. This study examines the effect of blue dye colouring, floral pattern sizes, and pattern types on subject preferences for natural indigo dyed denim fabric.

3. Methods

3.1. Subjects

Two hundred twenty-nine subjects, including 93 men and 136 women, aged 18–24 years old (M = 19.5, SD = 1.25), participated in this study, most of them are college students and graduate students born in Taiwan. The participants had 20/25 or better visual acuity in addition to normal colour vision and were recruited as volunteers through an electronic bulletin board.

3.2. Experimental Design

The experiment included three independent variables, detailed as follows:
  • Blue dye colours: natural indigo dye colours could be divided into 22 colour shades from light to dark [48], including 7 shades of light blue (B1 Aishira, B2 Kamenozoki, B3 Mizuasagi, B4 Mihanada, B5 Asahanada, B6 Usuasagi, B7 Usu-ai), 8 shades of medium blue (B8 Usu-hanada, B9 Hanaasagi, B10 Hanada-iro, B11 Nando-iro, B12 Noshime-hanairo, B13 Tsuku, B14 Ai-iro, B15 Aitetsu-iro) and 7 shades of dark blue (B16 Tetsukon, B17 Tsuki-kae, B18 Koiai, B19 Tetsu-iro, B20 Kongkikyou, B21 Shikon, B22 Kon). The 7 shades of blue (B1–B7) are very light (light blue) and some of them are close to white (such as B1 and B2), so the effect of stonewashing may not be obvious (see Figure 2). Among the 8 shades of medium blue (B8–B15) and 7 shades of dark blue (B16–B22), B8 still appears to be too light. Although B12, B13, B15, B17, B19, B20, B21 are named blue dyes, they don’t look like blue to the naked eye. Therefore, only B9, B10, B11, B14, B16, B18, B22 were chosen, resulting in a total of 7 blue dye colours for the experiment (see Table 1).
  • Floral pattern size: the length-width ratio of the Tung Blossom floral pattern was set at 11:10 and evenly distributed on the VDT (Visual Display Terminal) screen. Four sizes, i.e., Large (L): 99.0 mm × 90.0 mm; Medium (M): 66.0 mm × 60.0 mm; Small (S): 49.5 mm × 45.0 mm; and Extra small (XS): 39.6 mm × 36.0 mm, were designed.
  • Pattern types: one-dimensional repetitive pattern (1-D pattern) or two-dimensional repetitive pattern (2-D pattern).
In summary, a total of 7 blue dye colours × 4 floral pattern sizes × 2 pattern types = 56 images were investigated in this study to test subject preferences.

3.3. Apparatus and Workspace

The experiment was performed using the following devices: a Viewsonic 22-inch TFT-LCD antiglare display (ViewSonic, Brea, CA, USA) of 476.64 × 268.11 mm in size with a maximum resolution of 1920 × 1080; a Topcon SS-3 Screenoscope (Topcon, Tokyo, Japan) used for the visual acuity test; standard pseudoisochromatic charts used to test the subjects for colour blindness.
The detailed VDT workspace layout is shown in Figure 3, with an ambient illumination of 400 lux and no reflection or glare. Each VDT screen was placed on a workstation with a vertical height of 105 cm. The subject’s horizontal view angle to the screen was 15°, and the view was orthogonal to the screen, with a fixed watch distance of 60 cm.

3.4. Stimulation

The stimulation image of the stonewashed denim with the Tung Blossom pattern is shown in Figure 4. From top to bottom (from light blue to dark blue), 7 blue dye colour shades, 4 floral pattern sizes (L, M, S, and XS) and 2 pattern types (1-D pattern and 2-D pattern), totalling 56 stimulation images, were sequentially presented.

3.5. Procedure

On the first image shown on the screen, 56 combinations (7 rows × 8 columns) of colour thumbnails (see Figure 4, upper panel) were presented. Each of the thumbnails was hyperlinked, and when clicked, the hyperlinked thumbnail would show the corresponding large image on the screen. The thumbnails were one-to-one matched to the large images; thus, the total number of the large images was also 56 (Figure 4, middle panel).
In addition, to allow the subject to appreciate the visual effect of the floral pattern size of the large image rendered on the denim fabric, clicking the hyperlink on the large image led the subject to the schematic pattern of the design prototype of the ‘natural indigo dyed and stonewashed Tung Blossom denim jeans (Figure 4, lower panel), such that the subject could see the size of the floral pattern to determine his/her preference [51]; similarly, the total number of schematic diagrams of prototype jeans was also 56.
The subjects could choose to score each design sequentially (1-1, 1-2, …, 7-8) or randomly, without a time limit when scoring, on a score sheet using a 5-point Likert-type scale (1—dislike the most; 2—dislike, 3—acceptable, 4—like, and 5—like the most).

3.6. Data Analysis

The dependent variable in this experimental design was ‘subject’s preference’ for the Tung Blossom pattern. The mean of each independent variable was calculated according to the 5-point scale and the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to calculate basic statistics and conduct analysis of variance (ANOVA).

4. Results

The mean preference scores of the independent variables at different levels (blue dye colour, floral pattern size and pattern type) are presented in Table 2, and the ANOVA results are presented in Table 3. In terms of effect size, The largest partial eta square value in Table 3 is Pattern (0.08), followed by Colour, Size and Size × Pattern (all about 0.01). Since most of the Power values in Table 3 are greater than 0.8, indicates that the sample size is adequate, and represents the probability of avoiding the Type II error.
The ANOVA results indicate that the main effect of blue dye colour was significant (F6,12768 = 11.73, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.01), and the results of Tukey’s post-test at α = 0.05 show that the subjects exhibited the strongest preference for B9 (2.71) and B14 (2.70) and the weakest preference for B22 (2.48) and B18 (2.50) (see Table 4).
The interaction between indigo colours and pattern types was also significant (F6,12768 = 2.93, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.00). Figure 5 shows that the subjects’ preference for the 2-D pattern was always stronger than that for the 1-D pattern; however, with the darkening of the indigo colour, the difference in preference declined.
The main effect of floral pattern size was significant (F3,12768 = 58.91, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.01), and the results of Tukey’s post-test at α = 0.05 demonstrated that the subjects exhibited the strongest preference for the large pattern size (L, 2.81) and the weakest preference for the extra small pattern size (XS, 2.44) (see Table 5).
The interaction between floral pattern size and pattern type was also significant (F3,12768 = 54.95, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.01), and Figure 6 shows that the subjects’ preference for the 2-D pattern was maintained at a stable level (2.91–2.97). However, with decreasing floral pattern size, the preference for the 1-D pattern decreased (2.66, 2.32, 2.16, 1.92).
The main effect of pattern type was significant (F1,12768 = 1089.07, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.08), and the subjects’ preference for the 2-D pattern (2.94) was significantly stronger than that for the 1-D pattern (2.27) (t = 32.42, p < 0.01, ES = 0.275).

5. Discussion

The Hakka culture, as reviewed in the Introduction using Hamilton’s three-component unifying metatheory, green design concept, and cultural creative product design model, revealed a promising cultural creative textile that conform to the concept of sustainable development: natural indigo dyed and stonewashed Tung Blossom denim. That led to further investigation of subjects’ preferences for the blue dye colour, flower pattern size and pattern type of the denim in this study.
As for the colour preferences, it may change over time and/or differ between individuals [19]. Blue is the most preferred colour for both men and women and elicits a more pleasant reaction from consumers [20,21,22,23], and this may be due to the fact that people’s impression of blue ties closely with water—the most important source of nourishment and the most critical element for life [20]. Undoubtedly, blue is one of the main colours used for clothing; however, which blue colour is favoured by the public has rarely been addressed in the literature.
This study demonstrates that the subjects exhibited the highest preference for Hanaasagi (2.71) and Ai-iro (2.70). Hanaasagi is one of Japan’s traditional colours and is mainly blue but with some green (RGB percentage: 11.8, 53.3, 60.9), whereas Ai-iro (RGB percentage: 6.3, 34.1, 47.5) is the most classic colour used in indigo dyeing. Koiai (2.50) and Kon (2.48), two of the most unfavourable indigo colour shades, are both dark blue colours, the latter of which is close to black, suggesting that indigo colours in the medium blue range were more favoured among the subjects. For Application, since the “hard-to-match/easy-to-match”, a key factor influencing consumer’s buying behavior, was found to be closely related to the “dislike/like” preference [25], this study’s results may be leveraged to increase consumers’ willingness to buy.
In addition, this study shows that the interaction of colours and patterns was significant, and when viewing a darker blue colour, the subjects’ preference for the 2-D pattern was always stronger than that for the 1-D pattern; however, this preference difference decreased for lighter blue colours, which is consistent with the previous finding that the interaction of colours and patterns significantly influences preferences [39].
Regarding floral pattern size, the subjects expressed the strongest preference for the large size (2.81), with the preference decreasing with decreasing size (M, S, XS = 2.62, 2.55, 2.44). As no data from previous studies were available for comparison, we interviewed the subjects, who often told us that when the floral pattern size is the largest, the ‘indistinctly showing’ stonewashed effect of the Tung Blossom on the denim fabric is optimal; however, with decreasing floral pattern size, the number of floral patterns also increases, making the denim fabric appear less stonewashed and with a more neatly arranged ‘printed effect’, which is stronger in the case of the 1-D pattern. Our study also demonstrated that the interaction of floral pattern size and pattern type was significant, and with decreasing floral pattern size, the subjects’ preference for the 1-D pattern decreased (2.66, 2.32, 2.16, 1.92); this effect was not as strong in the case of the 2-D pattern. Therefore, in designing pattern types with natural indigo dye and stonewashed Tung Blossom denim, the 2-D pattern should be used more generously [51].
In the case of ‘natural indigo dyed and stonewashed Tung Blossom denim fabric’, this approach to design process can be described as follows: (1) In terms of technology, the Tung Blossom image was first ‘whitened’ using Photoshop, and then the background was set as blue. After applying the Gaussian blur tool, the image with the best visual effect of indistinctness (closest to the stonewashed effect) was chosen as the template. (2) Regarding satisfying human needs, the attributes of natural indigo dye, e.g., organic, environmentally friendly, mosquito-repelling, sweat-absorbing, simple, tonic, and beneficial to health, were utilized to attract consumers to accept this product of green design, which is fully consistent with the human preference for ‘return to nature’ [52]. (3) In terms of the analysis of cultural connotation, this study illustrated the cultural heritage of the Hakka cultural creative textiles, including ideology, social structure, and technology, based on the ‘unifying metatheory’ proposed by [1]. (4) By considering the ‘natural indigo dyed and stonewashed Tung Blossom denim fabric’ in the context of the pattern of product design and development processes based on a cultural creative product design model [46,47], we found that the cultural connotations of the design attributes of indigo colour (form and colour) and the Tung Blossom pattern (texture and decoration) are of an externally “tangible” level, whereas the cultural connotations of the design attributes of cotton denim (functionality), e.g., being absorbent, breathable, wear-resistant, and durable, are of a “behaviour” level, and finally, the cultural connotations of the identity of the Hakka culture (emotion) are of an “intangible” level.
In recent years, jeans featuring stonewashing, buffing, etching, and cat whisker lines exemplify the “fad of ripped jeans”. Such an appearance of “beggar’s clothing” has become mainstream fashion. From the perspective of cultural creative industries workers, first, it is necessary to guide this trend of fashion in the direction of the integration of the concept of culture and creativity, in addition to the oriental aesthetics in the design. Second, from a Google search for “Tung Blossom jeans”, one will find that not even one related product has been launched; in other words, this product represents a wholly new concept that is worthy of development. As sustainability and luxury are arguably compatible rather than opposing concepts [53], this cultural creative textile product, made based on the principles of green design and through a cleaner production of natural indigo as a raw material, may pave the way for the creation of new luxury fashions.

6. Conclusions

As heavy denim is very thick, it may require 15–16 iterations of repeated dyeing if treated with pricy natural indigo [54], making it too costly. Therefore, in the stages of idea generation and prototype design, it is necessary to conduct tests on colour schemes and patterns on a VDT screen such that the subjects’ subjective preferences can be determined, based on which the physical products are then produced, yielding more economical benefit.
In this study, we found that subjects had the strongest preference for Hanaasagi and Ai-iro and favoured a large floral pattern size and the 2-D pattern the most; thus, we presented two designs based on the prototype of “natural indigo dyed and stonewashed Tung Blossom denim jeans”, as shown in Figure 4 (lower panel).
In addition, although we focused on natural indigo, the findings are also applicable to chemical blue dyed denim in terms of the independent variables of this study (i.e., blue dye colour, floral pattern size, and pattern type), which undoubtedly expands the scope of application of this study’s findings.
Finally, despite the rigorous experimental design in this study, the following limitations are noteworthy: (1) The subjects were all college students, but jeans are now worn by people of varying ages and backgrounds. Therefore, in future studies, subjects of different age groups and different countries should be recruited to repeat this study in an attempt to broaden the applicability of the experimental results. (2) Colour differences between colours and patterns rendered on the VDT screen and those of actual fabrics may be perceived by subjects, thereby affecting subjects’ preferences for actual fabrics. Thus, the actual indigo dyed Tung Blossom denim fabric must nevertheless be produced so that the results of this study can be verified.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, W.-C.W. (Wen-Cheng Wang) and Y.-H.K.; Methodology, W.-C.W. (Wen-Cheng Wang) and C.-H.J.; Writing—original draft preparation, Y.-H.K.; Writing—review and editing, J.-M.K. and Y.-H.K.; Supervision, W.-C.W. (Wan-Cheng Wu); Project administration, C.-H.J. and Y.-H.K.; Funding acquisition, Y.-H.K. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was supported by a research grant from the Asia Eastern University of Science and Technology (AEUST), Taiwan, Grant No. 107-5-05-413.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The data supporting the reported results in the present study will be available on request from the corresponding author.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the editor and the anonymous peer reviewers for their suggestions and constructive comments.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Figure 1. Diagram of the product design and development process based on a cultural creative product design model. (Source: [46,47]).
Figure 1. Diagram of the product design and development process based on a cultural creative product design model. (Source: [46,47]).
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Figure 2. RGB (Red-Green-Blue) and corresponding CIE (Commission internationale de l’éclairage) chromaticity coordinates—CIE (x, y) and Luminance (cd/m2) Y data of 22 shades of blue dye, including 7 shades of light blue (B1–B7), 8 shades of medium blue (B8–B15) and 7 shades of dark blue (B16–B22). CIE (x, y, Y) based on Siljak [49] “ColorHexa—Color encyclopedia: Information and conversion”: http://www.colorhexa.com/ (accessed on 7 August 2018).
Figure 2. RGB (Red-Green-Blue) and corresponding CIE (Commission internationale de l’éclairage) chromaticity coordinates—CIE (x, y) and Luminance (cd/m2) Y data of 22 shades of blue dye, including 7 shades of light blue (B1–B7), 8 shades of medium blue (B8–B15) and 7 shades of dark blue (B16–B22). CIE (x, y, Y) based on Siljak [49] “ColorHexa—Color encyclopedia: Information and conversion”: http://www.colorhexa.com/ (accessed on 7 August 2018).
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Figure 3. VDT workspace layout. (Source: this study).
Figure 3. VDT workspace layout. (Source: this study).
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Figure 4. The upper panel shows 56 thumbnails, and the middle panel shows enlarged images of the hyperlinked thumbnails (only 1-1 and 4-6 are shown here). The lower panel shows the design prototypes of ‘Tung Blossom stonewashed denim jeans’ hyperlinked to the corresponding large images.
Figure 4. The upper panel shows 56 thumbnails, and the middle panel shows enlarged images of the hyperlinked thumbnails (only 1-1 and 4-6 are shown here). The lower panel shows the design prototypes of ‘Tung Blossom stonewashed denim jeans’ hyperlinked to the corresponding large images.
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Figure 5. Interaction between dye colours and pattern types.
Figure 5. Interaction between dye colours and pattern types.
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Figure 6. Interaction between floral pattern sizes and pattern types.
Figure 6. Interaction between floral pattern sizes and pattern types.
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Table
Table 1. RGB, CIE (x, y, Y) and colour ratio of 7 blue dye colours.
Table 1. RGB, CIE (x, y, Y) and colour ratio of 7 blue dye colours.
Blue Dye ColoursColour Value *CIE (x, y, Y) **Colour Ratio **
RGBxyYRGB
B9 (Hanaasagi)301361680.2120.26820.71011.853.365.9
B10 (Hanada-iro)01341730.2040.25520.066052.567.8
B11 (Nando-iro)01361530.2150.29419.907053.360.0
B14 (Ai-iro)16871210.2040.2398.3066.334.147.5
B16 (Tetsukon)049730.1970.2292.677019.228.6
B18 (Koiai)046780.1890.2022.504018.030.6
B22 (Kon)026670.1730.1431.144010.226.3
* Based on Koka [50] ‘Traditional color of Japan’: http://irocore.com/category/blue/ (accessed on 7 August 2018). ** “ColorHexa—Color encyclopedia: Information and conversion”: http://www.colorhexa.com/ (accessed on 7 August 2018).
Table
Table 2. Mean preference for each independent variable (subjects n = 229).
Table 2. Mean preference for each independent variable (subjects n = 229).
Independent VariablesNumber of TrialsMeanSD
Blue dye colour:
B9 Hanaasagi18322.711.20
B10 Hanada-iro18322.571.16
B11 Nando-iro18322.651.19
B14 Ai-iro18322.701.21
B16 Tetsukon18322.621.24
B18 Koiai18322.501.23
B22 Kon18322.481.28
Floral pattern size:
Large (L)32062.811.22
Medium (M)32062.621.15
Small (S)32062.551.19
Extra small (XS)32062.441.29
Pattern type:
1-D pattern64122.271.15
2-D pattern64122.941.19
Total12,8242.601.22
Table
Table 3. ANOVA of blue dye colours, floral pattern sizes and pattern types.
Table 3. ANOVA of blue dye colours, floral pattern sizes and pattern types.
SourceSSdfMSF Partial Eta SquaredPower
Colour (blue dye colour)93.75615.6211.73**0.011.00
Size (floral pattern size)235.38378.4658.91**0.011.00
Pattern (pattern type)1450.5611450.561089.07**0.081.00
Colour × Size30.36181.691.27 0.000.86
Colour × Pattern23.4563.912.93**0.000.90
Size × Pattern219.58373.1954.95**0.011.00
Colour × Size × Pattern16.86180.940.70 0.000.54
Error17005.98127681.33
**: Indicates significance at α = 0.01.
Table
Table 4. Tukey grouping of preferences for different shades of blue.
Table 4. Tukey grouping of preferences for different shades of blue.
B22
Kon		B18
Koiai		B10
Hanada-iro		B16
Tetsukon		B11
Nando-iro		B14
Ai-iro		B9
Hanaasagi
Preference2.482.502.572.622.652.702.71
Tukey
grouping
(α = 0.05)		AAA
BBB
CCCC
Note: Preference scores with similar letters are not significantly different.
Table
Table 5. Tukey grouping of preferences for different floral pattern sizes.
Table 5. Tukey grouping of preferences for different floral pattern sizes.
Floral Pattern SizeXSSML
Preference2.442.552.622.81
Tukey
grouping
(α = 0.05)		A
BB
C
Note: Preference scores with similar letters are not significantly different.
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Wang, W.-C.; Jou, C.-H.; Kao, J.-M.; Wu, W.-C.; Ko, Y.-H. Exploring the Green Design of Hakka Cultural Creative Textiles for Sustainable Development. Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 10042. https://doi.org/10.3390/app121910042

AMA Style

Wang W-C, Jou C-H, Kao J-M, Wu W-C, Ko Y-H. Exploring the Green Design of Hakka Cultural Creative Textiles for Sustainable Development. Applied Sciences. 2022; 12(19):10042. https://doi.org/10.3390/app121910042

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Wang, Wen-Cheng, Chi-Hsiung Jou, Jung-Mei Kao, Wan-Cheng Wu, and Ya-Hsien Ko. 2022. "Exploring the Green Design of Hakka Cultural Creative Textiles for Sustainable Development" Applied Sciences 12, no. 19: 10042. https://doi.org/10.3390/app121910042

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