Culturally Inspired Design: Product Personalities to Capture Cultural Aspects

painting) Acumen (literature) Adaptive (history and humanities) Allegory moralizing (painting) Ambiguous (history and humanities) Antagonist (history and humanities, literature) Aseptic (history and humanities) Belief in miracles (history and humanities) Buck (history and humanities) Candor (history and humanities) Centred (humanistic-historical) Christian (history and humanities, literature) Collective (history and humanities) Complex (history and humanities) Concentrate (history and humanities) Constant (history and humanities) Controllable (history and humanities) Creator (history and humanities) Critical (history and humanities) Cultism (literature) Catholic (painting) Cultural assimilation (history and humanities) Curvilinear reasoning (history and humanities) Diachronic (cinema) Diaspora (history and humanities) Dogmatic (history painting) dream Themes (painting) Ecumenical (history and humanities) Elusive (history and humanities) Emblematic (literature, painting), Feeling depth (history and humanities) Fey (history and humanities) Fini-secular (literature) Folklore (history and humanities) Heroic (history and humanities, literature) Hidden (history and humanities) Honour (literature) Humble (history and humanities) Hybrid (literature) Hyper-identity (history and humanities) Idyllic (history and humanities) Imperial (history and humanities) Improvisation (history and humanities) Incremental (historical and humanistic) Intense religiosity (cinema, painting) Interstitial (literature) lyric (literature) Metamorphic (history and humanities) Militant (history and humanities) Mimetic (history and humanities) Miscegenation (literature) Moral (painting) Ancient (story) Morphological (history and humanities) Movement (history and humanities) Mystery (history and humanities, music) Naive (history and humanities) Needy (history and humanities) Nostalgia (history and humanities, literature, music) Ornamental (painting) Pantheistic (history and humanities) Parental (history and humanities) Patriotic (cinema, history and humanities) People (cinema, history and humanities) Proud (literature) Radical (history and humanities) Romantic (history and humanities, literature) Allogeneic (history and humanities) Sacred (literature) Sacrificed (history and humanities) Sadness (history and humanities, music) Sensitive (history and humanities) Sentimental (history and humanities, literature, music) Single (history and humanities, painting) Singular (cinema, history and humanities) Spiritual (history and humanities) Stubborn (history and humanities) Subjective (literature) Subversive (cinema) Sync (cinema) Theology (history and humanities, literature) Utopian (history and humanities) Water (history and humanities) Sources: Almeida (1995), Baguet (1999), Bello (2009), Borja (2005), Cabral (2003), Cademartori (2006), Cardoso & Catelli (2009), Castagna (2005), Costa (1998), Domingues (2000), Grosso (1999), Lemière (2006), Lourenço (1994, 2001), Martins, Sousa & Cabecinhas (2006), Matos-Cruz (1999), Moreira (2005), Nascimento (2009), Neto (2005), Netto, Dias & Mello (2003), Ngai (1999), Ono (2004), Pereira (1999), Quadros (1999), Rago (2006), Ribeiro 82004), Rodrigues & Devezas (2009), Rossini (2005), Salvo (2006), Silva (1999). Table 7. Cultural aspects with a neutral nature concerning the Lusophone space (in parentheses the thematic track of the literature review from which the cultural trait was retrieved is indicated).


Introduction
This chapter, focusing on culturally inspired design, with emphasis on Portuguese and Lusophone cultures, is developed in a two stage process (Fig. 1).In the first part, an effort to identify the Portuguese identity reflected in the design of existing products is pursued.In the second part of this work, product design specifications are created based on the assignment of product personalities to capture Portuguese and Lusophone cultural aspects.Both stages of this contribution give rise to new product concepts, which are aimed at exemplifying the profile in existing Lusophone design production (in comparison with other design origins) and at demonstrating the transfer of selected cultural values to designed objects.
Fig. 1.Depiction of the two streams of analysis departing form an empirical and an abstract level, reaching at new product concepts.
In both stages of the research, an array of product features was drawn up, in the first case from observation, in the second case from matching of cultural traits with product features, through the use of the product personality assignment approach.Culture may inform design by a process of context-informed practice.Hence, collectivelyheld norms of practice shared within contexts may well introduce culture into the design process, even if indirectly.Geographical context may influence the practice and results of design in two ways.One the one hand, everyday specific features of a location (availability of technology and materials, climate, local modes of exchange and even cultural factors affecting business activities) produce particularized actions, which may however be 57 The second part of this chapter reports on a project that aimed to identify the cultural traits of the Portuguese speaking countries, with regard to both an internal perspective as well as an outsider's perspective.Subsequently, the translation of these traits into product design was intended, attempting to give a Portuguese and Lusophone projected cultural identity to products.To this end, a methodology was developed in several stages.For the application of the methodology, several studies were carried out.The personality attributes of products were analyzed using a technique known as Product Personality Assignment (Jordan 2000) in order to mediate the transfer from the identified cultural traits to product design requirements.Patrick W. Jordan used positive and negative characteristics of people, developing a list with 209 descriptors of personality and, after a collation and synthesis of work arrived at a list of 17 pairs of dimensions of personality.These dimensions are composed of pairs of opposing personality descriptors, such as Complex / Simple.Thus, Personality Assignment to a product is a tool that explores the emotional ties existing in the relationship between user and product.

Characterization of the identity of existing Portuguese and Brazilian design
In this section, an attempt to identify the Portuguese and Brazilian identities reflected in the design of existing products is carried out.This contribution gives rise to new concepts, which are aimed at representing cultural traits embedded in objects.An array of product features is drawn up from observation of a sample of designed objects (208), whose pictures were readily available from design web-blogs and design museums which were found through web searches, to empirically assess the existence of a Lusophone design style, in comparison with other design origins.The main purpose of this section is to seek the identification of a possibly existent identity of Portuguese and Lusophone Design, according to different perspectives (e.g.form, brand, material, archetype), from the study of selected cases.While it is acknowledged that an analysis which is mostly based on the material properties of products is necessarily limited in scope, the consideration of experience or use related qualities, given the breadth of this survey, was inferred, albeit visually as their assessment by actual use would not be feasible.Initially, a historical perspective of Portuguese and Brazilian design was drawn up.Since the existing information concerning existing designs of other Lusophone countries is very limited, it was chosen to analyse Portuguese and Brazilian design only, and from these two identities, extrapolate a proposed Lusophone design identity, focusing on material properties mostly.From this analysis, similarities were perceived between Portuguese and Brazilian (Lusophone) designs, according to the analyzed products.Another analysis of designed products was then carried out, focusing on countries with design production of great international appreciation so that it would be possible to differentiate this against Lusophone design.The analyzed regions and countries, for the purpose of differentiation, were Scandinavia, which includes the Nordic countries, as well as Italy and Germany.To conclude the first stage of this research, and apply it in a practical component, two conceptual designs were developed (Fig. 2 and 3).One of the designs concerns a refrigerator (Figure 2) that intends to reflect the Portuguese identity, without disregard to new options, both in terms of currently available material and technology.The other conceptual design consists of a sofa with a special focus on Lusophone related features (Figure 3).The latter may assume an array of different configurations, and it differs from similar products in its versatility, having as main function that of a sofa, but including a footrest for the support of the users' feet, and converting into a set of table with three stools if necessary.Fig. 2. Refrigerator designed with inspiration on the Portuguese "postigo" (small door or window within a regular door) (designed by the third author).Fig. 3. Multi-purpose object (sofa, table, shelf, stools and footrest) designed with inspiration taken from the traditional "canapé" (multiple seat wooden chair) (designed by the third author).

Methods deployed to unveil existing design profiles
The overall goal of the study was to identify from various perspectives (brand, material, archetype, among others) the contours of a possibly existing identity of Lusophone design, from the study of selected cases.The guiding specific objectives were the following: -Identifying the various types of associations that support cultural identity and seeking to illustrate them by adopting a historical perspective.-Analyzing products of international recognition to identify a possible identity of Portuguese and Lusophone design.-Placing the proposed identification of traces of Lusophone cultural identity in the context of other traditions, as a means of differentiation.-Proposing solutions or concepts in continuity to what was found, while adopting contemporary or emerging technology.To assist in achieving these objectives the following research questions were developed: -Over time is there a continuity and perseverance in the appearance of traces, signs or marks on the production of objects within the Lusophone space, and in Portugal?-Are there materials, shapes, graphic markings, colours, and other product properties typically Portuguese (Lusophone), and, or, with international acceptance?-Are there any identifiable differences between the products of Lusophone production and the most visible design currents with a geographical identity, such as Scandinavian, Italian or German design?An extensive review of Portuguese and Lusophone design was carried out in order to better understand it.The new designs created in the course of this study are based on results from the analysis pertaining to the products shown in the following sections.The selection of products comprised in the analysis presented (including iconic designs identified in design web-blogs, items for sale at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, red dot design awards and design fair catalogues, e.g.Milan design fair) has necessarily influenced the results lines, wavy and winding forms.These designs are innovative, incorporate functional improvements and demonstrate savings in the materials used in the objects, while designers select the most recent materials and apply high mutability to their projects.The designers of this nationality do not use graphic markings and inferred ease of use of their products varies between easy to medium.In the following section, it is possible to define an identity for Lusophone design, based on the intersection of Brazilian and Portuguese design characteristics.

Portuguese and Brazilian design
Regarding the possibility of a cultural identity of Portuguese design, one can thus conclude that the most common colours are (described by decreasing frequency): white, black, brown, beige, metallic grey, green, red, and cork yellow.The materials preferably used by Portuguese designers in most objects are clay (pottery), wood, cork, porcelain, plastic, metal and leatherette.Regarding the shape of the products, these are characterized by their simplicity, rationality, curved lines, elegance, organic character, softness and in some cases straightness of lines.This design culture stands out for its innovation in the field of materials, and it also reflects concerns about the ease of use, comfort, very often the addition of new materials and products are aesthetically modern.Surveyed objects are mostly devoid of graphic markings, except for the product brand.Finally, all objects are considered to require between easy and medium ability for their use.Brazil also shows important similarities between its designers' production, in their choice of colours such as brown, white, black and green, this similarity is clear.They use the most common materials including wood, metal, plastic and leather.The sampled products designed in this nation exhibit similarities among each other such as simplicity, straight lines, rationality, and undulating and sinuous lines.Originality and innovation stand out in the evident concern for comfort, functional improvements, material savings, and conscious selection of materials by Brazilian designers and through the mutability given to their products.The objects are mostly devoid of graphic markings and inferred ease of use varies between large and medium, although most of these products were deemed easy to use.In identifying a possibly existing identity for design among the Portuguese language countries, albeit it was based only in Portugal and Brazil, the following characteristics were identified: colours mostly used are white, brown, black and green; materials are typically wood, plastic and metal.Moreover, the products are characterized mainly by their simplicity, rationality and straight lines.The designers differentiate themselves by speaking of the choice of material, the comfort they bring to the objects, assigning more than one functionality to their products and at the same time incorporating mutability into their designs.The objects created within the Lusophone space are generally easy to use, and are mostly devoid of graphic markings.

Sampled Portuguese designs
Besides the 46 product designs showed in this section, an additional set of 26 other products was analyzed in this study, but are not shown due to space and size restrictions (Fig. 4; images shown are in the public domain; for a complete set of references see Simão & Coelho, 2011).

Sampled Brazilian designs
Besides the 32 examples of product design from Brazil shown in this section, an additional set of another 32 products was considered in the analysis presented in this study, but are not shown due to space and size restrictions (Fig. 5; images shown are in the public domain; for a complete set of references see Simão & Coelho, 2011).

Comparison with Scandinavian, Italian and German design
This section is intended to achieve the objective of identifying the characteristics of Lusophone design identity in the context of other geographically based design traditions, as a form of visible differentiation.Hence, it seeks to identify differences between the products of Lusophone origin and products with a Scandinavian, Italian and German origin.As shown in this section, there are some differences between Lusophone design and Scandinavian, Italian and German design.This section enables establishing material and use based differences drawn from the four design origins included in the study.With regard to colour preference very significant differences do not exist, however, Lusophone design resembles Scandinavian design in this respect, differing from Italian and German design by the use of more subtle and neutral colours.The colours that are primarily used by the Italian current tend to be more flashy (Table 1).
Lusophone Space ( 136) Scandinavia ( 23) Italy ( 26) Germany ( 23 Green 12% Orange 12% Table 1.Colour characteristics prevalent across the sampled products. In relation to the material differences visible in the material of choice for products, these are shown in Table 2. Portuguese speaking designers have a special preference for wood primarily, followed by plastic, while the materials of preference of Scandinavian, Italian and German designers (metal) are the least utilized by Lusophone designers.At a formal level, design projects with Lusophone and German origins display a great sobriety instilled in the shape of products, while designs from Italy and Scandinavia display more organic and fun shapes than those from Germany and the Lusophone space (Table 3).Innovation in the Lusophone space is still lagging behind the other design streams examined.Although Lusophone products reflect innovation and originality, they are still short of the originality that grew with these other three schools for decades and contributes to highlighting the timeless tradition of their designs (Table 4).Across the items displayed in Table 5 there is not much difference, since the products of the four nationalities and, or, regions, are usually devoid of graphic markings, using them only to show the product's brand.Products are mostly similar in terms of inferred ease of use (Table 5).
Lusophone S. ( 136) Scandinavia ( 23) Italy ( 26) Germany ( 23 The analysis presented in this section suggests that Lusophone design shows some differences when compared to Scandinavian, Italian and German design traditions, particularly in relation to innovation, which is rather less inculcated in Portuguese and Brazilian products.This is deemed to result largely from the tradition and heritage that comes from long ago in these design currents.There are also obvious similarities that unite these four design streams, namely at the form level.

Sampled Scandinavian designs
The sample consists of 23 product designs, which are the basis on which the analyses relating to Scandinavian design are made in this study (Fig. 6; images shown are in the public domain; for a complete set of references see Simão & Coelho, 2011).
Fig. 6.Images of Scandinavian designed products sampled as a basis for analysis.

Sampled Italian designs
The sample includes 26 products, designed both by Italian and other designers commissioned by Italian companies, for products sold as Italian products (Fig. 7; images shown are in the public domain; for a complete set of references see Simão & Coelho, 2011).Fig. 7. Images of Italian designed products sampled as a basis for analysis. www.intechopen.com

Sampled German designs
The sample consists of 23 product designs, which are the basis on which the analyses relating to German design are made in this study (Fig. 8; images shown are in the public domain; for a complete set of references see Simão & Coelho, 2011).
Fig. 8. Images of German designed products sampled as a basis for analysis.

Discussion on the use of product profiles to generate new concepts
This section discusses the design concepts proposed in continuity to the characteristics found, but adopting contemporary or emerging technology and materials.Two concepts were proposed (Figures 2 and 3).One was designed taking into account the characteristics of Portuguese products taken from the analysis done for Portuguese products.The other one reflects the characteristics of Lusophone joint design identity.These concepts seek to provide continuity to the two design cultures focused, through the selection of factors which were set similarly to the existing sampled products.These factors include the colours most frequently used by designers of these nationalities, their chosen materials and the formal characteristics of their products.Innovation was sought in these creative concepts, in order to distinguish these from existing products on the market.The focus of the first concept fell on power savings, i.e. on an economic level, without neglecting the functional level (Figure 2).The innovations inculcated in the second concept concern mainly the formal domain, in an attempt to make the product both functional and versatile, and in such, conferring adaptability to satisfy changing and dynamic user needs (Figure 3).The results suggest that, in order to continue a tradition of centuries without which the designed products will no longer be accepted within and outside the Lusophone space, these should incorporate colours, materials and forms typical of the Portuguese and Lusophone culture.Colours of choice of Portuguese and Lusophone designers, identified as a result of the analysis undertaken in this study, are white, brown, beige, green, metallic grey, red, cork colour tones, yellow and blue.The materials selected by these designers are usually wood, ceramic, cork, plastic, porcelain, metal, steel, aluminium, and vinyl or leather.At a formal level, the products reflect simplicity, rationality, curved lines, elegance, organic character, smoothness and straightness of lines.Designs should also reflect increasing concerns for sustainability, ecological values and advanced functional, since the products designed by designers of these nationalities are mostly very easy to use and should offer more consistently clean and sustainable solutions to problems faced by the consumer society in the current times.
Significant similarities were found between the design productions sampled in this study.Portuguese design production, as sampled in this study, shows a preference for colours such as white, black, beige, brown and metallic grey.In what concerns materials, the choice falls mainly on ceramics, wood and cork; in terms of shape or form, products are simple, rational and often incorporate curved lines.Although Portuguese product designs show a striking low level of innovation, designed products are deemed easy to use and are mostly devoid of graphical markings.For Brazilian designers, it can be concluded that they prefer colours like brown and white, in terms of materials, their preference falls on wood and in terms of forms, their products are conspicuously simple.Brazilian designers innovate in particular in products that integrate technology and that are comfortable, while Portuguese designers innovate mostly by conceiving products that are very user-friendly.Portuguese designs are mostly devoid of graphical markings.From the joint analysis of the sampled designs pertaining to these two nationalities it can be concluded that Lusophone design gives primacy to colours like white, brown and black; wood is the material of choice and the form of these products is simple and rational.The rate of innovation in Lusophone product design is not high, but designers produce user-friendly products which are devoid of graphical markings.
As a result of the analysis presented, Scandinavian chromatic preferences reflect mainly white, red, black and brown.In respect to the materials' order of preference, it begins with plastic, followed by wood, metal, textiles, glass and, finally, their products are also characterized by simplicity, rationality and the use of organic forms.The innovations incorporated in these are evident at the level of adaptability, sustainability, multifunctionality of products and modern appearance.The objects designed within this culture are devoid of graphic markings and are very easy to use.Italian design uses more often as colours white, metallic grey, yellow, black, red, blue, pink, brown, green and orange.In terms of materials that stand out, there is plastic, metal, with special focus on steel, and wood.At the form level, products are characterized by simplicity, curved shapes, fun shapes and functional form.Their originality can be seen through the adaptation of new technologies to design, which led to the creation of great classics of design, striving to create compact objects.Multi-functionality, ergonomics, and fun are common product attributes.
Italian product designs include some graphic markings although most products are devoid of them.Inferred ease of use ranges from medium to easy.Finally, in what concerns the German current, based on the sampled designs covered within this study, often designers opt for black, metallic grey, white, blue, grey and orange colours.In terms of materials there is a preference for wood, leather, steel and plastic.These products' main characteristics are simplicity and minimalism.Their originality lies on adaptability and incorporation of new technology, great comfort, modularity and multiple functionality.The products designed in Germany are mostly devoid of graphical markings and if they do have them, they concern the product brand.These products are deemed mostly easy to use.In this era of globalization accelerated by technology, although it is not noticeable at first glance, there seem to be apparent marks of national design in the existing design production, even if a conscious effort to create them was absent from the design process.It is a fact that the design originating in different nationalities and cultures is similar in many ways, but the designer, is influenced by culture, societal norms and environmental conditions of the place where he or she grows and matures.Therefore, even if there is no deliberate intent, design will always reflect personal characteristics and the experiences of those who design the products, even if sometimes barely visible.

Mediation by product personalities to transfer Portuguese and Lusophone cultural traits to product design
The approach reported in the second part of this chapter seeks to explicitly identify cultural traits, and tentatively embed a selection of these in the design of products, in order to propose a direct method to confer an interpreted cultural identity to products undergoing the process of design.Hence, positive and neutral cultural traits were selected, after identifying the features of the cultural identities focused (study I).Thus, the application of the methodology began with unveiling the Portuguese positive and neutral traits and the commonalities between the positive and neutral identity aspects within the Lusophone cultural identities.Based on these features, another study (study II) was conducted to match these cultural traits with the personality attributes of the product.After matching the selected cultural traits with the personality dimensions of the product, a further study was conducted (study III), by selecting, as examples, a set of clothes pressing warm irons (4) and a set of coffee machines (8).These were examined with respect to a listing of the 17 personality dimensions, and considering the matching of basic technical characteristics for each product to its position and placement personality-wise.
Another study (study IV), taking into account the previous match, was carried out establishing the relationship between personality attributes and technical characteristics of the products tested in the previous study (study III).From this process, two product profiles were obtained as a result, which were then implemented in two product lines, a Portuguese and a Lusophone one.These product line results were chosen from a broad base of concepts generated, considering objective criteria.After the generation of concepts for the two product lines, there was an empirical validation by sampling of industrial design students (study V) to confirm whether the proposals developed did turn out to reflect Portuguese cultural identity and Lusophone cultural identity, respectively.

Method deployed to transfer cultural traits to product requirements
The development of the second project reported in this chapter was structured by a methodology that sought to satisfy an overarching aim and specific goals and provide answers to their inherent research questions.The overarching aim was defined as identifying the aspects that define Portuguese and Lusophone cultural identities, adopting both an internal and an external perspective, and seeking to extrapolate these cultural identity traits, in order to contribute to develop a Portuguese design identity (for Lusophone consumption) and a Lusophone design identity (for global consumption).One specific goal was set as 'performing a survey of Portuguese and Lusophone identity traits, adopting a cultural perspective'.Another one was defined as 'translating the cultural traits identified, in a positivist approach, to a product line with Portuguese character and to a product line with Lusophone character'.The research questions that guided the development of the project were: -What are the collective cultural identity traits of the Portuguese and Lusophone cultures (seen from the inside and from the outside)?(study I) -From the set of identified cultural traits, which of these may be regarded as positive and neutral in order to be inculcated in the design production?(study I) -Is the assignment of product personalities a suitable means of transferring cultural traits into product qualities?(studies II, III, IV and V).
Table 7. Cultural aspects with a neutral nature concerning the Lusophone space (in parentheses the thematic track of the literature review from which the cultural trait was retrieved is indicated).
Portuguese positive aspects and Lusophone neutral aspects (the distinction between positive, neutral and negative aspects was done by the authors).

Study II -Matching selected cultural traits with product personality dimensions
The cultural traits obtained from study I were corresponded by the authors to Jordan's (2000) product personality attributes.Each cultural trait was assigned to one or more of the product personality dimensions (Table 8) and a matrix prepared that translated the cultural traits into personality dimensions.

Study III -Correspondence of product personality dimensions to product attributes
Some examples of objects comprised of four clothes pressing irons and eight coffee machines were chosen (Fig. 9), in order to make an analysis of these objects with regard to the Product Personality Assignment technique by Patrick W. Jordan (2000).The assignment of personality attributes was carried out by a panel of eight third year undergraduate industrial design students (aged from 20 to 23 years old) that rated each object in terms of the personality dimensions in a 5 point Lickert scale ranging from the personality attribute to its opposite (e.g.kind -unkind) and three intermediate ratings (e.g.somewhat kind, neither kind or unkind, somewhat unkind), according to Table 3.The eight raters analysed the objects grouped in three sets, one of clothes pressing irons and two of coffee machines.The Kendall coefficient of concordance was used to assess the consistency of ratings among the panel.
Fig. 9. Products that were used as a basis for the product personality assignment survey performed as part of study III.
The ranking attained by combining the judgement of the eight raters within the personality pairs of each set of four products is shown in Tables 11 to 13, accompanied by the result of the Kendall coefficient of concordance for each dimension and set rated.The results of the survey do not lead to consider that the results convey clearly identifiable cultural traits associated with the Portuguese and Lusophone cultures, although these vary from product concept to product concept.

Discussion of the results of the five studies presented
In the second part of this chapter, cultural traits were the starting point to reach at the product profiles that were used as the basis for the design of two furniture lines.The scope of the work reported is not limited to furniture and is deemed applicable in a wider scope, considering its genesis and methodology, based on a literature review of cultural traits, taking into account the personalities of consumer products and consulting industrial design students.
Advancing the knowledge on the transfer of cultural traits to product design features may require further inquiry, since the projects reported in this chapter did not lead to conclusive results towards accepting or rejecting the hypothesis which was presented in the methods section of this chapter.The adequateness of the use of the product personality assignment technique in supporting this transfer could not be determined conclusively, as the results of the panel convened to assess the cultural identity of the product concepts produced was not conclusive, lacking agreement among the group.

Conclusion
One of the underlying assumptions for this chapter was that there is a space yet to be filled by a culturally inspired design current to take the space of design production with a Lusophone flavour, for international dissemination.Another underlying assumption is that design may be inspired by culture, and a direct transfer of cultural traits to product attributes may be pursued, with the support of product personality attributes, as a mediator.
The results of both streams of analysis (Fig. 1) presented in this chapter were found not to match entirely.The product feature profiles encountered in the sampled Lusophone design production (first part of the chapter) do not match entirely the product feature profiles obtained from transferring selected cultural traits (positive and neutral) to technical features.This suggests that there is a space yet to be filled by a culturally inspired design current to take the space of design production with a Lusophone flavour, for international dissemination.This mismatch also suggests that culturally inspired design may yield novel design concepts and trigger an array of new proposals that cater to varying tastes and sensibilities.This may contribute to more visibility of designs from particular regions of the globe, opposing the paradigm of mainstream design production, according to the traditional and well established design schools and currents.In a globalized world, culturally inspired design carries the promise to bring more cultural inclusion into the design discourse and to promote added differentiation of consumer choice of design objects.

Acknowledgment
The research projects presented in this chapter were developed as Master of Science thesis in industrial design engineering by the second and third authors, supervised by the first author.A selection of results from these projects have previously appeared in Simão and Coelho (2011) and Silva and Coelho (2011), published by Common Ground.

Fig. 4 .
Fig. 4. Images of Portuguese designed products sampled as a basis for analysis.

Fig. 5 .
Fig. 5. Images of Brazilian designed products sampled as a basis for analysis. 72

Fig. 10 .
Fig. 10.Renders of "Vale" living room furniture line based on the Portuguese cultural traits and their corresponding product technical attributes (designed by the second author).

Fig. 11 .
Fig. 11.Renders of "Império" living room furniture line based on the Lusophone cultural traits and their corresponding product technical attributes (designed by the second author).

Table 2 .
Materials that are prevalent across the sampled products. www.intechopen.com

Table 3 .
Form characteristics that predominate in the products sampled.

Table 4 .
Characteristics of originality and innovation prevalent across the sampled products.

Table 5 .
Prevalent characteristics of ease of use and the presence of graphical markings in the products sampled. www.intechopen.com

Table 8 .
(Jordan 2000)ty dimensions that resulted are presented in Tables 9 (results of subjective transfer of the Portuguese cultural traits identified in study I) and 10 (results of subjective transfer of the Lusophone cultural traits identified in study I).Product personality dimensions(Jordan 2000).

Table 9 .
Product personality attribute ranges resulting from translating the Portuguese cultural traits identified in study I (transfer performed by the authors).

Table 10 .
Product personality attribute ranges resulting from translating the Lusophone cultural traits identified in study I (transfer performed by the authors).

Table 13 .
Siegel & Castellan 1988) second set of four coffee machines depicted in Fig.9for each of the 17 personality dimension pairs and calculation of significance (based on Kendall correlation coefficient,Siegel & Castellan 1988).

Table 14 .
Product technical dimensions each broken down into five categories, that were considered in study III.

Table 16 .
Survey seeking the validation of the results of the studies reported in this chapter (21 respondents -second year undergraduate industrial design students).