From Heritage to Innovation: Design Experiments on Bird-Worm Seal Script for Modern Cultural Creative Products

Background and Aim: The Bird-Worm Seal Script, an ancient Chinese calligraphic style characterized by decorative, zoomorphic features, embodies significant cultural and symbolic meaning. However, its dense visual complexity presents challenges for modern design integration, especially in cultural and creative product contexts. This study aims to explore how algorithmic methods, particularly fractal geometry, can reinterpret this traditional script into scalable and symbolically rich visual language suitable for product packaging and symbolic design. Materials and Methods: This research employed a multi-stage methodology that included symbolic deconstruction of the script, fractal algorithm modeling, human aesthetic refinement, and application to packaging design. Software tools such as Illustrator, Rhino, and Grasshopper were used to apply fractal rules like self-similarity, iteration, and scaling to script elements. Manual curation followed each generative stage to ensure cultural authenticity and visual coherence. The resulting motifs were then applied to a zodiac-themed blind-box product prototype, accompanied by user testing and feedback collection. Results: The findings revealed that fractal logic provides a structurally effective and semantically sensitive means of adapting Bird-Worm Seal Script for modern visual communication. Visual motifs retained symbolic richness across scales and media formats, achieving both aesthetic appeal and cultural recognition. The human-AI collaboration maintained a high manual involvement ratio, ensuring that design outcomes reflected cultural values and emotional resonance. Conclusion: This study demonstrates a feasible model for revitalizing intangible heritage through a fusion of visual tradition and computational design. The integration of fractal geometry with symbolic analysis opens a new pathway for transforming historical scripts into dynamic visual systems. It reinforces the role of human designers in interpreting cultural narratives while leveraging AI as a generative tool. The findings offer a strategic framework for future cultural product innovation under the growing paradigm of human-machine collaboration.