Culture Perception through Artistic Design Process at the Sample of Anadolu University Fashion Design Department Students

Abstract

Activities aiming at creating cultural perception are quite important in the design education. Design education is a process in which students can discover, interpret and define their own creativity through own cultures. For this reason, it is possible to mention the design education as a rich resource which is used effectively in order to enable students to explain their cultures and to gain cultural awareness in terms of cultural values and cultural identity. This research aims to defining fashion design students perception of culture, fashion design students view through the relation between culture and creativity and the reflection of culture with regard to their artistic design process. The data of the study were gathered from 43 students from Anadolu University Fashion Design Department in Eskisehir, Turkey. The data of the research was restricted with the qualitative research method. The findings were analysed and interpreted in terms of thematic analysis. According to the results of the present study the fashion design students reported that there was a direct relationship between culture and creativity and that cultural values constituted an important source in the process of development of creativity. Based on the research findings, it could be stated that in design related courses, activities allowing reflection of cultural values into creative processes helped design students develop a different and original viewpoint.