Art toys as cultural translation systems: A participatory design framework for community-based tourism and product branding

Abstract

Art toys have become highly influential across Asia, particularly in China, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, where culturally inspired character design has been used to strengthen tourism branding and enhance community product value, generating economic impact worth billions of baht. In Thailand, however, the application of art toys for community development and tourism promotion remains limited and lacks systematic design guidelines. This study aims to develop design guidelines for art toys based on regional cultural capital in Thailand to support tourism promotion and enhance community products. A mixed-methods research design was employed, including field observation, in-depth interviews, focus groups, expert evaluation, and questionnaires. The study involved 510 participants across three regions of Thailand: Central, Northeastern, and Southern. Cultural identity and regional symbolic animals were used as key inspirations for art toy character development and packaging prototypes for community products. Qualitative findings reveal that art toys derived from local identity effectively communicate cultural narratives and strengthen place recognition. Quantitative results indicate high levels of tourist satisfaction, emotional engagement, and purchase intention. The study demonstrates that art toys function as contemporary mediators that translate local identity into marketable forms, thereby enhancing community product value and supporting the creative economy. The findings contribute to a practical design framework for art toy development in tourism and community product contexts in Thailand. The framework emphasizes community participation, cultural capital integration, and intellectual property management to ensure sustainable implementation and scalability across regions.