Tradeoff between Episodic and Semantic Precedents in creative design

Abstract

This article explores the impact of episodic precedents and semantic precedents on creative design. It is found that although most of designers prefer episodic precedents than semantic ones, the two kinds of precedents can help designers in different design phases. When creating initial ideas, episodic precedents help designers to generate more design concepts; when refining ideas, semantic precedents help to make ideas more complete and reasonable. Based on the above discovery, it is suggested that to produce design plans more efficiently, designers refer to suitable precedents in the different design phases.