Funerals are a crucial folk culture in Taiwan and have been influenced by Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. However, the funerary rites have gradually changed with time and urbanization. Accordingly, we investigated the origins of these funerary rites and explored the implications of the origins. During the process of investigation, we reported that the funeral culture in Taiwan has shifted its focus from the external appearances of the rituals to individuals’ internal feelings for the deceased.
In response to the needs of contemporary funerals in Taiwan, we withdrew from the negative impressions people have expressed toward death and extracted design elements and colors from the traditional Taiwanese funeral culture such as burlap, paper lotus, and plastic flowers. These design elements were integrated with the Chinese characters commonly associated with Taiwanese funerals such as “diao” (to mourn for the deceased) and “dian” (to pay homage to the deceased).
Using the characteristics of the funeral culture in Taiwan, the material characteristics of Taiwanese Funeral customs, tied the rope, screen printing on sackcloth, and the book's back cover from the concept of chinese elegiac couplet was redesigned to become the last words that the relatives and friends would like to say to the deceased. Pages layout design uses sewing, hoping to allow relatives and friends to vent sadness and collaborate with designers to complete the story of this favorite person.
