Semantic and analogical distance in cultural stimuli relate to design creativity

In complex product form design, cultural element integration can enhance design uniqueness and identity. Cultural stimuli—visual stimuli with cultural characteristics—are associated with cognitive processes involved in creativity. However, because cultural stimuli integrate semantic concept and visual form, the cognitive and neural patterns linking these dimensions to design creativity remain to be explored. This study examines these relationships in form design of rail vehicles, presenting cultural stimuli with varying semantic distances (SD) and analogical distances (AD) to 24 industrial-design students and teachers (18 students, 6 teachers). Multimodal data were collected, including eye-tracking, electroencephalography (EEG), expert sketch evaluations, and think-aloud protocols. Results indicate that: (1) cultural stimuli enhanced creativity ratings relative to no-stimulus conditions; (2) creativity exhibited a nonlinear trend with SD, peaking at medium SD for novelty; (3) AD moderated the SD effect, with significant SD effects under far-AD conditions that diminished under near-AD conditions. Specifically, far-AD stimuli (conceptual pictures) elicited N400 amplitudes in the frontal and central regions, indexing semantic integration demands. Near-AD stimuli (design examples), by contrast, showed enhanced P200 and P300 without corresponding N400 increases, consistent with structural matching. These findings are consistent with two distinct patterns observed between SD-AD configurations and design ideation: far AD with medium SD was associated with novelty and semantic integration, while near AD with medium SD was linked to completeness and structural matching. This framework advances understanding of stimulus-driven design cognition within the present sample and context and provides a theoretical foundation for future AI-assisted design applications. Future research should extend these patterns to diverse cultural contexts and investigate causal mechanisms through experimental manipulation.