Abstract: The totem art has varieties in the form of expression and symbol significance. This article aims to explore the application of totem art in product design. In the first part，the article emphasize the materials of the totem art and some products exploration; in the second part，it focus on the theory of product symbol applying to the modern product design, providing the possibilities of design materials for the traditional culture.51127

Keywords: The totem art ,product design, product symbol

1 Introduction

With the great improvement of the human civilization，the frequent international interflow，the mutual influence among culture increasingly and rapid development of modern design，the international bounds of modern design is becoming obscure gradually. The world character becomes a kind of goal we pursue. However，by surveying the genuine excellent designer in the world，it can be easy to find that they have profound connotation and their works are branded by the traditional nation civilization to some extent. The totem culture that I said presents wisdom in ancient period. The radiance of wisdom are still splendid，even we can't surpass some of them. Hence we should and must study them with respect.

2 The Relationship Between Totem Culture and Art Design

The richness，mysteriousness and vitality of the original art have always been the topic that the modern art artists use，especially，in the contemporary to express the doctrine creative visionary effect，such as art master Gauguin，he depicted the natives' life with the color piece of lines and mightiness，having a strong subjective color and decorating result. The Canadian artist Emily Carr made use of Canadian totem resources as the material of his painting. At the same time，we can also see the original art in Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cezanne's works. As the original art is valued gradually，there is an increasing interest in the art related design in recent years; The instrumentation of expression，spiritual connotation and original presentation of totem culture often become the inspiration of modern designers who apply it into the conception and construction of their products. As a result，the value of the original arts re-appear in the new products and re-gain the vitality.

2.1 The totem culture

The word "Totem" originates the Indian language. What we call totem is that the original native people regard some animals，plants，or non-living matter as their kinsman，ancestors or the protective god. They believe that those things cannot harm themselves，but can protect themselves. People can obtain the super power，courage and skills from the totem. The totem culture is the most ancient and peculiar cultural phenomena in human society. Most peoples in the world have been totem culture，and exert the great influence on the later culture. For example，the fish patterns on the pottery of the Shanxi ban po shows the worship of the fish. When the totem worship was built，the image of the totem appears every aspect of people's life，including dance，architecture，household utensils and jewelry，so as to develop into the mysterious and colorful totem culture. It lets the mankind's life from pursue only satisfied，enriched mankind to live to level development of spirit of content，for example，the Canadian natives think that each clan has some relationship with one plant or animal，which should be the clannish totem. These original ecosystem image of the totem include the beaver、sea lion、sea wolf、killer whale、dog fish、salmon fish、flatfish、eagle、crow、bird、thunder bird、bear、wolf、frog、snake etc. The totem has a lofty position in that clan，forbidding to be killed or be eaten，The tree totem poles were encouraged to be proliferated. Because of the short history，Canadian pays more attention on the heritage of history and culture，so this kind of ancient totem culture also has been well preserved and used. The line decoration in the totem concept is widespread to influence the residents' material and the spirit cultural level. We can see the totem works in numerous tour grounds of the west of Canada，such as the Stanley Park in Vancouver center. There are more than ten Indian totem poles with the bright color and crude. Although they are not the original works of the Indian，it is the place with the most Indian totem poles. The amounts of the animals of the totem show the social status of its clan. 产品设计中传统图腾艺术应用英文文献和中文翻译:http://www.youerw.com/fanyi/lunwen_54648.html