Wood signage application mockup at the entrance of Tengzhih National Forest Recreation Area

Built on Stone, Shaped by Mist: A Backflow Incense Design for Tengzhih Forest

Merchandise & Cultural Products

Howdy Creative developed 'Daoliu Xiang' (backflow incense), a creative product for the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency's Pingtung Branch, drawing on Tengzhih's misty cloud forest and Bunun mountain-stone culture to design a wood incense plate carved with contour lines.

Challenge

Tengzhih National Forest Recreation Area is known for a cloud forest wrapped in mist year round, one of the last landscapes of its kind in the world. The challenge was turning that drifting cloud experience into a creative product travelers would actually want to bring home or give as a gift, while staying true to the cultural context of the local Bunun community.

Goal

The goal was to develop a backflow incense product that recreates the slow drift of Tengzhih's clouds through the static but visually dynamic movement of incense smoke. The design also had to work as a gift, so every piece would carry an emotional memory of the mountain, balancing natural imagery with cultural meaning.

Approach

  1. Used the downward-flowing smoke of backflow incense as a visual match for the drifting mist over the Tengzhih mountains, making it the product's core design language.
  2. Drew on the Bunun tradition of mountain-stone building, the practical wisdom of stacking stones into fire rings while hunting, and translated it into the contour-line carving of the wood incense plate.
  3. Developed a companion product in the same series, the 'Hunter's Legacy' three-stone hearth DIY candle holder set, extending the mountain-stone motif into a second item.

Outcome

Completed the design and prototyping of the Tengzhih cloud forest backflow incense wood plate. The contour-line carving and the downward drift of smoke once lit both performed as intended, and the concept extended into a companion product, the 'Hunter's Legacy' three-stone hearth DIY candle holder set.

  • Year2025
  • ClientForestry and Nature Conservation Agency, Pingtung Branch (林業及自然保育署屏東分署)
  • Topic地方創生
Key visual for the creative product line developed for the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, Pingtung Branch
Design rendering of the Tengzhih cloud forest backflow incense wood plate with contour-line carving
Cloud forest incense plate design
Backflow incense burning, with smoke drifting like the Tengzhih cloud forest
Lit scene: smoke drifting like the mist forest
Detail of the mountain-stone form and contour-line carving on the wood incense plate
Mountain-stone contour carving detail
Close-up product photo of incense resting on the Bunun mountain-stone-inspired wood plate
Close-up product photo
Close-up of cone-shaped backflow incense burning on the mountain-form stand, smoke drifting slowly down the slope, with a stone-ring candle scene beside it
Backflow incense smoke drift close-up
Gray kraft packaging box for the companion product, the 'Hunter's Legacy' three-stone hearth DIY candle holder set
Companion product packaging

FAQ

How do you find a concept for a creative product tied to a national forest recreation area?
We start by understanding what makes the site most distinctive, both natural and cultural, such as Tengzhih's cloud forest and Bunun heritage, then translate that into a concrete product concept like backflow incense, so the item carries the site's story instead of being a generic souvenir.
Beyond how it looks, what else matters in creative product design?
Gifting context, material feel, and production feasibility all matter. Howdy Creative confirms a design can actually move into factory prototyping and mass production alongside the aesthetics and storytelling, so the concept doesn't stall before it reaches production.
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