Cultural design does not require choosing between never touching tradition and taking anything available. The first question is provenance. Can the work identify an object, chart, building, or script instead of saying only ancient Eastern method? A source reveals where design begins and makes differences discussable.
The second and third questions concern the kind of source and the degree of transformation. A talisman, rite, or identity marker still used by a religious community does not become ownerless pattern because a photograph is online. General cloud forms, symmetry, and mineral-color organization are not automatically private property either. The maker should state what remained, what changed, and why.
The fourth question is whether the story harms its source. UNESCO's ethical principles for intangible heritage emphasize community roles, transparent engagement, and the prevention of decontextualization, over-commercialization, and misrepresentation. Working within one's own broad culture does not remove the need to verify, and historical authority cannot be used to invent medical or supernatural efficacy for a modern product.
The fifth question is how it is sold. A fair price can correspond to creative labor, file quality, license, manufacture, and service. It should not correspond to greater control over fortune. For buyers, visible provenance, documented transformation, usage rights, and limits usually demonstrate more integrity than a page of mysterious terminology. Good adaptation allows tradition to keep being understood rather than merely extracted.