A Study on the Visual Communication and Development of Green Design: A Cross-Database Prediction Analysis from 1972 to 2022

Abstract

This paper resulted from 1775 pieces of literature from the WoS database and 1923 from the CNKI database. The research framework, development process, internal relations, and key hot topics of green design were explored through the tool of CiteSpace metrology. Four main research results were presented: (1) Green design began to grow explosively around 2015. The design revolved around energy saving, material selection, and other aspects, with a high rate of cooperation, high reference, a large number of publications, and other upsurge phenomena in each branch of the formation. (2) There is the highest volume and popularity of research in the CNKI database. At the same time, in WoS, the United States still has the most disciplinary influence and academic exchange freedom. (3) WoS focuses on solving practical problems of branch disciplines, mainly chemical engineering, experiments, and case analyses. The hot topics in CNKI tend to be design subjects, mainly design technology, management, and theory. (4) There are few basic types of research on the WoS database; CNKI pays more attention to design theoretical research. The two databases form complementary solutions to ensure the future development of green design. The results indicate that green design should be envisioned as an eco-friendly approach, emphasizing optimizing human and management practices, innovative design principles, sustainable processes, and consideration of sociocultural impacts.