**10. The dilemma of the interface between local crafts and modern technology**

In most countries with advanced design practices, industrial designs are registered in order to be protected under industrial design law. As a general rule, for registration, the design must be "new" or original. Generally, a rule may vary across countries but "new" means that no other identical or very similar design is known. In the Nigerian context, industrial designs are yet to fully evolve into modern creative expression, despite a vast heritage of a rich visual and material culture which is manifested well in the arts and crafts. With a seeming limitation in access to modern technological design tools, industrial design practice had been side-tracked into placing more emphasis on the profusion of cultural elements in local objects' functions over the development of technical features which are also indispensable tools in optimizing product quality and efficiency. In the recent trend where Nigerian product users are increas‐ ingly exposed to the aesthetic and functional capabilities offered by modern design products, the appreciation of local products tends to be disfavoured. This is not to say that local design products are performing poorly on the functional level, but there seems to a technological gap that must be filled by local products in order to favourably compete with the highly standar‐ dized design products. Of course, industrial design in Nigeria has the potential to increase the value of manufactured products, improve living conditions and provide the continent with a weapon to wage a war on substandard products from other continents. However, industrial designers must wake up if they are to harness the rich cultural heritage within their borders with the necessary technical know-how so as to become relevant in the socioeconomic advancement of the 21st century (Ogunduyile & Akinbogun, 2006).
