From Reproducibility to On-Chain Uniqueness: The Ontological Turn of Design Value and the Construction of Social Recognition in the Digital Age

Abstract

This study began with the infinite reproducibility enabled by digital technology and the resulting crisis of value in the fields of art and design. Under conditions of digital reproduction, the traditional value system grounded in scarcity has been fundamentally challenged, while blockchain technology represented by non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has reconfigured the value structure of digital objects through the notion of “on-chain uniqueness.”<br/> The purpose of this study is to examine the “ontological-infrastructural turn” in digital design value within the context of NFTs, and to clarify how value is displaced from visual content itself and re-anchored in a techno-social infrastructure composed of blockchain, metadata, protocols, and social consensus. Accordingly, this paper conducts a systematic theoretical investigation of the interrelations among blockchain technology, interface design, and mechanisms of social recognition from an interdisciplinary perspective.<br/> The results and contents of the study are as follows. First, blockchain functions as an “ontological operator” that reconstructs authenticity and scarcity through computational recording, shifting the mode of existence of design objects from material or formal presence to a verifiable form of “on-chain existence.” Second, “on-chain uniqueness” is not merely a technical condition but a perceptual experience constructed through interface design, interaction mechanisms, governance structures, and the social performance of ownership and community formation, which ultimately solidifies into social consensus and symbolic capital.<br/> Based on these findings, this study is expected to provide a new theoretical framework for understanding the transformation of design value in the digital age and to offer insights for future research on authorship, authenticity, and institutional design practices.