This article reports on an academic-industrial cooperation between students at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology and a local foundation working to revitalise the Eonyang traditional market in Ulsan, South Korea. Students majoring in disciplines ranging from natural and applied sciences to business administration were introduced to design thinking, the double diamond model, and sense-making as frameworks for generating creative outcomes. Those outcomes included media, signage and packaging, a display stand, an accessory for hikers, an artistic reinterpretation of the traditional store shutter, the design for a guesthouse and new packaging for locally produced products. Students presented their ideas at a public exhibition as team projects that involved 3D printing, CAD, Web-design, graphic design and motion-picture editing tools. The study reveals that students learn more effectively when pedagogy emphasises active learning and on-site observation through design-based integrated education. Its qualitative research involved interviews in which students experienced how design thinking methodology can transform a local economy. The methods reveal a new educational model centred upon creative and applied learning.