This study approaches the relationship between design and innovation. Since design is a complex multidisciplinary activity that moves between science and art, understanding this relationship can be of great aid in current discussion for new paradigms, theoretical and methodological frameworks which seek an advance in understanding of innovation. The peculiarities of design compared to other areas related to innovation - especially its ambiguous feature including both an abstract aspect of to conceive/project/ascribe as a concrete aspect of registering/configure/form - hinders the understanding of the role of design in relation to innovation by scholars and professionals outside to this activity. And, by joining the objectivity of science with the subjectivity of art, design faces difficulties to fit into the classical logical system. Therefore, the guiding question for this study was: The relationship between innovation and design can be better understood by using theories that expand the paradigms of science, such as the theory of transdisciplinarity? As it will be demonstrated throughout the study the three pillars upon which the theory of transdisciplinarity is based - i. quantum physics and levels of reality, ii. complexity, and iii. the principle of the included middle.- are more suitable to the projectual processes and the abductive logic of the design. The general objective of this study is to evaluate the role of the concepts of the theory of transdisciplinarity in the abstract aspect and the specific aspect of design in relation to innovation. The specifics objectives were gather concepts of innovation in science, arts and design; to establish the relationship between design and innovation; to create a differentiation of the concept of innovation by design and innovative design; besides presenting and evaluating creative approaches based on the theory of transdisciplinarity that may provide assistance in the process of creating innovative design. For these reason the study was divided into two parts. The first part is an exploratory research with a transdisciplinary nature based on data collected through bibliographic and documentary survey and the second is an applied research, where a based on the use of a multiplicity of creative approaches aiming to achieve a plurality of results was proposed. To validate these model an analysis of over one hundred and seventy pieces selected under the label of innovative design in six editions of a biennial Brazilian national jewelry design competition was released, which one can conclude that the multiplicity of approaches has already been used by many designers (purposefully or not) and that the proportion of the number of combination of approaches used per piece by the winning jewelries are significantly higher than the average of all selected pieces in all editions.