by Chia Sihan

Not so long ago, during the time before the advent of the Internet, business and design used to be regarded as cohesive as oil and water. Businesses generally shunned the idea of employing design as a crucial part of their business. With the success of global brands from BMW to Apple, that trend of thought has lost its relevancy in today's design-oriented market.

Judging from recent reports, the importance of design thinking have made a splash in business institutions from Harvard to Stanford. This is a clear indication the rest of the world is finally catching up with designers. Wait a minute, you say. If the business people are starting to think like designers, where does that leave the designers? Jobless or forever doing contract jobs? The possibility of that happening anytime soon is about as real as North Korea abandoning its nuclear ambitions. Just that nowadays most people, especially potential clients, have witnessed the power of great design surrounding them, that they become interested to know how designers arrive at the story behind the design. They want and expect a good sales pitch, polished presentation plus the ability to present and conduct market research. An impressive portfolio or technical prowess is no longer enough to ensure the longevity of a design career. In short, they want their designers to behave and interact with them like business people. 

Hear it from the horse's mouth

Before anyone dismiss that as mere corporate hogwash, think about this. Design guru Paula Scher lamented in her book Make it bigger that "the tragedy of the graphic design profession is that so many of its most talented practitioners are inarticulate, shy, or otherwise incapable of persuading large groups of people that there is inherent value in design". No matter how good a piece of design is, or how hard its creator had worked to make it happen, the client would not be able to fully appreciate it if he is unable to grasp the message properly due to poor or inadequate presentation. Although that statement cannot be applied to all designers, and some are equally skillful in both designing and presenting, for others it does hold a ring of truth.

One may counter, "That's what the sales people are for, isn't it?". That depends on how much a designer wants to risk having his ideas misinterpreted and later misrepresented by irresponsible sales reps who's main concern is to get the contract signed and move on to the next in the pile. Just as the idea development process is very much intuitive and relies heavily on intangible factors and influences, when it comes to presenting and explaining a design's rationale, an entirely different approach is needed. A systematic, theoretical approach works best when it comes to convincing the client that design does have a strategic role in the boardroom to play. When clients can feel that the designer has put in effort to research on the company, understand its philosophy, objectives and its unique set of problems, and then construct a creative solution for the company, that is when the designer has succeeded.

Separable no more
The main reason why the spotlight in the corporate world has turned onto the importance of design thinking is that the two seemingly disparate elements actually have a lot in common. According to Design Management Institute, the key elements that define successful design corporations are "creativity, leadership and teamwork", factors which define other successful brands and companies too. A look at how countries like China and India, which used to be well-known manufacturing giants, and now producing large numbers of design graduates should portray an accurate picture of how the global business landscape has evolved. Many organizations have gone from regarding design as a luxury, to putting a stamp of design on almost every aspect of the business, from strategizing to packaging. 

Already, both design and business schools are adopting multidisciplinary strands of curriculum in an attempt to introduce students to the changing realities of the industry. Although not all design or art schools are pushing marketing or management electives onto their students, more are trying to inculcate a more pragmatic learning approach through subtle methods such as mandatory internships and encouraging student participation in competitions and workshops. Fast Company magazine recently noted institutions like Carnegie Mellon, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Rhode Island School of Design have employed the more interactive approach of bringing students together to collaborate in joint courses for a semester, whereby they would work on developing a business plan and product. The fruits of their collective labour would be showcased at a "design fair", where attendees would include the faculty, students and the occasional enthusiastic venture capital representative. Other schools have introduced management, retail and marketing subjects alongside design theory and practical subjects, equipping students with background knowledge about the market and an entrepreneur spirit towards their vocation. 

The future to come
In her draft speech for the recent Design with India conference, San Francisco-based new market strategist and columnist Niti Bhan quoted Sir Nicholas Stern's Review Report on the Economics of Climate Change that if designers do not want to get left behind in the dust in the boom of new opportunities, they had better acquaint themselves with the intricacies of business language, "in order for design to become embedded in the range of business' strategies and to take a seat in the boardroom...". She also expressed confidence that the Indian design industry has the strong foundation to emerge the leader in the design revolutionary pack, given the country's understanding and experience in straddling the nation's urban and rural markets effectively. It is not too much of a stretch to transport a similar scenario to China, where there are more than 400 design schools and over 10,000 design graduates every year. 

Despite the oversupply of Chinese designers posing a possible threat to other markets, core 77 critics Bruce M. Tharp and Stephanie Munsono are not overly concerned as they had deemed the China market as relatively immature, even as they urged American designers to continue to bring design to a higher strategizing level.



Chia Sihan
Writer
TAXI Design Network


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you, Xavier Oon, for the beautiful contributing banner up above. Capable and talented Xavier Oon is the founder of CRITICA - a motion graphics studio that provides creative solutions and broadcast graphics to cable and terrestrial TV networks. Their work consists of on-air promos, music videos, show packaging, channel branding, sales and corporate videos.

His funky and brilliant visual graphics has been recognized and acclaimed on various TV channels across Asia, UK & Australia, and in dance clubs, experimental film festivals, broadcast magazines, design portals, galleries and events.

TAXI Design Network says hello to the man - a treasured member of TAXI Design Network. We are proud to have him on board.

Xie xie.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


© 2003-2008 by TAXI Design Network. All rights reserved.