Designers don’t do politics...do they? Well it seems they do now, if 90 minutes’ lively Facebook discussion on the new government’s emergency Budget is any guide.
We invited all-comers to talk through the Budget’s potential impact on design with Design Council Chief Design Officer Mat Hunter, Deputy Chief Executive David Godber and Policy Director Christopher Exeter. Chancellor George Osborne’s debut has awakened some familiar concerns, from designer-client relations to the complexity of winning public sector business. But it’s also focused minds on emerging opportunities. If you missed the forum, don’t worry. Here’s a summary – and feel free to Have Your Say at the end.
Is now a good time to be starting a design business?
Innovation thrives in adversity and the Chancellor has made being in business a more attractive prospect with a 12 month National Insurance holiday for the first ten employees of new start-ups outside the south east. ‘Recessions are always the best time to start a new business,’ enthused Jon Darke, whose web design agency focusing on start-ups has ‘never been busier’, he said.
Pippa Crawford, who runs Designer Breakfasts, urged designers to ‘get involved with start-ups and small businesses. You need to develop an entrepreneurial mindset if you want to make money.’ Gisele Raulik-Murphy agreed, but added: ‘Designers are not always keen on engaging with first-time design buyers. What’s missing there? Patience? Interest? Time? Vision?’ Ultimately, said Crawford, ‘it might be necessity that brings designers and SMEs together’.
The design economy
In Yorkshire at least, the design economy is buzzing, certainly as far as Lorraine Wood is concerned, and Mike Dowson pointed to product design projects in the north east demonstrating design as a low cost, low risk way to innovate. Meanwhile, Dean Johnson anticpated one of the ‘busiest Christmas sales periods for years’ in the run-up to January’s VAT increase.
But Roger Proctor cautioned that the immediate future looked bleak for communications designers faced with a freeze on public sector marketing and advertising spend. ‘I have seen four recessions – my own business started in a recession. There are opportunities, but we should not shy away from the problems,’ said Proctor.
Convincing clients
For Anne Pordes Bowers, the key problem for all design businesses is convincing clients, especially in the traditionally ‘risk-averse’ public sector, to buy design at all. And then there are the clients drawn to the idea of doing design and marketing themselves, or expecting design for free, said Lorraine Wood. Gabriel Patrocinio believed it was time to ‘find new ways to show the public sector that design has always been part of the solution – and that it should be so again’.
Design education
There’s plenty of value to demonstrate in public services and sustainable innovation, said Simon O’Rafferty, but he wondered whether the industry was properly equipped to do it. ‘Design education isn’t pro-active enough and design policy isn’t refined enough to prepare designers for these new contexts.’
Design Council Head of Skills Lesley Morris responded: ‘Some of the issues in this debate are not in the curriculum. How do we give students at least some experience of promoting design, selling their services, understanding clients’ businesses and managing projects, for example?’ And Philippa Grantham seemed to explore similar territory: ‘Designers need to think like business people and not just designers. It’s not a hobby! We need to get efficient, better at communicating and using current technology to its full potential.’
Public sector
Pressure on public finances means pressure to produce more for less – a good opportunity for service design, said David Godber, as it streamlines and simplifies service experiences, making them work better. Mat Hunter added, ‘There are huge, systemic challenges that design needs to be part of. It can break down knotty challenges into clear and practical projects. Human scale solutions, rapidly executed’. All the more reason, said Godber, to help the public sector understand how to procure design effectively.
But although design is ‘an important intervention to help solve many socio-economic problems’, said Christopher Exeter, appetite for it can be prey to economic tides and trends in management thinking. Nevertheless, he insisted that ‘design and innovation aren’t luxuries but part of the infrastructure.’ For Shantha Shavanandhan, focusing on the consumer experience is good sense for business, as well as good design, because ‘cost efficiencies just fall out’. Exeter agreed: ‘The simplest innovations are the best. Focusing on what consumers want is the way to improve public sector productivity and increase public sector growth.’
Richard Arnott highlighted the complexity of the public sector commissioning process. Christopher Exeter replied: ‘We would welcome the opportunity to see procurement policy streamlined to ensure the process is simpler, allowing a greater plurality of advisors to access public contracts.’
Competition from abroad
And service design shouldn’t be intimidated by the growth in ‘off-shoring’ design, said Mat Hunter, as services have to be incubated on the ground. ‘It’s more important for designers to be closer to their clients than other designers. If we are redesigning the UK’s healthcare services, for example, we might seek inspiration from abroad but ultimately we need to focus activity in the UK’s hospitals and surgeries.’
Public finances may be restricted, but the commitment to building a green economy through procurement still exists and Sam Mitchell wondered if it represented another opportunity for design, particularly as, Mat Hunter pointed out, the government intends at least 25% of contracts to go to SMEs. Philippa Grantham saw a conflict brewing: ‘Designers are so desperate to keep some cash flowing that innovation and morals are cast aside. We need to be designing things that last and are re-usable. Designing out cost is fine but not at the expense of longevity.’
Optimism for the future
Roger Proctor finished on an optimistic note: ‘Design in the regions is well positioned, supported by many incubation units for new design businesses. What we will have to watch is that when the Regional Development Agencies finally go, the incubation units remain funded. The design sector is poised and can deliver so much more.’
Spending Challenge
We've submitted a response to the government's Spending Challenge, arguing that design techniques and designers will help it reduce the budget deficit by cutting public spending in a way that is fair and responsible. Find out more about design and the Spending Challenge