Spain

In 1929, Barcelona hosted the International Design Exhibition, and introduced Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair to the world. The civil war, unfortunately, stopped design in its tracks, and many designers went into exile.

They eventually came back, though, and in 1946 an article in the clandestine review Ariel called for a place to be found in culture for ‘the washbasin, the fork, the hat, and the bottle.’ A decade later, the Industrial Design Institute of Barcelona (IDIB) was founded.

Arguably, Spain’s modern design era began around 1974, when the Barcelona Design Centre (BCD) was established amid a burst of enthusiasm for design. The oil crisis of the ‘70s went on to dampen the burgeoning design sector, but it bounced back in the 1980s and produced, among other things, Javier Mariscal’s iconic Duplex stool.

In 1992, Spain hosted both the Barcelona Olympics and the World’s Fair in Seville. Design – and in particular graphic design – boomed once more, but the legacy was short-lived, and many of the new design firms either downsized or closed in the following years.

Today, Spain’s fortunes are mixed. On the one hand, Barcelona in particular is buzzing with creativity. It hosted a Year of Design in 2003, and in 2005 a touring exhibition – 300% Spanish Design – which showed off a century of posters, chairs and lamps to the world. Spanish design can be found on high-streets around the world, too, thanks to the clothing chain Zara.

But Rachel Pelta of Visual magazine has lamented the fact that design in Spain is not taken seriously as a profession, saying: ‘Design is still not considered as a fundamental part of competitiveness, and is looked at as an artistic activity incompatible with enterprise management.’

Design promotion

Spain has historically not had a very coherent design promotion policy. The Barcelona Design Centre has swung between a mix of government funding and privately generated income. Today, though, its main financers are the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the Catalan Department of Industry, the City Council and the Ministry of Industry Commerce and Tourism.

The other state-financed design organisation is the DDI, described as ‘the Spanish state agency for the development of design and innovation.’ The DDI promotes awareness of design, and the role that design can play in boosting competitiveness in business.

Other major membership organisations in the sector include ADG-FAD and ADI-FAD. The first is the Association of Art Directors and Graphic Designers, founded in 1961, and the second the Industrial Design for Development of Decorative Arts Association, founded in 1960.  ADG-FAD has around 600 members, and hosts a prestigious annual competition, the Laus award.

Facts and figures

The 1,100 Madrid-based companies within the design sector employ a total of 5,000 people, 2,500 of whom are designers, and generate sales of around €700m.

65% of those companies have an average annual turnover of less than €300,000, while 10.5% turn over more than €900,000 per year. Average annual sales figures per company are €635,000, or €140,000 per employee per year.

The most significant client base for design services is the private sector, which generates 55.5% of sales; individuals make up 28.7% of the total. Public bodies represent 6.9% of the sector’s overall sales, and they tend to use the larger design companies.

Catalonia, the other major design hub in Spain, is home to 1,607 design businesses, making up 37.9% of the national design sector.

(Source for all figures: DDI)

Education

EINA is a Barcelona-based institution established in 1967, which teaches product design, graphic design, and interior design.
For more information, visit www.eina.edu

Instituto Europeo di Design has campuses in various countries and cities, including both Madrid and Barcelona. It offers various courses of different lengths, from summer courses to three-year degrees.
For more information, visit www.ied.edu

EADDI (la Escuela de Arte 12 Diseño Industrial) is a publicly-funded industrial design school in Madrid.
For more information, visit www.arte12.es

Collegi Professional de Disseny Grafic de Catalunya is a graphic design college in Barcelona, initially set up by the ADG-FAD professional body.
For more information, visit www.dissenygrafic.org