What place has design in business today?

Well in most cases it is an after thought, something that is in development at the latter stages of a product or service delivery. This was not always the case, when looking at the role of design in business it’s worth taking a look at the dawn of design as a business discipline. In fact the emergence of design as a discipline was seen early in the last century and most notably around the time of the depression in 1920s America.

                    "...design in a business model
                               needs to be addressed by the CEO."

Walter Dorwin Teague set up a fee based design consultants during the depression and, like others who followed suit, was very successful. But why were design firms successful in such dismal times? There are a few answers to this. Sure they were talented, willing to adapt and focused but most importantly as a new business concept they were hired by presidents of companies. As an example Teague worked with Kodak for over 30 years and was hired not by marketing or sales but by the CEO of Kodak. You may ask what difference it makes regarding who in Kodak hired Teague? Simple answer, being hired by the CEO put Teague in a situation where he was effective. He reported to the top - where the buck stopped. He received the brief directly from the CEO. This resulted in succinct briefs and Teague delivered succinct answers.

   Walter Dorwin Teague and Steve Jobs

Over the latter parts of the last century this process of hiring a designer has been watered down. The design process has passed to isolated sections of a business departments resulting in a lack of visual continuity - vital to a company's ethos, story and brand.

If we look at Apple; back in the late 1990’s it was stagnant, share prices dropping and all in all looking tired. Steve Jobs returned to Apple as CEO and addressed his first board meeting briefly, he said the way to turn the company around was through design. End of meeting. The new Apple brand experience we see and buy today is of course not just about design, its the culmination of communication and coordination. However, their design decisions are made at the board table.

So my question is where is design in your business today? or better still who makes the design decisions in your company? And even better still do you realise you are making design decisions?

Currently there is a parallel to the depression of the 1920’s and again we are seeing new approaches to design in business. Apple did it, you can do it and most important the future of business will depend on it. In summary the role of a designer in a business is essential, just one of many components but should be of equal importance. So where to start? Simple, at the top. The role of design in a business model needs to be addressed by the CEO head on, and it is happening!

If you would like to more about the role of design in your business contact john@redlemonade.ie