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Define ‘Design’. It needs to be clearly understood to have any value or relevance in business. What is it? Web, Product, Graphic – the wider community don’t see the value of just ‘art’ or aesthetic. Focus on the benefits and demand will increase…

From the roots up; ‘talent’ is ill-prepared for our industry (refer to graphics) and thus, opportunities are being missed as creatives fizzle-away. Why?.. Outdated, non-relevant, non-practical courses and training are not keeping up with what’s actually happening on the ground.

University Staff level visits or exchanges to design schools in Europe to boost and expand the way in which design is taught in Northern Ireland.

Coming from a small manufacturing business, I think the typical NI mindset is quite ‘closed’ to what good design can achieve. Our ‘mindset’ tends to find more reasons why not to do things, cost, lack of understanding…etc as opposed to reasons to do so

As Gillian has commented, I think there is a cultural lack of awareness of the benefits of quality design in Northern Ireland. Perhaps this is something that could be introduced via schools at an earlier age to foster more creative thinking.

As pointed out there are 1000s of individual designers within Northern Ireland however many are doing non design jobs as training courses are focused purely on design, if we are going to break the ‘grant-culture’ sales training needs to be introduced

On a related issue, the CSD is pushing for professional accreditation for the design profession and introduce a designation of CDes. This would bring us up to par with architects, engineers etc. Not a fix-all, but progress.

Can someone build an RSS/Twitter linked WikiNoticeBoard thing so we can have a consolidated Design Events guide? Bet someone could do that easily. An easy NIDA initiative that can help publicise the scheme.

Professional development, training and business acumen are essential elements of the career tool-kit but what we need to do first is change the way that industry, talent, mentors and business support consultants can formerly engage with each other and ‘create desire’ in the pursuit of...

Definitely a properly organised webdesign awards ceremony is need to celebrate the wealth of talent in NI and get us noticed as a haven of world class talent. Events more of Build’s caliber are badly needed. I’d come home for something like that.

Sharing and listening to our peers, we should do more of this. If we share new ideas and knowledge, we can improve together, which will then lead to greater output from the community.

We have so much more to offer than just design! I think EVERY company should have a creative person sitting on their board. It would be an opportunity to show how ‘creative thinking’ can turn a company around and drive their business forward.

Businesses in Northern Ireland, big and small, need to give due weight to design and web design. It’s not an after-thought, it should be one of the very first things you think of.

I agree Stephen. I think the free-pitching debate is a miss-direction. I’d expect better informed/educated clients to not want to commission work in that way because they’d recognise the skill and value in what we offer. It’s bigger than that debate.

Absolutely.

Richard: I agree each new project has a huge element of risk and uncertainty, but when presenting past ’successes’ to potential clients, surely it would build confidence to show not only the good design, but also the quantifiable results each project had?

We can only hope to deal with issues around free pitching when there is a broader appreciation of the real value of design and better understanding of how to commission it effectively.

Reiterating Jonathan Sand’s & Richard Weston’s comments, we need to raise the profile of design values and craft in schools by engaging with curriculum planners & teachers. Ideally under the banner of a professional organisation.

Chris A: Quantifiable results are powerful but can’t be guaranteed. Many ultra- successful marketing campaigns/new product launches have involved risk and bravery. We can minimise risk through market insight and measured results can breed confidence.

On Michael’s point about the ability to take degree standard courses outside of a degree. This is absolutely critical. There’s a great deal of content taught within universities that could be offered as standalone refreshers, taught to accommodate industries needs. Tell us what you need.

Establishing an NI Design Award(s) would help to celebrate our successes and forge a sense of community. We have the talent and we’re beginning to punch well above our weight internationally. Feedback on last week’s Build conference from international delegates was overwhelmingly positive....

Mutual respect between clients and designers. All too often the power in this relationship slides one way or another, when ideally it should be carefully balanced, and respect shown from both parties.

Agree with that last one. Why should companies trust us with their money if we can’t guarantee quantifiable results? We need to be able to present design as a good, and safe, investment for industry.

Being able to measure the benefit of design will show its true worth, whether it be cost savings through a redesigned shower head through to increased sales via a well designed and targeted marketing campaign.Quantify & demonstrate the benefits of design

Option for taking degree-standard design courses, outside of a degree, e.g. offer individual modules as separate courses? Or develop new ones? (Lots of ideas below!). Much more accessible to people this way.

The pneumatic tyre, the delorean, titanic, irish linen – design is nothing new in Northern Ireland. We dont need to do anything new, we just need to encourage the design talent we have, not just through schools but on into developing the ideas into profi

Help and encourage students to develop a better awareness for User Interaction. When i was in college very little if any was covered in the syllabus

Graphic design courses need more emphasis on how designers deal with clients. My education was incredibly lacking in this area, and I feel like it’s taken a move to self-employment in order to understand the importance.

Although not specifically a ‘Design Award’ but it is a start – Belfast City Council is delighted to be hosting the Belfast Business Awards 2010, in partnership with Belfast City Centre Management. The awards are all about celebrating success and they recognise the excellent...

TOTALLY agree with Gillian. On that last one: I wonder if any work on this has been done elsewhere? Either way, that’s a great actionable starting point.

An exploration into the psychology behind the business community’s mistrust of design, designers and the design process. Perhaps less to do with a lack of understanding and more to do with a risk averse culture and a crippling fear of failure?

Sara said if this forum is to achieve meaningful results, then it should be driven by the design industry. I would go further by suggesting it should be driven by the whole of industry where the opinions of business mgrs & design procurers are also sought

How relevant is design to NI, socially or culturally? As a region we need to nurture a stronger design identity by creating / celebrating design champions from business, design and public sector communities. A design festival would be a great start.

Make the connection between commercial success and design thinking as early as possible. Design and business students should be collaborating and learning together. We need IOD, Design & Business faculties, secondary level education to create these links.

Actually, retract that comment about the ICAD exhibition. Now I’ve seen it, I wouldn’t take a client. No offense meant, it’s OK for designers but I think a non- designer might be unimpressed…which raises another idea about how we present ourselves.

This one’s easy (and connected to John’s comment): establish a consolidated and comprehensive email contact list available to all and any design-related event organiser (or subscribable online notice board with RSS feed?).

An established mark of excellence with a minimum criteria that NI based design companies can sign up to. Something that clients would then become familiar with when sourcing design work. The equivalent to the Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA).

Working with each other as professionals as much as possible. The Airside and WithAssociates talk last night was a great example of how successful this can be, for the creatives and the client.

One central online resource covering all aspects of design in NI. An online forum that is run by C&CS and maintained by the design community. News, events, guest writers, showcase, discussions, training, help, advice and career opportunities etc.

Design companies / professionals that charge more for justifiably great design work and possess the knowledge and communication skills to justify their position - and other suggestions below…

A staffed, organized and funded or commercial body committed to driving forward all of the initiatives below

Ongoing promotion of all of the three initiatives below so that industry and the general public recognize the existence of an active design culture in Belfast

A genuine commitment to creating a framework for facilitating events – either Irish Design Week or our own Design festival

An outlet for recognition (awards or otherwise) by an international body or panel of independent professionals

Access to high quality training for professionals working at all levels of the design business

Why not make Northern Ireland the creative business hub of the world? We have some very talented people here. Maybe a ’silicon valley’ or more a ‘creative utopia’ should be what our local ministers strive to achieve.

I think DCAL and other government departments should strive to stamp out the free-pitching culture and become innovators for good design practice & lobby local business in understanding the true value of design. It has to come from a governmental source.

The design industry and design educators should be engaging with business schools and non-design industry bodies. How often are non-design business owners invited to design-related events? For example, how many know about the ICAD exhibition this week?

Through Education and Training we can expand upon the creative talents of Designers – encouraging them to be more creative in an already noisy market. Being better, faster and more creative to think outside the box.