Design Management
As part of my MA in Graphic Communication I am learing all about Design Management. It has already given me some valuable tips on meetings and having some forethought about managing relationships and transactions. Perhaps because of the perception of design as a primarily creative industry, we shy away from admitting our dirty little secret. That we get paid for it.
What is design management?
A quick google returns the DMI they say
The Design Management Institute (DMI) is an international nonprofit organization that seeks to heighten awareness of design as an essential part of business strategy.
It is the often messy, interpersonal business of implementing design. Getting paid, gettinng work, convincing others of the value of your work, managing clients, managing oneself.
It seems that design management is the messy business of dealing with people. Creating the work is often presented as the stimulating, rewarding part of design, whilst the mechanics of getting the work out there are mere nuts and bolts. I’m learning that the politiking and negotiation that comes with turning ideas and proposals into reality are unavoidable. So that rather than retreating to one’s garret with a lofty disdain, it is possible to emerge with fully realised product.
Forewarned is forearmed. – Planning for conflict, seeing the process in two stages. Production and Distribution.
To distribute you need allies, and customers
From www.design-management.de a quote from Sohrab Vossughi, President of ZIBA Design.
Communication is the essence of design management. Products, uniforms, buildings, Web sites — design management can make a contribution in any area in which communication takes place. The newest frontier is process design. Designers should look beyond the conventional activities, such as packaging, graphics and product design. Designers have an important role to play in defining how companies use information. How is product information documented and communicated? How are new employees trained? How can the customer experience be simplified and refined?�
We’ve discussed that designers have skills in two areas that are in demand in business – creativity and communication. Design Management seeks to give us ways that we can