Contact:
Dominic Power - Coordinator/Project leader
 

(leviva)

(Si-su)

The Future in Design - Final Report

For individual country reports please visit our publication section

Focus:
The design industry has become an increasingly important and valuable industry. Not only is design an area of commercial activity in itself but it is also an integral input into successful product development in virtually all other manufacturing and service industries. Design not only represents a growing industry but also provides inputs that are crucial to the competitiveness of other Nordic industries.

This five nation comparative research project treats the design industry as a developing industry with great future potential. The research focuses on understanding the type of production milieus, competences, institutional structures, industrial dynamics, and indeed links to other industries that the competitiveness of Nordic design rests upon.

The main objective of the project is to study the Nordic design industry’s industrial dynamics and professionalization process from a comparative perspective in order to understand the evolution of the industry, its role in wider innovation processes and systems, and to understand how policies supporting firm and institutional actors can be developed. Strengthening design through national and regional policy is a core focus of the project.

The research consists of two main parts: a ‘mapping’ of the firms and actors involved in the Nordic design industry; a series of case studies that examine important issues and trends within the design industry and the ways in which other sectors can best use design as a strategic tool.