It has often been said that design resides at the intersection of art and commerce. While there’s a part of me that feels like this formula doesn’t do justice to either art or commerce, there’s a good deal of truth in it. Business, in the broadest sense, is usually present in the kinds of transactions in which designers are involved. This may not be immediately apparent when one’s doing work for, say, a community initiative to feed the homeless. But it’s the creative person’s ability to affect the communication that results in fundraising, volunteering or even political change that makes his or her contribution valuable. (Otherwise, would the only designers be graffiti artists?) Someone’s gonna get funded, fed or paid. And that, of course, includes the designer.

I can’t think of a profession where more practitioners either are pursuing or desire to own their own businesses than design. Even for those designers who don’t aspire to entrepreneurship, the need to understand the commercial dimension of their clients’ activities is critical. Because designers need both kinds of business knowledge—inward facing, to run their own businesses successfully, and outward facing, to truly add value for their clients—this issue’s guest editor Shel Perkins organized his special section on business and design in both directions.

Perkins—who consults with creative organizations on the business of design and has published widely in the field, including within these pages as our business columnist—has recruited an intriguing group of writers and commentators to address issues both timeless and forward-looking. You can read his vision for the special coverage on page 70.

The issues addressed in this special edition of STEP— innovation, partnering with clients to “get inside” their business models, proving the financial contribution of design, building personal business skills, effectively managing a design business throughout its life cycle, dealing with copyrights and selecting project management software— are pressing because of revolutionary changes in how we communicate en masse … and what, consequently, designers are asked to contribute.

Yes, the digital age has made possible the explosive growth of networks of almost incomprehensible size and potential. But all of those complex connections still end in a single node—a person. And if that individual’s interest isn’t captured with creativity and insight, an awful lot of effort has gone to waste. The moment of truth has to happen within an individual’s consciousness. And that makes design’s business role more vital than ever.