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.
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