Business Success is a Question of Design

14.05.07

Scotland’s first nationwide festival of design is launched next week – and one of Glasgow’s leading designers hopes it will show how a splash of creativity can boost the balance sheet.

The Six Cities Design Festival will take place between May 17 and June 3, with the aim of raising the profile of design in Scotland.

It will feature more than 300 events in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness, Edinburgh, and Stirling. The festival, with a budget of around £3million, will involve designers such as Zandra Rhodes, Wayne Hemingway and Peter Saville, with exhibitions in each of the cities.

Janice Kirkpatrick, MD of Glasgow’s Graven Images, is holding a series of classes on design in business and showing how it can give a competitive edge.

Janice said: "People often think of design simply in terms of manufacturing or an end product, but design and creativity applies to every aspect of business.

“People will look to banks and managers simply for business advice but would never think of looking elsewhere. But it is the creativity or the entrepreneurial thoughts and processes that take place behind the scene that deliver big profits and business success.”

According to figures from the Government’s Cox Review, businesses that put design and creativity at the centre of their operation are outperforming the FTSE 100 on average by 200%.

Scottish businesses are the most sceptical in the UK about the benefits of design with only 5% seeing it as vital to operational success.

Analysis reveals the main obstacles to investment in design and creativity are as follows: lack of awareness and experience; a lack of belief in the value of, or confidence in, the outcome; not knowing where to turn for specialised help; limited ambition or appetite for risk; and the prioritising of other pressures on firms.