David Griffiths at Zollverein School

Griffiths Zollverein Main Presentation - June 06 v1I’ve arrived at Zollverein School an hour ago and I’ve had the pleasure to meet David Griffiths again. David is part of what I would call a global informal Design Management education network. Therefore it’s always fun to (physically) meet him once in a while and discuss what’s going on in the community worldwide.

Since David’s knowledge about the Creative Industries is quite comprehensive he’s always covering a broad range of issues on the intersection of design and business. This time he addressed the current changes which are going on in the design industry on a global scale. This is clearly based on his insights in the course of his engagement for AliaGroup which helps international companies outsourcing creative services to India.

As you can see on the thumbnail above in more detail he’s discussed the implications of the globalization of creative services for the design and management education industry. What I find most interesting is the somehow paradoxical scenario which he describes: While Design gets more and more attention from the corporate boardroom at the same time more and more competitors emerge are trying to capture and explore strategic spaces in the industry. No need to mention the relevance of the competitive position India and China have gained these days.

Interestingly the UK with the Design Council at the lead has always been a leader in research and support of the Creative Industries. Therefore it’s no surprise that the Design Council has teamed with Creative & Cultural Skills and founded “keepbritishdesignalive.com”. On their website you can download a report which David highly recommends and which he’s used in his presentation as well.

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