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Design Management: Using Design to Build Brand
Value and Corporate Innovation
The Reference Book on Design Management
"The Rosetta Stone of Design"
Available now in English
By Professor Brigitte Borja De Mozota
Allworth Press, 2004.
Copublished with DMI
Reviewed by Connie Birdsall
Trying to get ones arms around the vast field of design management is
a great and noble endeavor. Brigitte Borja De Mozota attempts to do just
that by breaking down the discussion into three interrelated, manageable
sections that help us understand the myriad of approaches companies can
take to use design successfully. Her three-level model for design success
is derived from research conducted on thirty-three companies during the
1997 European Design Prize competition. The research revealed that while
all the companies were known for superior excellence of their product
design they were not all managing design in the same way.
The overall framework begins with a discussion of design management fundamentals,
priming us with definitions and rooting the conversation in design history
as well as an exloration of the relationship between design and business.
Borja De Mozota ends this first section with a discussion of how designers
can evolve into corporate management roles.
The second part of the book consists of a theoretical discussion with
concepts and diagrams illustrating how design can bring value to the organization,
through practicing differentiation, coordination and transformation.
The third, and final part articulates the practical application of design
management tools for project management, internal resource management
and in the development of design strategy.
The book design and organization allows the reader to engage at many levels
with concept explanations, diagrams and case illustrations peppered with
quotes appropriate to the chapter subjects. It is bursting with content,
but at times rambles.
This book should be read by anyone who is interested in leveraging the
power of design as a management tool or who is responsible for design
in their own business, or within a business or corporation. Borja De Mozota
points out both the progress that has been made in this developing profession
and the many areas that still need to be strengthened in order for more
consistent acknowledgement of design’s economic and ergonomic value
to business and society.
Challenges remain to legitimize design’s role in business. As a
designer by training and education, this book points out how lacking design
education has been historically to prepare us for taking leadership roles
within the corporation where often "... the greatest contribution
of design is not visual..." There is also the need to remove vague
and imprecise aspects of the design discipline by formulating and validating
the intuitive, (things designers innately sense and know) and developing
more rigorous documentation similar to the research done that provided
the input and framework for this book.
Overall, this book is a wealth of information and is an excellent resource
for directing and developing design management strategies and practical
approaches. Corporation and design practices that apply the theories in
this book are definitely more likely to succeed.
Connie Birdsall is Senior Partner and Creative
Director for Lippincott Mercer
More on Design Management
This groundbreaking volume provides the corporate world
with a blueprint for integrating the values, creativity, ethics, and innovations
of the design process into the overall management of business. Written
by a leading authority in the field, Design Management illustrates
how design and management can converge into a single philosophical and
practical approach that creates value, contributes to company performance,
and impacts corporate vision.
Chapters include dozens of case studies, real-life examples,
and leadership profiles that illustrate theories of design, management,
and marketing. Readers will learn how to:
Choose the right design agency Integrate design into their organizations Use design to create value and contribute to Company performance Contribute to brand value and corporate vision Implement design projects
The first book to bring together the theory and practice of design management,
Design Management is an indispensable reference for designers,
marketers, and corporate communication professionals.
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