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In this issue:

Viewpoints

Calendar of Upcoming DMI Events

May
The DMI Senior Executive Workshop: Strategies for Developing, Maintaining, and Sustaining a Powerful Brand
May 4-6, Boston, Mass., USA

Creating the Perfect Design Brief
May 15-16, New York, NY, USA

Using Design Research for Product and Brand Innovation
May 22-23, Chicago, Ill., USA

June
15th International Corporate/Brand Identity Conference
June 4-6, 2003, Vancouver, Canada

Futurecasting: Integrating Scenario Planning and Design
June 19-20, New York, NY, USA

Managing Innovation and Creativity
June 24-25, Boston, Mass., USA

July
Building Platforms for Innovation
July 21-23, 2003, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif., USA
Stay tuned to the DMI Web site for more information

August
Managing Innovation and Creativity
August 7-8, Seattle, Wash., USA

September
Strategies for Designing Meaningful Brand Experiences
September 11-12, Miami, Fla., USA

New! Marketing Graphic Design Services
September 12-13, Chicago, Ill., USA

Managing Design for Strategic Advantage
September 18-19, San Francisco, Calif., USA

Creating the Perfect Design Brief
September 25-26, Seattle, Wash., USA

October
Using Design Research for Product and Brand Innovation
October 2-3, New York City, USA

Fast Track Your Experience Strategy
October 9-10, Colorado Springs, Colo., USA

The 28th International Design Management Conference
October 19-23, 2003
Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA
Stay tuned to the DMI Web site for more information

Creating a Climate in Which Corporate Designers Can Flourish

DMI Conferences

The 15th International Corporate/Brand Identity Conference
Report on the European Conference

A New DMI Seminar: Marketing Graphic Design Services
A New DMI Roundtable: Building Platforms for Innovation

Creating the Perfect Design Brief
Using Design Research for Product and Brand Innovation
Futurecasting: Integrating Scenario Planning and Design
Managing Innovation & Creativity
Strategies for Designing Meaningful Brand Experiences
Managing Design for Strategic Advantage
Fast Track Your Experience Strategy

Design Management Journal, Spring 2003
Free Download of the Month
Spring 2003 Issue of DMI News & Views

Viewpoints

Design managers face pressures every day that can kill their creativity and the creativity of their people as quickly as the time it takes to read this sentence. Whether they work in marketing services firms such as ad agencies or in companies where design is a sidelight to the core business, designers are subject to forces that can inhibit their ability to take the risks that bring out their best work. This is especially true when difficult economic times force companies to do more with less, while having to execute better and faster.

Design managers are not altogether at the mercy of such corporate pressures. By understanding and managing four dynamics of creativity—motivation, curiosity and fear, the breaking and making of connections, and evaluation—they can increase the chances that their design professionals produce truly valuable work. As well, design management can nurture the right "climate" for these activities to exist. By climate, we mean the common collection of behaviors and expectations within an organization.

Read the complete article

Article proposals are welcome! Please email jtobin@dmi.org.  
 

DMI Conferences

The 15th International Corporate/Brand Identity Conference
Connecting Design & Marketing for Brand Success
June 4-6, 2003
The Fairmont Hotel, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The Corporate/Identity Conference is just one month away! Don’t miss out on this important and exciting conference, with its mix of outstanding speakers, focused discussion groups, high-level attendees, and peer networking opportunities. Take this opportunity to gain valuable new insights from experts and peers on current branding and marketing issues. Speakers from Symantec Corporation, Brand Imperatives, Desgrippes Gobé Group, GM Corporation, G2 Worldwide, Larsen, Microsoft, Philips Design, and Sony Electronics, Inc. will examine the objectives, processes, and results of fusing design and marketing for successful interaction and brand success.

An Interview with Featured Speaker Denise Yohn of Sony
Learn how Denise Yohn, Vice President, Segment Marketing and Brand Planning, Sony Electronics, Inc., has created a common understanding of the Sony brand through the creation of Being Sony. Read an interview about her upcoming presentation at the Vancouver conference.

Optional Conference Workshops
In addition to the scheduled sessions, there are two optional workshops:

Customer Equity: The Key to Branding Accountability
Nick Wreden, Brand Futurist

Brand Now! Scanning Cultures to Envision the Future of Brands
Marco Bevolo, Senior Design Manager, Philips Design
Brechje Vissers, Senior Consultant, Philips Design

Conference Information
A complete schedule is posted on the DMI Web site. It will be updated if any changes occur. Please visit www.dmi.org for complete information about the program, hotel accommodations, and registration information for this highly-regarded conference. You can also download the conference brochure in PDF format.

Report on the European Conference
For those of you that missed this year's European conference, Fanny Cabanne has written an engaging summary of the event. Despite a challenging economic and political environment, the conference was very successful, attracting 85 senior professionals from 15 different countries. Planning is already underway for next year's conference, stay tuned to the eBulletin for news about a new location in Europe!

Featured DMI News

A New DMI Seminar: Marketing Graphic Design Services September 12-13, 2003, Chicago, Ill. Taught by Cameron S. Foote, Principal, Creative Business		Cameron Foote

For most graphic design firms, developing a steady stream of work, month-in and month-out, is an ongoing problem. Word-of-mouth, referrals, and occasional marketing are no longer enough in today's sharply competitive business environment. Without regular and consistent marketing, a firm often finds itself on a feast-or-famine roller coaster at best, and at worst, struggling for its very existence. Today more than ever, there's a strong correlation between the success of a design firm and the effectiveness of its marketing efforts.

What you will learn:

• Strategies and tactics:
  • The benefits of marketing that go beyond the obvious
  • Defining your firm's positioning
  • Developing the right marketing mix
  • Acceptable time and expense ratios and return on investment
  • Defining strategies and tactics to meet sales objectives
• Prospecting and contacting:
  • Setting realistic expectations and goals
  • Which promotions work best in which situations
  • Building contact lists
  • Hiring and compensating new business development (sales) personnel
  • Focusing on relationship building
• Presenting and closing:
  • Developing effective presentations
  • Countering pricing and other objections
  • Closing the sale
  • Principals' involvement in client relations
  • Measuring success

This seminar has a practical, real-world approach that's ideal for anyone who wants to improve his or her marketing ability, learn techniques for prospecting for new clients, needs to know more about hiring and motivating sales personnel, or would like to achieve a higher success rate in converting presentations into projects.

Who should attend:
Anyone responsible for building and sustaining a profitable level of business activity: principals, new business development personnel, account executives, and experienced freelancers.

Please visit the DMI Web site for more information about this exciting new DMI seminar.

Building Platforms for Innovation
July 21-23, 2003, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif. USA

The Design Management Institute is pleased to announce a special roundtable that will take place at Stanford University this coming July. The theme “Building Platforms for Innovation” will focus on the processes, language, culture, and behaviors that foster and contribute to innovation. Confirmed speakers at this event include Lee Green, Director, Corporate Identity & Design, IBM; and Gianfranco Zaccai, President/Designer & Strategist, Continuum, who will be speaking on "Beating the Odds."

DMI is organizing this event in collaboration with the Center for Design Research (CDR), a research institute at Stanford University. More information on this event will be sent out to eBulletin subscribers in mid-May.

DMI Education

Creating the Perfect Design Brief
May 15-16, 2003, New York City, USA
September 25-26, 2003, Seattle, Wash., USA
Taught by Peter L. Phillips, Design Strategy Consultant
A well-crafted design brief can function as a contract, an easy-to-follow road map for the entire design process, and an invaluable tool for securing project approval at the end of the process. This seminar explores all of the critical components of a design brief and how to use them to assure the success of any design project. More information.

“I can't wait to use what I've learned here!”
—Shannon Navarette, The Dial Corporation

Using Design Research for Product and Brand Innovation
May 22-23, Chicago, Ill., USA (Limited space available!)
October 2-3, New York City, USA
Taught by Darrel Rhea, Principal, Cheskin
This seminar empowers design managers to integrate research into the design development process with confidence. It will give managers the tools to become advocates for research that actually produces better design and supports innovation. There is often a big gap between the needs of designers and the approaches taken by traditional market researchers on design-related issues. By knowing how, when, and what kind of research to use in the design process, managers can maintain control of their programs, and produce more effective products and brands. More information.

New! Futurecasting: Integrating Scenario Planning and Design
June 19-20, 2003, New York City, USA
Taught by Andrew Zolli, Principal, Z+Partners
Futures research is a powerful tool for understanding, planning, and designing for our rapidly changing world. By exploring alternative futures in an organized way, organizations can identify new opportunities and anticipate new challenges, better allocate their resources, and make better decisions. In this hands-on seminar, participants will learn various approaches to scenario planning that can be applied to strategic planning, branding, and design issues. Each participant will leave with new tools and techniques that can be applied in their own businesses right away. More information.

Managing Innovation & Creativity
June 24-25, 2003, Boston, Mass., USA
August 7-8, 2003, Seattle, Wash., USA
Taught by Alison Rieple, Professor of Strategic Management, University of Westminster-Harrow Business School (UK)
Designers are visionaries with important roles to play in the innovation process, and are key drivers of organizational success. And yet innovation, and the creativity that underpins it, is notoriously hard to manage. This seminar will explore why this is the case and how participants can work to improve the management of the creative process. More information.

“Alison Rieple is dynamic, organized, an excellent facilitator.”
—Gerald Boulet, Manager / National Visual Communication Design Centre, Parks Canada

Strategies for Designing Meaningful Brand Experiences
September 11-12, 2003, Miami, Fla. USA
Taught by Dave Norton, PhD, Vice President, Experience Strategy and Research, Yamamoto Moss
Fundamental shifts in consumer behavior are occurring. This seminar is designed to help design managers and strategists develop actionable solutions to address these shifts that, combined with recent economic trends and world events, will shape the way consumers live, work, play, and buy. Consumers expect more than brand promises. They want brand truth. This seminar will help you prepare your organization to fulfill consumers’ greatest unmet need: having meaningful experiences. More information.

“This workshop was rich with content that can be applied immediately to any business, and Dave made the learning experience entertaining, interactive, and fun. Those who don't catch on to this new reality now will learn too late—when their customers/clients have been sucked away by their competitors.”
—Robert L. Crawford, Director of Principal Gifts, Babson College

Managing Design for Strategic Advantage
September 18-19, San Francisco, Calif., USA
Taught by Peter L. Phillips, Design Strategy Consultant
Traditionally, design has been viewed as a service within an organization—not as a strategic business resource. But this traditional view of design is rapidly changing in the fast moving, highly competitive business arena of the new millennium. Design managers and designers now need to rethink both the processes of managing design and the ways in which they communicate the strategic value of design to the success of the enterprise. More information.

“This seminar was mind-blowing because it demonstrated a new way of conceptual thinking using Peter Phillips’ model.”
—Sven Hardt, Manager, Hardtdesign GmbH

Fast Track Your Experience Strategy
October 9-10, Colorado Springs, Colo., USA
Taught by Dave Norton, PhD, Vice President, Experience Strategy and Research, Yamamoto Moss
You’ve nailed your brand strategy. What’s next? Brands that do not live up to the experience they promise put themselves at risk of being commoditized. The next step is defining your experience strategy. An experience strategy helps you define everything holistically; from how anticipation is built, to the most important interactions your customers have and the memories that they form. More information.

“Wonderful—I can see using this in all aspects of career and general life.”
—Nancy Jornlin, Project Manager, Frank Russell Company

DMI Publications

Design Management Journal, Spring 2003
Fusing Design, Strategy and Technology: Insights from the Frontiers of Design and Design Management

New technologies and business strategies are transforming how we design, what we design, and the ways in which we communicate design content. Addressing this metamorphosis, contributors to this issue demonstrate that the Web can streamline communications, leverage sales, and build loyalty. One author describes the structure and importance of his company’s brand intranet. There is a review of digital research tools and platforms for sharing data and a prediction that Asia will rise as a major design and production powerhouse. Finally, a case study on the Segway Human Transporter is a glimpse into the future.

Visit the DMI Web site for more information about this issue of the Journal, including subscription information and a list of articles.

Free Download of the Month
Eco-design and successful packaging
By Robert Holdway, Research Fellow, Royal Academy of Art; David Walker, Co-Founder and Partner, giraffe; Mark Hilton, Senior Environmental consultant, Enviros Aspinwall
Design Management Journal, Fall 2002, Vol. 13, No. 4

Being "green" is no longer an option. It's good for the environment and, fortunately, it can also be good for business. With extensive experience in the field of eco-design, Robert Holdway, David Walker, and Mark Hilton suggest ways to overcome barriers to sustainable packaging and outline perspectives and processes that help development teams maximize results in this increasingly important aspect of design.

This free download has expired. Click here to read the executive summary for this article and the opportunity to purchase the article for direct download.

DMI members can download DMI Journal articles for free on the DMI Web site. Visit www.dmi.org/membership for more information.

Spring 2003 Issue of DMI News & Views
The latest issue of DMI News & Views is now online in PDF format. Subscribers should expect to receive their printed issue within the next several weeks. You'll find articles on the 2003 Include Conference, the 2003 DMI European Conference, a book review, member news, and much more.

News & Events Around the World

The 4th International Conference of the Design Education Association
May 8-9, 2003, Brighton, UK
Theme: Studying Form—Refining the Scholarly Infrastructure for Learning, Teaching + Research in Design. Info: www.deed.ac.uk.

IDSA DesignAbout: How to Compete Internationally
May 14-15, 2003, Montréal, Canada
Join a small group of industrial designers at the Hotel Sofitel in Montréal for an intimate, interactive seminar. Info: www.idsa.org.

InSource Roundtable Breakfast
May 22, 2003, Madison, NJ, USA
Join design directors from over 40 companies in discussions relevant to in-house corporate design departments. This event is designed to support and promote the practice of design and business excellence in the corporate arena. Keynote speaker: Peter L. Phillips Info: arnowig@wyeth.comarnowig@wyeth.com

Innotown 2003 Design Conference
May 26-28, 2003, Alesund, Norway
Innotown is an exciting melting pot that highlights the importance of vision, creativity, innovation, design and communication. Info: www.innotown.org.

SEGD Annual Conference & Expo
May 28-31, 2003, Las Vegas, Nev., USA
SEGD's annual conference and expo provides many opportunities to meet practitioners and fellow design professionals. Info: www.segd.org.

EXP3: Where Experience Intersects with Place
June 1-3, 2003, Philadelphia, Penn., USA
EXP3 unites every key segment of the emerging experiental economy to create a single comprehensive marketplace. Info: www.exp-3.com.

Sustainable Product-Service-Systems: State of the Art
June 5-6, 2003, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The first conference of the EU-funded Thematic Network on Sustainable Product-Service (SusProNet). Info: www.cfsd.org.uk/events/suspronet.

DUX 2003: Designing for User Experiences
June 5-7, 2003, San Francisco, Calif., USA
A joint conference on interactive digital design organized by AIGA, SIGCHI, and SIGGRAPH. Info: www.dux2003.org.

Industrial Strength Design: How Brooks Stevens Shaped Your World
June 7-Sept. 7, 2003, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Minn., USA
This exhibition highlights one of the most influential industrial designers of the 20th century. Info: www.mam.org/exhibitions/major/story_ID_84.asp.

International Conference on Designing Pleasurable Products and Interfaces 2003 (DPPI03)
June 23-26, 2003, Carnegie Mellon University School of Design, Pittsburgh, Penn., USA
DPPI03 is one of the leading international forums for the exchange of ideas and information on issues of affective and emotional factors in product design. Info: www.cmu.edu/cfa/design/dppi03.

2003 IDEA Conference: Between Excess and Austerity
August 8-12, 2003, Sydney, Australia
This conference gathers some of the finest minds in the discipline of interior design in a context of intense inquiry and collegiality. Info: www.idea-edu.com

DesignEx 2003: Imagination, Innovation, Integration
August 28-31, 2003, Impact, Thailand
The first design-focused exhibition held in Thailand. Info: www.designex2003.com.

First London Design Festival/World Creative Forum
September 20-28, 2003, London, UK
This festival will celebrate London as a creative capital of the world, and will include openings, exhibitions, seminars, lectures, tours, and parties. The World Creative Forum—a two-and-a-half day conference to explore the impact of creativity on business and society—will be held in conjunction with the festival. Info: www.worldcreativeforum.com.

The Power of Design: AIGA National Design Conference
October 23–26, 2003, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Designers will play critical roles in the success of our rebounding economy—both as agents of social change in a complex world and as leading architects of sustainable solutions for a troubled planet. Info: powerofdesign.aiga.org.
 

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