With the U.S. as a notable exception, many nations have organizations to promote design as a corporate resource, institutions with programs that demonstrate how effectively managed design contributes to such key business goals as quality, competitiveness, and productivity. This issue reviews design policy models from England, Canada, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and the grassroots efforts being developed in San Antonio, Texas. It also includes commentary on the difficult challenge of establishing a design-promotion organization within the US, with essays that offer both short- and long-term recommendations for specific American design policy initiatives.

Articles

Options Regarding a US Design Policy 

Thomas Walton

Industrial Design and the Government
Randy McAusland

The British Design Council: A Mission Redefined
Ivor Owen

Should Government Promote Design? A Design Initiative for Economic Growth
William J. Hannon

A National Design Policy: Of Questionable Value and Unlikely
Don E. Kash

Made in Taiwan: Designing a New Image
Robert Blaich

The Miracle of Han River: Korean Government Policy and Design Management in the Motor Industry
Kyung Won Chung

Managing Design: Directions in British Education
Rachel Davies Cooper

 

The Government of Canada’s Federal Identity Program

Alan Way

From Hewers of Wood to Creators of Value
Howard Cohen

 

A New Era for Design Centers

Kazuo Kimura

DESIGN San Antonio: A Grassroots Model
Richard S. Howe and Boone Powell