Twenty-two years. That is how long it has been my privilege to be editor of the Design Management Review. They have been wonderful years. I have learned a great deal personally, and I have witnessed the development of design management into a mature and valued profession.

Looking back, I beg your indulgence as I share a few musings about the Review and about design management in general. My first encounter with this discipline was as a grants specialist at the National Endowment for the Arts. DMI president Peter Lawrence needed funds for a conference. His message: Design is a resource that can enhance business success. Not everyone was convinced, but Peter was persuasive and, as a designer myself, I wanted to believe. Indeed, I was in the midst of writing a book on architecture as a path to leveraging business goals, so this larger perspective was enticing.

A couple of years later, my conversations continued with the next DMI president, Earl Powell. He was very excited about the design management exhibit the Institute was staging at Harvard. Conferences were attracting a growing audience of consultant and corporate designers, and there were even a few professors in the hallowed halls of the Harvard Business School who shared the conviction that design mattered—that it could contribute to bottom-line results—a heartening breakthrough.

At some point in the dialogue with Earl, I was invited to present my architectural research at one of the DMI conferences. I thoroughly enjoyed the gathering, especially pondering the insights of other presenters. As I was returning to Washington, I mentioned that the only disappointment was that conference wisdom was so ephemeral. I suggested that DMI needed a journal. In typical fashion, Earl responded, “Well—do it!” Thus, in 1989, the Design Management Review was born. Twenty-two years later, it thrives.

But more than the Review thrives. Design management thrives! Today, it is recognized as an essential business asset. It is at the heart of innovation. It is how a corporation establishes a compelling marketplace signature. It is a driver of individual endeavors and organizational strategy. It is an interdisciplinary endeavor. It embraces stakeholders from arenas far beyond the design. And it is integrated into decision-making from the earliest stages of long-term and project planning. No doubt brand has experienced one of the most significant transformations. What was once focused on graphics and identity is now about building multimedia relationships and consumer loyalty. In these areas and more, design management is critical.

Articles

Managing the Five Tensions of the Design Process
Cabirio Cautela, Researcher, Politecnico di Milano; Francesco Zurlo , Associate Professor, Politecnico di Milano

Working as One: Creative Teams and Outside Agencies 
Beverly Bethge and William Faust

Branding Inside Out and Outside In
Rodney Abbot, Connie Birdsall, and Brendan Murphy

The Soul of Design Leadership 
Frans Joziasse

From Economy of Commodities to Economy of Ideas: Hardware as Social Medium
Ziv Bar Ilan

Consulting in Changing Times and New Cultural Contexts
Deanne Beckwith

Designers and Marketers: Toward a Shared Understanding
Michael B. Beverland and Francis J. Farrelly

Nurturing Creativity Through Cognitive Design Therapy
Gary Whitlock

Leading the Market with Design Thinking and Sensibility
Bo Young Kim and Joon Hye Baek