Hi folks,

Apologies its been a little while since I last posted a blog. Its been an incredibly busy time at Loft HQ. This week we talk about how the creativity of our designers should be put to good use in areas other than simply branding/graphic/web design. And we also discuss some of the other issues of the day…

Lets put creativity at the heart of business

When working on things, I believe we should always consult the bigger picture. Most of the time in design projects I consider the business case for the type of brand communication we offer. We must be honest with ourselves, as designers we are not artists, we are there to commercially enhance the value of our clients. There is a very artistic slant to what we do but the place of design must always be hand in hand with good business. And what has occured to me more recently is that in 90% of design projects, we designers are being asked to work the wrong way round. As designers our role usually comes to the fore once the product or the offering has been shaped and decided upon. Our creativity simply being used to decorate the product once most of the major decisions have been made.

However, there is increasing evidence that the more prominence given to design by companies, the greater the potential for commercial gain. Put simply, design should be given a role at the heart of decision making. Now this isnt long-winded fanfare for the importance of my own industry. The reasons are stronger. Now this is where it can get complicated. Design like Art is about finding and communicating the truth. Really great design work tends to be the result of a central vision which touches every aspect of the business process. This vision is usually led by a passion for the cause and not an obsession with the final result. If you look at great products such as the I-Pad, the actual graphical style of the product is only a small cog of a huge central vision. The creativity, passion and motives of most real designers are attributes that can only enhance organisations large and small. The ideas generated can inspire organisations and lead them to great things. If you look at some great organisations such as Ferrari, the design and engineering excellence of modern Ferraris give the workers at Maranello absolute passion and pride in the work they do. Why? Because their is a central vision that is clear to everybody at Ferrari about what the company is about. Similarly, Google’s recent premise that their central vision is Google’s mission is “to organize the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Once that vision is clear