REDESIGNING THE DESIGN COUNCIL

Just a few years ago the Design Council began an initiative to redesign the design sector called Keep British Design Alive. On 1 April this year, the design sector will experience the redesign of the Design Council itself, which is being kept alive thanks to a creative and innovative approach during last year’s review and subsequent arrangements

The following extracts are from a release dated 11 February 2011 on the Design Council's website.

‘The Design Council and CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) have confirmed that they are to merge key design activities from 1 April, following an agreement reached by the two bodies and government.

The move will bring together two world-class centres of design excellence to speak with one voice and support a broad spectrum of design, architecture and public space, and place it at the heart of social and economic renewal.

It will provide a ‘one stop shop’ for design support and advice to industry, communities, central and local government encompassing a range of services already provided by both the Design Council and CABE.

The Design Council name and status as a Royal Charter charity will be unaffected, and the organisation will cease to be a Non-Departmental Government Body (NDPB) from 1 April, as set out in the government’s recent Public Bodies Review.

The move will also mean a saving of public money, by combining some of the activities of two public bodies into one independent charitable organisation with scope for additional industry investment. The new organisation will continue to be financed through a combination of sources, as has been the case for the last few years, including grants from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

Voicing his support for the merger, Grant Shapps, the Minister of State for Housing & Local Government said: ‘I want local residents themselves to have a much greater say over how their communities are designed. By merging these elements of the Design Council and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, we can continue to improve the local support that is available for people to do this, and build on the strong track record in offering mentoring, training and support.

‘This merger, which has the support of leading experts in the field, will not only mean the excellent work the Commission has already undertaken can continue, but will also ensure that every taxpayer's pound spent on improving design is spent wisely and efficiently.’

A new governance structure for the Design Council will also be put in place to equip the new organisation to deliver its new broader remit from 1 April. This will include a significantly expanded council drawn from a range of disciplines and specialisms in design, government, business and education which reflects the Design Council’s expanded remit in architecture and the built environment.

The Design Council will be consulting with CABE staff in the coming weeks to finalise the roles which will continue to deliver the Design Review services, as part of the new organisation. These will be confirmed, along with the new organisational structure for the Design Council when staff consultations in both organisations have been completed.'

COMMENT

Merger talks began just a few weeks after the review of the Design Council was submitted to the government in October last year. The review was conducted by Martin Temple CBE, a trustee of the council, and praised the work of the Design Council but also identified areas that should be addressed in terms of transparency and widening the council.

The merger also provides timely relief for CABE, which was due to be wound up next month as part of the government's cuts to public spending on quangos.

The review of the Design Council set out recommendations and explored options for its survival, one of which was to merge with either NESTA or the Technology Strategy Board. It also canvassed the views of a wide range of stakeholders and its advisory committee, many of whom were close to and had a good working knowledge of the Design Council.

Asked what consultation took place about the merger within the design and/or built environment sector(s), the Design Council told The Designer: “The decision to merge elements of CABE and Design Council was taken by government following the public bodies review, a wide-ranging public consultation which sought the views of interested parties on the future of a variety of public bodies. As the merger impacts on CABE services only (The Design Council programmes and services are not affected by this move), it was CABE’s sponsor departments (DCMS and DCLG) which were responsible for both consulting with the architecture sector and making the final decision.”

The difference this will make to the Design Council's engagement with the design sector remains to be seen. During the review last year, the Society conducted a short online survey to gauge industry views on the future role of the Design Council and is keen to now hear the views of the design sector on this recent development.

You can follow the discussion on LinkedIn in either the Society's public or members-only forum. The Designer will report regularly on this development.

100TH ANNIVERSARY
OF KAJ FRANCK’S BIRTH

2011 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kaj Franck (1911–1989), one of the great names of Finnish design. Design Forum Finland will be using several events to highlight the significance of Franck's ideas for contemporary design and designers.

During the summer of 2011, all 19 previous recipients of the Kaj Franck Design Prize will be featured in an exhibition at Design Forum. Their work ranges from glass and ceramics to jewellery, fashions, furniture, tools and equipment for heavy industry. This showing will include an experiential miniature exhibition on Franck especially aimed at foreign visitors.

Franck’s work started in the late 1930s. After graduating from the Central School of Applied Arts, he went to work at a retail store selling fabrics, curtains and carpets and started designing a few of his own pieces of furniture. These were exhibited at the 1937 Paris World Fair.

Franck is best known for his work at Arabia, where he was able to have a direct impact on the style of the Finnish home. He did so with his ‘smash the services’ campaign in which he introduced mix-and-match tableware as an alternative to the outdated and often inefficient china sets that were the standard of the time. Mix-and-match sets could be bought in pieces to fit your needs and took up less space. They could be easily replaced, as with the Kilta range shown here produced between 1953 and 1975. The Kilta is still being produced by Iittala under the name Teema. Franck had strong views on design and ‘anonymity in design’. In an article on anonymity from 1966, he noted that ‘an object must survive upon its own conditions instead of the designer’s name, and design is an important part of those conditions’. For more information please visit www.designforum.fi

Image: Kilta Range 1953 photograph by Rauno Träskelin

LONDON TRANSPORT NEEDS YOU – UNDERGROUND TALES

London Transport Museum is exploring the theme of journeys for an exhibition in 2012, and they need your stories to bring the exhibition to life. The exhibition will focus on highlights from the museum’s outstanding map collection and will explore what journeying around London means to passengers, whether on a leisure trip or their daily commute.

Do you have an interesting or unusual story relating to working or travelling on the Underground? Perhaps you were involved in changing or updating the Underground map, or even remember the introduction of the first diagrammatic map?

The museum would love to hear your stories, and about any unusual events, folklore or characters you’ve encountered on the Underground.

If you’d like to take part, please email your story to journeys@ltmuseum.co.uk and send a copy to us here at The Designer.

BOOK REVIEW

MODERN BRITISH POSTERS – ART, DESIGN AND COMMUNICATION by Paul Rennie

Modern British Posters explores the interaction between modern art, graphic design and the 20th-century vision of utopia in Britain. The images in this book show the developing visual language of progressive modernism in Britain. Implicit in this development is the transformation of commercial art into graphic design. The cultural significance of the poster as a means of mass communication is discussed in detail and illustrated throughout.

The posters speak of people, landscape, technology and identity, and cover themes as diverse as transport, architecture, the seaside, accident prevention and popular culture. The content comes exclusively from the graphic collection of Paul and Karen Rennie and includes work by Edward McKnight Kauffer, Paul Nash, Abram Games and Tom Eckersley among others. Paul Rennie is head of context in graphic design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London.

Modern British Posters is published by Black Dog publishing (RRP £29.95). CSD members can buy the book for £14.97 excluding delivery (costs available on request) using the promotional code in the members’ area of the CSD website.

NOTE THIS

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE JAGUAR E-TYPE

The Design Museum celebrates 50 years of the iconic Jaguar E-Type with a display in the Design Museum Tank. Originally launched at the Geneva Motor Show in 1961, the E-Type caused an instant sensation. With a 3.8 litre XK engine, a top speed of 150mph and a price tag of £2000, the E-Type was an accessible dream and signalled the change to a new era of modernity in the 1960s. Over 70,000 E-Types were produced between 1961 and 1974. To celebrate this anniversary, an original E-Type is being shown from 8 February to 6 March in the Design Museum Tank, London. For more details on current and future exhibitions, please visit www.designmuseum.org

THE BIG RETHINK

The 2011 meeting will be on 3 March 2011 in London. We’ve once again teamed up with The Economist to offer you the chance to gain insights into how new technologies, disruptive business models and today’s complex customers are shaking up business. You can join The Big Rethink 2011 at specially negotiated rates by visiting the members’ area of the CSD website.

THE ARCHITECTURE OF HOPE: MAGGIE’S CANCER CARING CENTRES

This will be the first display to comprehensively explore the architecture of the Maggie's Centres that provide welcoming and uplifting spaces for people affected by cancer. The buildings of each of the seven existing centres, designed by architects such as Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid, will be examined through models, drawings, photographs and film. Six models for future centres will also be on show. The exhibition runs from 26 February to 8 May 2011 at V&A Architecture Rooms 127 and 128, and admission is free.

Image: Maggie's Dundee, designed by Frank Gehry of Gehry and Partners © Keith Hunter

MEMBER'S PROFILE

The Designer aims to showcase members’ work, including the next generation of professionals. This issue looks at samples from some of our student members.

James Addison
BA (Hons) Graphic Design - The Arts University College at Bournemouth

James has a passion for all areas of graphic design and a broad range of skills in both print and digital work. He is now looking for graduate employment or internship opportunities. His particular interests include typography, publication design, branding, printed ephemera and user-centred design.

Book about 1930s Streamline design movement.

Visual system exploring the movement process of making tea

Robin Long
MDes in Automotive Design - Coventry University

Robin relishes challenging work where he is able to be creative and learn new skills. A passionate, outgoing person, Robin is completing the final year of the Automotive Design (Mdes) course at Coventry University. His passion for design in all its forms and interest in how design can be applied to the problem of transport are what made Robin want to become an industrial design professional in the transport industry.

Bringing flair back to Citroën

Wall mounted Hi-Fi design