Design management facts for kids
Design management is like the business side of design. It's all about making smart choices and plans to create awesome products, services, and brands. These designs make our lives better and help companies succeed.
Design management isn't just for one type of design. A person named Gorb, in 1976, sorted design into three main groups. Design management works with all of them:
- Product: This includes things like industrial design (how products are made), packaging design, and service design (like how a delivery service works).
- Information: This covers graphic design (logos and posters), branding (a company's image), media design, and web design.
- Environment: This is about designing spaces, such as retail stores, exhibition areas, and home interiors.
Design management is very important for companies and their products. It has three main jobs, connecting design, the company, and the market:
- It makes sure design plans match the company's overall goals and brand.
- It helps keep the quality and look of designs consistent across different types of design.
- It finds new ways to make user experiences better and help products stand out from competitors.
Design managers use different activities to make design work more efficient and effective. Their jobs can vary a lot. It depends on things like the industry, company size, and what role design plays in that company.
A Quick Look at History
It's tricky to pinpoint the exact start of design management. The phrase "design management" first appeared in books in 1964. But ideas that led to it were around much earlier.
Over time, design management has been shaped by many fields. These include architecture, industrial design, and management. It's not just about design or just about management; it's a mix of both.
Here's how design management has changed over the years:
| TIME PERIOD | MAIN IDEA | DESIGN'S ROLE | WHAT DESIGN MANAGEMENT FOCUSED ON | WHO WAS IMPORTANT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940s to 1950s | Design as style | Showing quality | Managing projects | Alessi, Braun |
| 1960s to 1970s | Design as a process | Making new things | Managing new product ideas | Philips, Sony |
| 1980s to 1990s | Design as leadership | Creative plans | Brand building | Apple |
| 2000s to 2010s | Design thinking | New business ideas | Creative companies | IDEO |
Levels of Design Management
Design management can be split into three different levels, depending on what it focuses on:
- Operational design management: This level deals with managing single design projects and the teams working on them.
- Tactical design management: This is about organizing design resources and how design processes work within a company.
- Strategic design management: This is the big picture. It involves creating the long-term vision and plans for design. It also defines how important design is to the company's future.
Related pages
Images for kids
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Design management is the business side of design. Design managers need to speak the language of business and design.
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Peter Behrens, around 1913, was one of the first people to work with ideas similar to design management.
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The British Design Council was started in 1944 to help British industries use good design.
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The 15th European International Design Management Conference was organized by the Design Management Institute.
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The Royal Society of Arts in London was one of the first groups to support design management.
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Product design management helps create unique designs. The Saab hockey stick is a famous car design feature.
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Service design management works with new types of service design. An example is the Car2Go idea from Daimler AG, shown here in Austin, Texas.
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Business design management is used to create new business models. This is the business model canvas by Alexander Osterwalder.
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Urban design management helps develop city areas. This is the new HafenCity in Hamburg, Germany.
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Architectural design management helped create Heathrow Terminal 5 and Heathrow Express by guiding the design and showing strong leadership.
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Operational design management works with individual design projects and teams. Here is Dick Teague, a design manager at American Motors Corporation (AMC) in 1961.
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Tactical design management helps companies understand the importance of design. This is a training meeting in an eco-design company in Brazil.
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Strategic design management helps imagine the future. This is the amazing concept car BMW GINA at the BMW Museum in Munich, Germany.
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Design management was first taught at the London Business School in 1976.
