Produced by the London Design Festival Ltd.

March 2011

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Four themes for action emerged from the London Design Review. Throughout the document we represent them in different colours: Sharing and interacting Protecting the creative pipeline Design business support Communicating design strengths

Introduction

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Introduction Editorial by Jeremy Myerson Things we can do Attendees, London Design Review conference 2011

Introduction

The world is changing rapidly and London cannot afford to stand still. Globally, new design centres are emerging. Cities worldwide are investing big money in their design infrastructure. As David Kester of the Design Council said in his introduction to the London Design Review conference, the competition is fierce. Just as the global scene is changing, so is London itself. We are seeing seismic shifts in the economy and radical cuts to the funding of design education and of public services. In this new landscape we have to look at how we could do things differently. Thats the task the London Design Review set itself. On 25 January 2011 over 50 of the UKs very best practitioners, thinkers and influencers came together at the British Library to examine where we stand and where we, collectively, should be heading. It says something of the emerging shared sense of purpose

that so many of the design worlds leading figures attended and contributed so thoughtfully and vividly to an intensely productive half day (see attendee list p11). You can read the edited results of that discussion in the following pages. We hope this is not another ponderous report that will lie on your desk, halfread. Its intended instead to lay out the core ideas that we need to think about if were going to move forward. We have tried to do justice to the depth of thought that emerged from across the whole design sector during that day, representing its voices and thoughts and clustering them around the four themes that people felt needed addressing. One of the issues raised was the need for the design sector to start acting and speaking with a collective voice. We hope the London Design Review is a step in that direction.

London Design Review

If were thinking in terms of the Festival of Britain, that was part of a really long term plan. Thats the kind of thinking we need when the world is really changing fast. All I find at the moment is that were batting the changes rather than looking to the future. Vicky Richardson Director, Design and Architecture, The British Council

There is a very strong view that we should demonstrate the value of design thinking to improve lives in London and our communities. There are good examples of successful social projects like The Deptford Project or the kind of work that is going on in Dalston at Making Space. London Design Festival discussion group

The design sector does not exist on its own. We need to think about how we fit within the creative industries sector. Were very important to it but its very important to us. Sir John Sorrell Chairman, London Design Festival
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The British Pavilion in the Shanghai Expo was a good example of how great design can make an enormous impact. But it was also, depressingly, a lesson in how little that is still understood across government, and I think theres a huge amount of work to be done there. Sir Mark Jones Director, Victoria & Albert Museum

Its actually impossible for us to employ young talented people. We project-manage out creativity through a competitive process. I was a judge on a competition about one of the biggest public spaces in London and it was absolutely impossible for most creative designers to make that list. Sarah Gaventa Director, CABE Space

If we are evaluating the future of British design, more than anything we need to review whats happening in the education space. That for me is a number one priority. If we fail at that we have no design future in this country. Neville Brody
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Editorial Jeremy Myerson

Editorial

Jeremy Myerson Chair, London Design Review

There are plenty of well-rehearsed reasons to crown London as the global mothership of design. Its one of the worlds great design capitals with a reputation that is simply unassailableit boasts the kind of creative heritage, business infrastructure and cultural environment to see off even the most determined competitors... so on and so forth. But when more than 50 of the movers and shakers on the London design scene met in January 2011 to take the pulse of London as a world design city, the mosaic of views and ideas that emerged from the London Design Review created a picture of transition and change, of tension and challenge. For all its inherent strengths and relaxed self-assurance, Londons status as a world design capital is

now under siege. That threat is not just external in the swarm of ambitious cities worldwide launching their own design festivals to emulate and rival the London Design Festival internal political shifts in funding and focus also have the potential to inadvertently knock London off its design perch. The London Design Review was hosted by the British Library, whose intellectual property assets constitute one of the citys design strengths, and sponsored by the Design Council, which has recently been through its own review as it reshapes once more to fit changing contexts. Ahead of the event, the London Design Festival organizer of the London Design Review conducted an online poll among members of the capitals design community. More than 100 people took part and the results were pretty positive. More than 90 per cent believed that London can maintain its global creative status; a whopping 93 per cent thought the capitals rich cultural mix makes London a great place to develop new ideas; and
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Editorial Jeremy Myerson

more than 70 per cent thought London has the right infrastructure for creative businesses to thrive. But there was an underlying warning in the research as nearly 40 per cent described themselves as pessimistic about the prospects for their design business over the next 12 months. This idea that there could be a rocky road for London to travel in the short term at least and that deep cultural strengths could begin to be undermined by infrastructural deficiencies was picked up by participants at the London Design Review. The event comprised a mix of short keynote talks, panel discussions, breakout workshops and an address by Ed Vaizey MP, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries. From my perspective as chair of the event, four pressing themes emerged to present four different faces of London. The first theme describes London as a series of interlocking and overlapping creative communities, dynamically shifting and regrouping. In this picture, design sits at the leading and bleeding edges of fashion, film, architecture, engineering, urban planning, retail display, visual, performing and digital arts. Design is

What makes London work is its ecology of schools that attract bright students, a design world in which they can find work afterwards, places where they can live reasonably economically, and great museums and media. The underpinning for all that is the schools. Its clear that our design education in Britain is not what it once was. It has been industrialised. I think that is a long term threat. Deyan Sudjic Director, The Design Museum

not simply a professional or commercial practice but part of the rich creative culture of London and more should be done to share and interact with other creative disciplines through big new ideas and initiatives. The second theme reveals London as having a fragile creative pipeline. The picture here is that we may possess some of the traditional crown jewels of design in our design schools, consultancies, public institutions and professional bodies, but dark shadows are looming. Cutbacks in higher education funding for arts and humanities subjects threaten studiobased teaching at undergraduate level as well as the postgraduate design research base. Loss of public subsidies, incentives and investment for new design entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses will make gaining a foothold in London all that more precarious. More needs to be done to protect and champion that creative pipeline. The third theme focuses on London as a centre for design business and the extent to which the commercial environment is under pressure. The London Design Review drew attention to the unnecessary bureaucracy that prevents many designers from bidding for large public sector contracts and the lack of affordable studio space and housing that threatens to trigger a creative brain drain from the capital. London is already one of the worlds most expensive cities in which to live and work. Weve seen the cuts where is the growth strategy for London? In particular, where is the manufacturing base? More needs to be done to protect and nurture Londons design businesses. The fourth theme concentrates on some of the inherent contradictions in Londons openness as a world design capital. We educate our design competitors and welcome overseas companies to share our markets. We are supremely relaxed in our dealings with the rest of the world. But has this easy self-confidence spilled over
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into complacency? Shouldnt London do more to communicate its design strengths and be more persuasive as an advocate on behalf on its own community? Perhaps London needs to be more competitive to protect its status and big new ideas are needed to help it do that like finding a design equivalent of the carbon footprint to make people really sit up and take notice. I came away for the London Design Review, having heard firsthand about so many of the capitals design projects and events, with renewed faith in London as a great place to practice, make, sell, write about and curate design. Bette Midler once famously said: When its 3 oclock in New York, its 1938 in London. You cant make that accusation about London today. Its design transformation over the past 15 years has been remarkable. But gains hard won can easily be squandered; intellectual capital painstakingly built up can be swiftly lost. The London design community needs to be extra vigilant and as Ed

Vaizey pointed out not rely on lashings of government cash to maintain its position. Its organizers would like the London Design Review to become an annual event so that we take the capitals design temperature every year. That would surely be a start in making sure there is an integrated strategy in place to move London forward and the A List participants in the Review form a readymade network to shape something substantial. Lets get working. Jeremy Myerson is Director and Chair of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Royal College of Art

Design isnt just one of the creative industries, but the thread that runs through them from fashion to video games and film production. From Thomas Heatherwicks award winning design for the British Pavilion at Shanghai Expo in 2010, to Jonathan Ive, designer of the iPad; British design talent is famous across the world. The UK Design industry will be key for the stimulation of innovation, and growth across the economy and in helping us to tackle global challenges like climate change and helping industry unlock the value of new technologies. Ed Vaizey Minister for Communications, Culture and Creative Industries
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We have to acknowledge that designers are reliant on business [and] that design is not counter to manufacturing and industry and all those things that people used to say were old fashioned. Rather, its part of those things as well. Munira Mirza Director of Policy for Arts, Culture and the Creative Industries, The Mayors Office

We would love to see a commitment to the simplification of the buying process for design in the UK. Just tackling that one issue would open up a level of creativity in the public sector that weve never seen before. Deborah Dawton Chief Executive, Design Business Association

If one thing needs redesigning right now its quite a big section of the public sector, which most designers would love to be involved with. But try to fill out the forms you need to tender for public sector work. If youve never attempted to fill out one of these forms then do try it. And then imagine what its like being a new business out of Uni trying to do it. Theyre thinking, How the hell could I compete with the big boys? Wayne Hemingway Hemingway Design

London Design Review

Things We Can Do

Things We Can Do

What was impressive about the first meeting London Design Review was how quickly a shared sense the issues facing London emerged. There was also a shared sense that this should be more than just a talking shop. With that in mind our discussions suggested ten clear areas for action, providing a backbone for future work for us collectively. Have your say on the London Design Review website www.londondesignreview.com Sharing and interacting 1. The diverse sectors of the design industry must find a way to speak with one voice. 2. End immigration restrictions that prevent talent from staying in the UK. Protecting the creative pipeline 3. Make sense of British design education 4. Find ways of making more affordable business and retail space in Design business support 5. Create new types of design apprenticeships opportunities with British manufacturing companies. 6. Encourage the government to lead by example. 7. Make it easier for small design businesses to tender especially for local authority work. Communicating designs strengths 8. Communicate design ideas more effectively. 9. Use the London Design Festival as a showcase for excellence. 10. Find ways to challenge the financial sector to invest in the creative industries.

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Attendees

Mike Abrahams, Curator, Designer Breakfasts, Abrahams Toby Anstruther, Chairman, South Kensington Estates Zeev Aram, Aram Jocelyn Bailey, Group Manager, Parliamentary Design Group Ingrid Baron, Managing Director, IDEO London Peter Bishop, Director, Design, Development & Environment, London Development Agency Alice Black, Deputy Director, Design Museum Matthew Blades, Senior Projects Officer, City Planning, Westminster City Council Iwona Blazwick, Director, Whitechapel Art Gallery Dame Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive, British Library Neville Brody, Research Studios Patricia Brown, Director, Central Tom Campbell, Culture Team, Mayors Office, Greater London Authority Emily Campbell, Director of Design, RSA Nigel Campbell, Head of Communications, Design Council Jenni Carbins, Business Development, London Design Festival Nigel Carrington, Rector, University of the Arts, London Tony Chambers, Editor-in-Chief, Wallpaper* Naomi Cleaver, Naomi Cleaver Ltd Nigel Coates, Professor of Architecture, Royal College of Art Louise Conolly-Smith, Senior Partnership Manager, Design Council Sebastian Conran, Director, Sebastian Conran Associates Sonja Dahl, Design Associate Manager, Design Council Deborah Dawton, Chief Executive, Design Business Association Gus Desbarats, Chairman, British Design Innovation Judy Dobias, Managing Director, Camron PR Angie Dutton, Enterprise Co-ordinator, Cardiff School of Art & Design, UWIC Ben Evans, Director, London Design Festival Dieneke Fergurson, Chief Executive, Hidden Art Max Fraser, Editor, London Design Guide Sarah Gaventa, Director, CABE Space CABE Grant Gibson, Editor, Crafts Magazine Wayne Hemingway, Hemingway Design Melanie Howard, Executive Chairman, Future Foundation John Hunter, Head of Design, Transport for London Sarah Ichioka, Director, Architecture Foundation Prof Clare Johnston, Head of Textiles, Royal College of Art Sir Mark Jones, Director, Victoria & Albert Museum David Kester, Chief Executive, Design Council William Knight, Deputy Director, London Design Festival Amanda Levete, Managing Partner, Amanda Levete Architects Robin Levien, RDI, Studio Levien Christine Losecaat, Little Dipper Limited Gwyn Miles, Director, Somerset House Trust Munira Mirza, Director of Policy for Arts, Mayors Office, Greater London Authority Rebecca Molina, Director, Studio Raw Lesley Morris, Head of Design Skills, Design Council Olwen Moseley, Festival Director, Cardiff Design Festival Prof Jeremy Myerson, Director, Royal College of Art Helen Hamlyn Centre Tim OKennedy, Chief Executive, D&AD Isobel Oswell, Head of Business Marketing, British Library Kati Price, Managing Editor, Design Council Tess Raine, Online Content Editor, Design Council Lynda Relph-Knight, Editor, Design Week Vicky Richardson, Director - Design & Architecture Department, British Council Dr Bernie Rickinson, Chief Executive, Institute of Materials Weronika Rochacka, Design Skills - Project Manager, Design Council Caroline Rush, Chief Executive (Joint), British Fashion Council Libby Sellers, Gallery Libby Sellers William Shaw, Digital Content Manager, London Design Festival John Simmons, 26 Justine Simons, Head of Cultural Strategy, Mayors Office, Greater London Authority Saskia Sissons, Media & Public Relations Manager, Design Council Sir John Sorrell, Chairman, London Design Festival Prof Penny Spark, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise), Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture Deyan Sudjic, Director, Design Museum Prof Bruce Tether, Professor of Design & Innovation, Imperial College London Michael Thomson, Design Connect Suzanne Trocme, London Design Festival Sir John Tusa, Chairman, University of the Arts, London Gareth Williams, Senior Tutor, Product Design, Royal College of Art Michael Wolff, Michael Wolff & Company David Worthington, Chairman, Lloyd Northover Group Peter York, Chairman, SRU Ltd

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The London Design Review is organised by the London Design Festival, sponsored by the Design Council and hosted by the British Library