The value of Good Design
Not so long ago I started listening to the back catalogue of Adrian Shaughnessy’s radio show Graphic Design on the Radio. One of my favourite guests was Pentagrams’ Angus Hyland. A charming and self-effacing man who has had a remarkable design career to date. When discussing Pentagram’s background, Adrian brought up the fact that Pentagram were charging £90 an hour when it was set-up in nineteen seventy two. I must admit, I was surprised that they commanded such a fee back then but as Angus goes on to explain, the original Pentagram partners raised the bar for design, took it to the boardroom and promoted the importance and value of good design.
All sounds positive, and rightly so, but what value do we in contemporary Ireland place on good design? If you go to any design studio’s website today, they claim high standards of excellence in design. But how many deliver on their promise? A short time ago we were asked to tender for two projects; a large identity and annual report. Both times we were beaten on price. Fine by me, I’m all for competition. I would rather be judged on talent than price but in tough times, a lot of clients may opt for the lowest cost. The same studio beat us to both jobs and each time for less than half of our price and still with the promise to maintain high levels of design excellence for their clients.
This seems like an impossible task to me. A case of style over content perhaps. Good design doesn’t happen in half the time and at a quarter of the price. It needs time and good client relationship. Given this, design can transform any business for the better, adding value, confidence and longevity. In the third issue of Kevin Finn’s Open Manifesto, Quentin Newark deliberately echos the Bauhaus movement by discussing how design is of the highest importance and how it can be a part of forging a new and better world. This is what we, as designers are driven by, design that can make a difference. The Design Council in the UK believe that design is the process that links creativity and innovation. They understand that businesses must enhance their value by creating innovative products and services instead of cutting prices.
We need to place more value on design in Ireland and understand how much it can improve society both culturally and economically.
Bob Gray
Design Director
August 2009
