This November, leaders representing the major U.S. professional design organizations, design education accreditation organizations, and Federal government design assembled in Washington, D.C., to develop a blueprint for a U.S. national design policy. Richard Grefe, AIGA executive director, was in attendance to represent AIGA's members and the design community at large.
Process
United by a shared vision of design's integral role in the U.S.'s economic competitiveness and democratic governance, the group developed more than:
70 proposals to support design promotion for economic competitiveness
40 proposals to support innovation policy for economic competitiveness
60 proposals to support design standards for democratic governance
80 proposals to support policy as designed (i.e., the role of design in the formation, understanding and implementation of policy) for democratic governance
The group ranked proposals by their value to the American people and design communities as well as their operational and political feasibility. Brad McConnell, economic adviser in the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durban, of Illinois, helped the group determine political feasibility within the context of President-elect Barack Obama's incoming administration.
Outcome
The group concluded the Summit with the proposal of several immediate action steps for developing a U.S. national design policy:
1. Re-establish the American Design Council to serve as a unified body representing all U.S. design fields. The "American Design Council" is a name for which AIGA holds the trademark and will be revitalized as a collective voice for the design community.
2. Create a report of the Summit as the first publication of the American Design Council.
3. Seek support to develop a U.S. version of the British HM Treasury Cox Review on the contribution of creative industries to the British economy.
4. Encourage and support the NEA in proposing a U.S. National Design Assembly in 2010 and Federal Design Improvement Program in 2011, similar to the activities to revitalize federal design standards and implementation in the 1970s.
5. Develop at least one case study from each design field that uses both effective storytelling and triple bottom-line metrics (economic, social and environmental impact) to demonstrate the value of design.
6. Invite captains of industry who demonstrate the value of design to provide testimonials and demonstrations of the value of design.
7. Propose a holistic design award encompassing all the design disciplines and supported by all the organizations that will represent the highest honor in American design, perhaps extending the frequency (from every 10 years to every year) and the prestige of the Presidential Design Awards.