World Design Survey - South African Findings Released

World Design Survey: South African Findings Released

The International Design Alliance (IDA) has recently released the South African findings for the World Design Survey pilot project.

The World Design Survey aims to map the generic design sector in 12 countries (or economic development communities) as a pilot project to determine the contribution of the design economy and the level of strategic engagement of design as a socio-economic and cultural developmental imperative at governmental level.

download: World Design Survey Report.pdf (4MB)

The South African contribution to the pilot was a collaborative effort between five of South Africa's most prominent organisations engaged in design promotion and profession management - the SABS Design Institute (DI), Design Education Forum of Southern Africa (DEFSA), Industrial Design Association of South Africa (IdeaSA), Institute of Interior Design Professions (IID) and the South African Communication Design Council (think).

To reach the overall objectives of the study, namely to develop an understanding of the national design economy, design's strengths and contributions to the national economy and design's socio-cultural contribution to development, a two-tired approach to data collection was used. Telephonic and in-depth interviews were used to gather descriptive (primary research) data using a somewhat altered baseline questionnaire. Data gathered in this way was enriched with secondary data gathered during an exploratory (secondary research) phase.

Disciplines included in the study were limited to communication design; motion graphics, animation and new media design; industrial design (including glass and ceramics); interior design; and multidisciplinary design (i.e. eventing and architects working as furniture designers).

In general the research indicated that the current level of design and designers in South Africa is healthy but there are some serious concerns about the future - especially in terms of educational output, the lack of concern for intellectual property rights, the lack of coordination and the absence of a 'champion' from the side of government.

  • Last updated
  • 148,420 impressions, 20,911 clicks