In the most recent quarter, AIGA's Design Leaders Confidence Index strengthened from 94.92 to 100.51.
Responses to this quarterly survey of more than 350 design leaders demonstrate continuing optimism within the design profession. Since the third quarter of 2009, the index has fluctuated in a range roughly between 90 and 105, after having dropped to 50 in the third quarter of 2008.
Only 9.5 percent of respondents believe the economy as a whole has worsened in the past six months, with slightly fewer (9.1 percent) estimating that the design economy was worse in September than it was in April. While only approximately 4 percent were wildly enthusiastic about the design or general economies (rating either of them as "substantially better"), there was a strong sense that business conditions had not weakened-or were better.
When looking ahead six months, 56 percent thought the general economy would improve and 59.7 percent thought design business would improve; 35.9 percent thought it would remain about the same and only 4.4 percent thought design business conditions would soften.
In terms of hiring and growth, 88 percent feel their likelihood of hiring additional staff is the same or better than it was three months ago; 88 percent believe their likelihood of investing in hardware and software is also the same or better.