September 30, 2008 8:45 AM
Design West Michigan goal: Build regional economy
By Jacob Himmelspach
Grand Rapids Business Journal
Grand Rapids Business Journal
GRAND RAPIDS -- West Michigan is taking a page from author Daniel H. Pink’s prediction that a “design-focused” movement is taking hold nationwide.
Design West Michigan is helping that movement grow on three fronts: nationally branding West Michigan as “design-centric”; linking designers in all design fields, as well as those who need design services; and educating “non-designers on design thinking.”
To reach that third goal, Design West Michigan held a pilot two-day Business Academy in July at Kendall College of Art & Design.
The intent was simply to help people think with a design philosophy in order to positively impact their organizations as well as the regional economy. Kendall also awarded CEU credits for the class.
“West Michigan is doing what other regions no doubt will be doing soon: developing design education for businesspeople who aren’t designers,” said Pink, whose latest book, A Whole New Mind, describes the design movement. “The piloting of a business academy is a wise and savvy move to support economic development.”
Design West Michigan was formed as part of the InnovationWorks/WIRED initiative. The group is charged with determining what role design plays in the economic development of West Michigan and fostering education about that role.
John Berry, a consultant with Greystone Global, chairs Design West Michigan.
Berry said he was excited about the idea of connecting all professions of design in all industries. A major gathering of design professionals was held June 23 at Haworth headquarters in Holland, the latest effort of the group to coalesce the varied design efforts.
“So now we’re talking graphic, industrial, architectural, interior, landscape, fashion, digital interactive media, design engineering — all those disciplines that basically have degrees attached to them.”
Berry pursued the concept by talking to the heads of design at Steelcase, Haworth and Herman Miller, as well as other contacts in the industry and garnering support to help bring together a creative synergy and generate the awareness that West Michigan is a creative community. The people Berry spoke with felt the growth of awareness and connections within the creative community would help “continuously raise the bar and attract and retain talented people.”
The 42-member advisory group was formed, with members from multiple disciplines who are everything from recent college graduates to senior vice presidents responsible for design and development for major companies.
“We had our first meeting to begin to understand what the concept of Design West Michigan was,” said Berry. “The concept here was to see how design could be recognized as an economic building block; see if we could become advocates of design, establish a value on design; begin to connect different design disciplines; and begin to see how we might, in effect, become an educational arm on design for non-designers.”
Out of the brainstorming, the group decided to focus on education and the Business Academy was born.
Initial funding for the academy came from WIRED funds, but Berry said those funds will run out soon. Design West Michigan plans to sustain the academy through tuition.
Berry also formed a national advisory group within colleges, universities and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
“What I was doing with that was confirming that what we were doing wasn’t being done anywhere else in the country,” said Berry. “I got that confirmation, and they’ve given me good input along the way. One of them was when we started talking about West Michigan as a center of design excellence, they said, ‘That’s a mistake. West Michigan isn’t the center of design excellence. There are centers of design excellence in little pockets all over the world. But if you think of the term design-centric, now you’re talking about an attitude of companies and individuals where design is important.’“
Design West Michigan is helping that movement grow on three fronts: nationally branding West Michigan as “design-centric”; linking designers in all design fields, as well as those who need design services; and educating “non-designers on design thinking.”
To reach that third goal, Design West Michigan held a pilot two-day Business Academy in July at Kendall College of Art & Design.
The intent was simply to help people think with a design philosophy in order to positively impact their organizations as well as the regional economy. Kendall also awarded CEU credits for the class.
“West Michigan is doing what other regions no doubt will be doing soon: developing design education for businesspeople who aren’t designers,” said Pink, whose latest book, A Whole New Mind, describes the design movement. “The piloting of a business academy is a wise and savvy move to support economic development.”
Design West Michigan was formed as part of the InnovationWorks/WIRED initiative. The group is charged with determining what role design plays in the economic development of West Michigan and fostering education about that role.
John Berry, a consultant with Greystone Global, chairs Design West Michigan.
Berry said he was excited about the idea of connecting all professions of design in all industries. A major gathering of design professionals was held June 23 at Haworth headquarters in Holland, the latest effort of the group to coalesce the varied design efforts.
“So now we’re talking graphic, industrial, architectural, interior, landscape, fashion, digital interactive media, design engineering — all those disciplines that basically have degrees attached to them.”
Berry pursued the concept by talking to the heads of design at Steelcase, Haworth and Herman Miller, as well as other contacts in the industry and garnering support to help bring together a creative synergy and generate the awareness that West Michigan is a creative community. The people Berry spoke with felt the growth of awareness and connections within the creative community would help “continuously raise the bar and attract and retain talented people.”
The 42-member advisory group was formed, with members from multiple disciplines who are everything from recent college graduates to senior vice presidents responsible for design and development for major companies.
“We had our first meeting to begin to understand what the concept of Design West Michigan was,” said Berry. “The concept here was to see how design could be recognized as an economic building block; see if we could become advocates of design, establish a value on design; begin to connect different design disciplines; and begin to see how we might, in effect, become an educational arm on design for non-designers.”
Out of the brainstorming, the group decided to focus on education and the Business Academy was born.
Initial funding for the academy came from WIRED funds, but Berry said those funds will run out soon. Design West Michigan plans to sustain the academy through tuition.
Berry also formed a national advisory group within colleges, universities and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
“What I was doing with that was confirming that what we were doing wasn’t being done anywhere else in the country,” said Berry. “I got that confirmation, and they’ve given me good input along the way. One of them was when we started talking about West Michigan as a center of design excellence, they said, ‘That’s a mistake. West Michigan isn’t the center of design excellence. There are centers of design excellence in little pockets all over the world. But if you think of the term design-centric, now you’re talking about an attitude of companies and individuals where design is important.’“
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