Can You Buy Design?
Pop quiz: who has the largest design agency on the West Coast of the United States? Landor? Pentagram? POSSIBLE? Would you believe Apple? And the second largest probably belongs to Google.
In fact, corporations have been snapping up designers and design firms in droves recently. A few weeks ago, Facebook bought Teehan + Lax. Earlier, Accenture acquired Fjord. Pandora has a 90 person creative department. IBM dwarfs that with 1,000. Barclays is reported to be the largest employer of designers in London. What gives?
If you ask the companies, the usual answer is that businesses have come to understand that design is a central pillar to their success. They need to integrate design as a core element in their strategy, not as an afterthought. And do so, they’re buying leading design firms and hoping to infuse their original organizations with this new way of thinking.
No one would doubt that design is a critical discipline, but that brings up an important question: Can you buy design?
By this, I don’t mean, “Can corporations purchase design services?” That goes without saying. I’m also not questioning whether they can foster great design from inside. They obviously can, and especially product design. Apple’s Industrial Design Group alone pretty much proves that. Many successful automotive companies also make the point.
But many firms that are buying design today really aren’t integrating it as a core element. Accenture’s Fjord kept its own clients. Jawbone recently added Yves Behar as its chief creative officer. Nonetheless, Behar still helms his own design firm, which makes you wonder what his “hiring” actually means.
When it comes to agency-style design, the question is murkier still. Buying and integrating a digital team is no easy matter. That kind of design is not a commodity. It’s not merely a skillset, it’s a mindset: a way of thinking that’s quite different from ordinary. To add that kind of design, corporations have to realize there are no shortcuts. Here’s why:
Design is a cultural phenomenon
You might think that design relies solely in the talents or brilliance of an individual designer. In fact, design is a team sport—and requires a culture that supports it. Digital in particular requires a very collaborative effort, where big egos and strict hierarchy doesn’t work. Your best ideas can come from everywhere, and you need a culture that supports that.
Culture is built not bought
Many companies have fostered great cultures of design. But that requires a commitment to doing so. You have to make creativity a core goal of your organization, and organize hierarchies and structures around it. Design doesn’t happen in a cubicle farm. It happens when people are inspired.
A culture of design and creativity is not perfect for all organizations. Some companies need hierarchy or respect for specific areas of expertise. You might need people always at their desks. That requires a different kind of culture with different priorities. In those cases, there’s nothing wrong with hiring consultants to help you deal with your design needs.
Variety is the spice of design life
If I told every new hire that they would be working with one set of brand guidelines for their entire career with us, many would walk. Variety is a central challenge that corporations have in buying design. Good agencies routinely rotate creatives on and off accounts. They can give them slightly different roles and tasks. They don’t do this simply to keep their employees happy, it actually improves the quality of work. If you’ve been working non-stop on an automotive brand too long, you’ll start to burn out. To succeed, corporations will have to create structures that allow for variety and movement.
Inspiration requires investment
Good agencies are always on the pulse beat of culture. They typically sponsor weekly presentations by staff members where they share what they’ve seen that’s cool. They also give people a little me-time to explore the world at large. Any company that wanted to support a creative culture would need to start thinking about sharing and enrichment.
Conclusion
Put simply, design is not for sale. It’s something that you nurture, foster, and build. It comes out of years of strategic planning and commitment to creative excellence. If you simply buy a design firm, you won’t get your money’s worth. Your new designers will clash with the culture you already have and likely founder as a result. Instead, smarter companies will recognize that design is a much longer term challenge, one that requires considerable patience and investment. It can happen, but it can’t happen overnight.
You can follow Shane on Twitter here.
Illustration credit: @tomo77
Director at HPGC Pvt Ltd , Associate consultant with Arete Solutions Pte Ltd & Arete Solutions Sdn Bhd.
10 年Hi Shane Agree 100% with you on this. We at ERnD Solutions share your thoughts and have been harping this to our clients to no end. And we are also talking about 'Service Design' and not Product alone.
Executive Creative Director @ Sleek Machine | Creative&Technology
10 年This is really intriguing because almost all agency digital and some traditional creatives have been approached to go "client side". The draw is better money and stability and in most cases you're not working for a services company (usually product or fin serv). The drawback is the monotony of working on the same subject matter day in and day out and the eventual "working in a vaccum" effect that eats at the soul of the creative person. Let alone the dramatic cultural shift. So as crazy as it sounds, most creatives are willing to endure the fisscal unpredictability of agency life for the sake of their books and the right culture.
DRIVE BUSINESS GROWTH. I help businesses accelerate growth by Managing Experiences like a Business. | Strategy | Research & Insights | Innovation Design | Change | Customer Value → Business Value → REVENUE GROWTH!
10 年Is design really “a cultural phenomenon” as suggested herein? Maybe Shane is on to something, so listen carefully. We know culture is important. And for those attuned to culture as a competitive point of differentiation, you’ve likely come across Peter Drucker’s reputable quote “Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast.” Indeed, culture is the kind of stuff that gives people a meaningful purpose. It’s why employees will believe in the vision, mission, and will live the values of the company. Furthermore, company culture can be consciously engineered. And design can be a powerful expression of a company’s culture. However, when the company culture, and design culture diverge, weird things can happen. Let’s take Windows 8 as an example. A cult of designers left millions of habituated Windows users at a loss. In reckless disregard, Windows 8 designers failed to meet users where they were at. Contrast this experience with Apple, or Google. With respect to Shane’s post, allow me to add the following: culture is about the company. Design is an honest expression of that culture. Express the company’s culture honestly through design and you’ll get an honest echo from the market. Otherwise, you could get noise at best, or Windows 8, or even worse.
Zoning & Planning Administrator/ MS4 at Municipality in Allegheny County
10 年"Some companies need hierarchy or respect for specific areas of expertise. You might need people always at their desks. That requires a different kind of culture with different priorities. In those cases, there’s nothing wrong with hiring consultants to help you deal with your design needs." The current market proves this statement to be correct.