I experienced ageism in our industry 15 years ago when some bright young (popular) designers declared me and some of my colleagues were too old to lead AGDA Victoria. Oh, and we weren’t well known enough.

With the assistance of the national executive we were voted out by a group of  these popular, ‘younger’ designers. They lasted a year.

They chose to ignore the fact that we had completely reshaped AGDA Victoria. We had more professional members than the rest of the country combined; we had a yearly calendar of events sponsored and announced in February each year, and we were flush with funds.

I only mention this because it came about through understanding what design business owners wanted. This was from years of observing and documenting the industry.

And that is the issue. You can’t get the years of experience without getting older.

Since co-founding the Design Business Council I’ve spent 15 years talking to designers on a daily basis. I learn something new from everyone of them and I have an accumulated knowledge that far exceeds anyone else in this field in Australia.

It comes from being 70 years of age.

Retirement?

No way. This year we will produce the inaugural Business of Design Week in Melbourne. A week of workshops that will help studio owners improve sustainability, productivity and profitability.

We have just completed ground breaking research into the Design Maturity of Australian businesses. Along with 10 of our colleagues we researched what it takes to be a design mature company. The research will be released in May and will round out similar research done by McKinsey, the UK Design Council and the Design Management Institute.

PS. I couldn’t have arrived at this point without the unswerving backing of Carol Mackay. She has collaborated with me all the way and is a major part of the success of the Design Business Council. Thanks Caz.