Why don’t they teach economics in design courses? I guess it’s because many in the design community don’t make the connection between design and economics.

How many times have you heard a client say that? They have talked to their partner (life and business), talked to some clients and prepared a brief in their head. Now it is just a matter of getting the job done.

There has been much recent social media comment about the branding of the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI).
The new brand was developed by a UK firm after a tender process.

We’re appalled at the federal budget and the lack of help for SME businesses – especially those not employing. We think we can help.

We talk to a lot of designers and many want to talk about their price sensitive clients. How much will it cost is a question often asked early in a client/designer discussion. Here’s what to say…

I thank you. Working with great clients on interesting projects is the best feeling in the world. I love building a relationship, working together to achieve a common goal and then celebrating the rollout. But after that last deliverable is, well, delivered, the last communication between a designer and a client is usually the account: [...]

How designers are disrupting - themselves After three years of working with more than 100 design studios I've developed an understanding of how designers grow their business through disruption. If you want to learn more about disrupting your business you can use the Design Business Model section of The Business of Design. The Designing Demand [...]

What to look for in a partner. Running any business solo is tough. Running a design business solo has to be one of the toughest. It requires two distinct parts of the brain: a business brain and a creative brain shoved into the one head. While that’s far from impossible, it’s difficult to have both [...]

Design Business Council - the year in review 2016 is the 11th year of operation for the DBC. Founded in 2005 it aimed to; 1. Raise the professional practice of designers by assisting studios by developing business skills. 2. Generate more use of design by all Australian companies through direct promotion of design value case [...]

What is your onlyness? The term onlyness was invented by Nilofer Merchant, an author, and leading authority on creating business strategy to achieve success. Nilofer has honed her unique, collaborative approach to solving tough problems while working with and for companies including Adobe, Apple, Nokia, and HP. This is how she described coming up with [...]

Love my work but don’t want to do the same in five years This is a phrase I constantly hear in my work with design studio owners. Most are studios that have been in business anywhere between five and fifteen years. They have five to twenty staff and are showing good profits. They are constantly working [...]