HOW'S BUSINESS? DESIGN FIRMS ABROAD DISCUSS THEIR PRACTICE

My father, a traveling salesman, used to say, "How's business?" It
was his typical greeting regarding both business and life in general,
and like "Comment ca va?" effectively prompted an immediate, telling
response. After interviewing U.S. design offices that work
internationally for my article "Going Global" (CA Nov. 2002), I was
curious about their counterparts around the world, especially in less
developed markets. I have not included European countries here because
culturally they are more familiar to us, but reports indicate that they
are suffering from the same economic recession that we are. What is it
like to manage a graphic design practice in countries like India,
Taiwan or South Africa? How do designers in the Philippines or Israel
develop new business? I wanted to know what problems and opportunities
are unique to each country and, in today's problematic world economy,
"How's business?"
When we see the published work of
designers from abroad we rarely consider the cultural and business
environment where it originates. Apart from the distinctly different
languages and vernacular styles, there are serious problems and
restrictions that affect designers in ways that may be surprising to
us. Consider the many advantages American designers have over those in
developing countries, particularly our strong design organizations that
lend support and guidance to the profession. Our design school students
can join groups early and transition into the job market having seen
major designer leaders present work at local meetings and national
gatherings. This stimulating and collegial network is an ongoing
educational experience. In the United States we have 5 major design
magazines, numerous competitions, conferences, workshops and seminars
throughout the year. Imagine what it would be like not to have any of
this available for designers.
As a profession global
acceptance of graphic design is slow and many design schools abroad
focus more on technical proficiency in programs like CorelDraw and
Photoshop rather than graphic design, yet the graduates are considered
to be designers. The quality of the work, without a basic understanding
of communication and process, reflects this deficiency, and firms
complain that it is hard to find good staff people. Although the
Internet allows designers everywhere to see work produced around the
world, this is not a comparable substitute. This virtual awareness has
created frustration for graphic designers, often educated in the United
States, who find their own practice less respected than that of
advertising agencies already well established in their country. In the
U.S. in the 50's and 60's design "studios" existed primarily to produce
work through ad agencies. It was only later that they managed to become
independent and stopped referring to themselves as "studios". While
advertising is considered necessary to a mass consumer society, graphic
design is still seen as a luxury for the few in most of the developing
world. In my interviews I am able to identify the more sophisticated
offices by their language and references to currently popular phrases
like "branding", "value-added design" and "strategic management tool".
But many young design firms that still are service-only businesses have
not yet learned how to also be strategists and planners. A further
indication of the less marketing-driven firms is that when asked how
they found new clients, many designers said, "Referral", which in our
country is considered to be a rather passive approach to business
development.
Originally I expected to find designers
abroad distinctly different, with particular cultural customs like the
client entertainment ritual in Asia or certain regional taboos relating
to color, language or graphic images. For example, in India black is
inauspicious, while white is often the color of mourning. But I
discovered that designers everywhere are more alike than not, and
almost all complain about the fact that nobody understands or
appreciates what designers do. Sound familiar? Whatever the language or
languages a graphic designer deals with, his business concerns are the
same universally staffing, new business development, marketing, client
relationships and profitability in a difficult global economy.
SOUTH AFRICA
Of
all of the countries interviewed, only designers in South Africa have
reported that business is good. According to Jacques Lange of
Pretoria-based Blueprint Design, "The current South African economy is
quite stable and most companies are doing well. Small design studio
business is growing due to a globalized, technology-driven economy and
our changing socio-political picture. We also have the competitive
advantage in generating foreign business during the recession in Europe
and the U.S. because of our weaker currency value. We can design, print
and ship projects to an American client for 1/7th of their cost. Some
years ago we were in the opposite situation with major South African
clients only hiring foreign design firms. They paid a high price for
these imported services and finally realized that there was little or
no difference in the results." 10 years ago Blueprint Design also
assumed the role of educator by providing mentorship and training
services in response to a government affirmative action initiative. The
firm assists client companies with informal learning programs for newly
hired marketing and communications department design buyers and
additional client workshops are conducted on the principles of visual
communication. Their clients include financial services, government
departments and tourism as well as aviation and technology, and they
work with the UN in the field of AIDS and population development. With
their mentorship initiative, Blueprint's outreach program has created a
network of dedicated clients and continuous referrals.
KOREA
The
process of developing from a "shop" into a "firm" depends on many
things, and design talent is not always the primary factor. Business
and marketing skills, the ability to communicate corporate strategies
both visually and verbally and a more comprehensive understanding of
business are attributes that set one firm apart from the local
competition. For a fortunate designer like Don Chang in Seoul, merging
with Interbrand, a large multi-national consultancy was a shortcut to
his success. As Interbrand DC&A, the office has enjoyed increased
visibility and stature with a threefold increase in sales since the
merger 4 years ago, and clients include the top 100 multi-national
Korean companies such as Hyundai Motors, GM Daewoo and Samsung. The
firm offers brand strategy, naming and valuation in addition to brand
and corporate identity. Like Lange in South Africa, Chang sees
education as an important way of gaining client support, cooperation
and better-trained staff designers. "We do seminars, workshops and
conduct brand forums as well as advertise in design magazines and
through our web site. "He adds, "Our future plans include the
publication of several books on brand strategy and identity work. I am
also serving as Department Chairman and became a professor of branding
and design management at Hongik University in 2000."
INDIA
In
Mumbai, India (formerly Bombay) Elephant Design has developed a
sophisticated multi-disciplinary practice with a staff of 50 designers,
architects and planners, offering graphic, product, packaging, interior
and exhibit design as well as consulting. A member of Design Alliance,
a consortium of design consultancies in 10 Asian countries, principal
Sudhir Sharma believes that Elephant is well positioned to source work
throughout Asia. "Since we have considerable experience in brand design
for the banking industry, we were able to help another Design Alliance
partner pitch bank projects in his country." Sharma believes in the
importance of high visibility as a marketing strategy. "We promote
ourselves by lecturing at seminars, writing articles about our
projects, and are often interviewed as representatives of the design
industry. Recently we participated in the recent Indian Color
Prediction held in Mumbai. Unlike the U.S., we find less pressure from
competition here because design has not yet reached a high point in our
country. We anticipate a lot of growth and look forward to bigger and
better projects. "
Visual communication still lacks recognition in
India and designers who want to create a demand for their services must
separate their identity from advertising agencies that dominate the
field. Although English is the language that unifies the masses in
India and is most understood, every state is proud of their own
regional dialect (there are 22 official languages) and insists that it
be used on all signboards. With the introduction of international
companies with strong visual identities, Indian designers found that
they could no longer ignore the importance of marketing and brand
development. The first Indian design association Indian Graphic
Designers Forum (IGRAF) has been formed recently to educate the public
and raise the standards of design.
CANADA
Robert
Peters is an active member of Graphic Designers of Canada and Board
member and former President of Icograda. He is a passionate design
advocate, frequent writer and lecturer, and is a respected personality
among his peers. Peter's extensive travel has allowed him to develop a
network of important contacts throughout the world, and this
international presence serves as his primary marketing and promotional
program. His firm, Circle, is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. "Because
winters are long and cold here (and summers short and hot) many of the
decision-making executives take fishing, golfing and camping vacations.
This means that not many new projects are initiated until late August
or early September with, of course, very tight fall deadlines." Circle
is identified by its strong ethical concerns and values. In addition to
the usual client projects, the office does a considerable amount of
free and donated work and offers a special rate to non-profit
organizations. "Of prime importance to us is a good ethical fit with
the values of Circle, Peters explains. "We are moving toward a more
international context and in 1998 we formed 'co-design worldwide', a
coalition of similarly minded design firms on 5 continents. I believe
that designers as business people should not focus solely on the
artifacts we produce (logos, brochures and web sites) but on our
ability to successfully guide the strategic design process."
PHILIPPINES
Baby
Imperial-Anne studied in New York at Parsons School of Design and later
moved to Paris where she met and married Frenchman, Damien "Coco" Anne.
"We were both art directors working in the same advertising agency,
then we opened our own studio in Paris before moving to Manila and
forming B+C Design". Their work has an international outlook and a
distinctly European flavor. Their projects include fashion, food
retail, corporate, and healthcare as well as arts and cultural
institutions. "The Philippines is quite unusual in Asia because of many
influences following our Spanish colonization. We are the only
predominantly Catholic nation in the region. Our culture is a strange
mix; very Americanized, (most of the population speaks English) and
terribly Spanish regarding religion and machismo morality, with the
addition of Chinese and Malay ancestry". In this class-conscious
country, B+C Design finds its target market among the higher
socio-economic group that they find more sophisticated and open to
design. Anne-Imperial stresses,"Social connections are very important.
Your name and where you went to school has clout, so a lot of our
business is through references. Since Filipinos are extremely
hospitable, client entertainment and dining out is very much a part of
our business. Graphic design in the Philippines is still very seminal,
but the big challenge is to make design more than a commercial venture.
We want to use it to equalize and educate in a range of non-commercial
projects from the environment to socio-political and cultural
concerns."
ISRAEL
How
does the current unstable political climate affect a design practice in
Israel? In Tel Aviv, David Grossman who teaches at Shenkar University
and heads the firm Daedalus Design, describes the situation this way,
"The Israeli economy is extremely sensitive to political developments
and this creates a very volatile business atmosphere. Things change
quickly, which makes long term planning very difficult. We have been in
a serious recession for the past three years, but there are some signs
of improvement. When negotiations on some type of peace settlement
arrangement in Israel seem possible, the economy improves. When
progress begins, the extremists become concerned that real action might
be taken, and the danger of terror attacks increases. Terror attacks
stop the negotiations and we are back where we started. Besides the
political sensitivity, we have a small local economy, design is not
well understood and is undervalued, and we must deal with our own
particular culture. We work in Hebrew a language that is only used in
Israel and presents its own special typographical limitations. In our
small country design is not widely appreciated and underpaid, but in
spite of everything, our culture and design environment is active and
the level of quality is high. "
TAIWAN
"Design
is not a respectable industry in Taiwan," says Ben Wang, principal of
UP Creative Design & Advertising Co. in Taipei. "Clients here think
that commercial benefit comes only from a good product and that a good
package design is not important. Taiwan is not a 'free' country for
designers. Sometimes we must follow the will of the ruling political
party. For example, the color for our DDP party is green, so we cannot
use blue or orange for a DDP project because these are the colors of
the opposing parties. Ridiculous? Right, but that's Taiwan. Established
in 1988, UP Creative has a varied client list including Unilever, Dow
Corning, Reebok, W.L. Gore and American Express Bank Ltd. as well as
public enterprises. Wang considers UP as a specialist practice. New
business is generated from referrals and the UP web site. Wang shares
his professional experiences and thoughts in his publication, UP
Workshop, with information translated from foreign publications. He is
optimistic about the future, "Taiwan, with the same language and
culture as Mainland China, has easy access and unlimited opportunities.
As our initial step into the vast China market, we have opened a branch
office in Beijing."
The designers interviewed are mostly
all Friends or members of ICOGRADA, the international design
organization that has forged a connection within the global design
community and engages in an ongoing dialogue about mutual concerns. It
is this passionate commitment that will gradually improve conditions
for designers and design schools in developing countries everywhere.
For American members, this organization has given us an opportunity to
participate in this experience by attending ICOGRADA conferences and
teaching workshops, or simply sharing information by e-mail. Perhaps in
the future multi-national design teams will be created through such
relationships and collaborate on a variety of projects. It is my hope
that the American design community will become broader in its
perspective and more generously inclusive toward fellow design
practitioners throughout the world.
About this article
This article was originally published in the Jan/Feb 2004 issue of Communication Arts. Copyright 2003 All rights reserved, Reprinted by ICOGRADA with the permission of the author.
About Linda Cooper Bowen
Linda Cooper Bowen is a New York-based marketing consultant who writes on current design business issues for leading American design publications. She has taught at Pratt Institute and has been a guest lecturer in the U.S. and Canada. Her book, "The Graphic Designer's Guide to Creative Marketing" was published by John Wiley & Sons, and is available on Amazon.com. You are invited to meet her on her website.
About Communication Arts Magazine
Founded in 1959, Communication Arts is the leading trade journal for visual communications. It's the largest design magazine in the world and showcases the top work in graphic design, advertising, illustration, photography and interactive design. Each year includes eight issues of creative excellence. The magazine has an audited paid circulation of 74,834.