One of my personal projects I thought I’d share with the world.

We’ve just joined Linkedin which is a networking website for business people. If you’re on Linkedin, you can add me and see my profile at www.linkedin.com/in/andycogdon

A great lecture from Stefan Sagmeister.

I was having a look on the Design Council’s website when I came across this very interesting article about the value of design in the current climate. If you are in business, this is an article I highly recommend you read!

http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/en/Case-Studies/All-Case-Studies/Design-in-a-downturn/

When times are tough and revenues are falling there may be a temptation for business to cut ‘discretionary’ budgets – money allocated to activities such as design, perhaps.

But design is a powerful tool in a downturn.

Our research shows that more than half of the UK’s businesses:

… are looking to design their way out of downturn. Over half (54%) of the firms in our survey thought design would contribute to a large or great extent in helping maintain their competitive edge in the current economic climate.

… think design is more important now. Similarly, 53% thought that design had become more important in helping the firm to achieve its business objectives over the last three years.

… think design is integral to the economic performance of the UK. The same number agreed or strongly agreed that design is integral to the country’s future economic performance.

To continue the article, click here.

I’ve recently been asked to join the board of CIN, the Creative Industries Network. Which is quite pleasant. My duties will involve:

- Helping to “forge the path of the local creative sector” (my words, not theirs)
- Organising events
- Writing about graphic design on the CIN blog
- Occasionally pointing out to people that “I am a board member you know”. But only when absolutely necessary.

I’m thrilled to have been asked and look forward to attending my first board meeting later this week.