Monday, June 30, 2008

A design policy for Europe? Design Wales take part in the discussion

The Innovation Policy Workshop – Design as a tool for Innovation took place on the 26th and 27th June in Marseille, France. About 20 people from different countries in Europe were invited to join this meeting, organised by the European Commission - INNO-Grips. The objective was to get a better view of how the use of design can help tackling the challenges encountered by European companies and society today and to come up with concrete proposals for European action in support of design. In support to the discussion, Gisele Raulik-Murphy, Design Wales researcher, was invited to attend the workshop and present results of her current studies on design policies around the world. Conclusions of this meeting will be edited by INNO-Grips into a report which will help during the public consultation for the need of a design policy on European level.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Design Wales has Visitors from Poland








Last week Design Wales received a delegation from Poznan in Poland. The group included the Vice Marshall of Poznan, university academics, a local entrepreneur and the president of the industrial design association in Poland. The group are part of a move to establish a design centre in Poznan.They have been travelling across Europe to examine different design centre models. They were welcomed by Gavin Cawood (Operational Director) and Gisele Raulik-Murphy (Senior Researcher) of Design Wales; and Darragh Murphy European Project Manager at PDR.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Design Wales Design Films

In Autumn 2007 Design Wales commissioned three films about Welsh businesses who use design strategically. 'Twice the Boat in Half the Time' describes how the effective use of design changed the fortunes of a boat yard in Wales, UK.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Design Wales' Design Matters Goes Online









Design Wales' design magazine Design Matters has now gone online. In keeping with our eco ethic we have decided not to produce a print version of the magazine just an online one.

The new edition is a food industry special, featuring many great examples of good design and branding from food producers in Wales.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Design Wales presents Stefan Sagmeister












Stefan Sagmeister visited Cardiff last night on the end of his tour promoting his book 'Things That I have Learnt in My Life So Far' ... and how fantastic and inspirational his talk was!

Friday, June 6, 2008

Encouraging eco design and Stefan Sagmeister

Design Wales staff are all ex-designers but we are not allowed to design when we work here... but...it doesn't stop us talking about design...

Today we were quite taken with some bio-degradable flower pots. The pots are made from PAP 22 polymer which is fully compostible in a home composter. We are quite curious about how the material could be applied to other products... like food packaging.... as we advise quite alot of food producers about design...

We are all excited by the visit to Cardiff on Monday of Stefan Sagmeister. We are looking forward to what he has to say and how he is going to say it!