Wednesday, February 24, 2010

SEE invited to European Commission St David's Day celebrations in Brussels


1st of March is St David’s Day, the national day of Wales. In preparation for the celebrations, the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones AM hosted a reception in Brussels, at the Concert Noble, on the 22nd February.

Design Wales was invited by WEFO, the Welsh European Funding Office, to attend the reception presenting the SEE project. It was an opportunity to discuss the SEE project with Welsh government representatives and European Commission officials. 

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Brand Essentials, One-to-One workshops.




We continue to receive enquiries from individuals asking for advice and support about how to develop a brand.  To meet this demand we can now offer a half-day workshop tailored for and delivered to individual organisations to help them understand and manage the brand process – building their confidence to define their specific needs and get the most out of working with external design agencies. This impartial advice will help them make the most of the money they invest in what should be their most valuable asset – their brand.
The workshop includes:
  • A thorough introduction to the brand process.
  • Discussion on how to define your brand values in relation to the competition.
  • A framework for specifying your needs via a comprehensive brief.
  • Guidance on how to find, select and manage the most appropriate external design expertise.
  • Post-workshop support in interpreting quotes & proposals from prospective design agencies.
Dates: The workshops can be arranged at a time convenient to you.
Location: Cardiff, but all other locations can be arranged.
Cost: £300

We can also run this successful and popular Brand Essentials workshop for groups of companies on behalf of any regional business support organisation in the UK - just ask for details.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

SEE bulletin issue 2


At the end of January 2010, the SEE project launched the second edition of the SEE bulletin, one of six to be published between 2009 and 2011.

In this issue, the research paper is a contribution from Hong Kong by Professor John Heskett. ‘Aspects of Design Policy in History’ traces the evolution of policy from images of identity to economic intervention across ancient civilisations, political regimes to present-day economic doctrines. The article ‘From 2009 to 2010: EU and Regional Design Policy Developments’ is a review of the current state of play in the EU and regional design policy debate, a continuation from the article published in the previous SEE bulletin. We also explore the imperative of modernising policy-making through comparing two different approaches to drafting policy in the US and Denmark. This edition’s case studies feature ‘Good Design Selection’ from Korea as an integral part of the government’s innovation and procurement strategy; and ‘Better by Design’ from New Zealand, a government initiative to expand the country’s economy through the successful application of design to export businesses. Finally, we present a snapshot of world design policy news through interviews from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Iceland and Qatar.

The SEE bulletin is the only publication entirely dedicated to exploring matters related to design policies and programmes for design support. It is published by Design Wales, lead partner of the SEE project. The SEE bulletin is distributed to 58 countries around the world.

SEE is a network of eleven European partners exploring how to integrate design into regional and national innovation policies. The project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the INTERREG IVC programme. An electronic copy of the bulletin is available to download from the SEE website: http://seeproject.org/publications. If you would like to receive SEE bulletins in the future please email info@seeproject.org.