The Internet can bring the design industry together

We non-Luddites all rattle on about the Internet. We talk to clients about the Net and their business – if you’re not connected, you might as well give up. To practice what we preach, we redesigned our website, prompting us to assess its value.

What do we gain from it and why do we want one at all? We cannot sell on-line, so are there genuine promotional reasons for having a website? Perhaps it is peer pressure – like smoking behind the bike sheds. Our competitors have one, so must we, or maybe as it doesn’t cost anything (significant) we just don’t question its validity. Has everyone else sussed it out? Or is there a chance for us to define the role of the Internet for design?

One advantage is the opportunity to update regularly with the latest products. But it would be a wasted opportunity if consultancies produced their websites independently. Wouldn’t it be better if there was a collective database of consultancy sites, with a design forum for keeping the industry’s status up to date? Maybe it would unite and promote our industry?

The collective site could be a first point of call for the media, prospective clients, employees and even students. Who knows, a united front may elevate our profession in the eyes of outsiders.

Gavin Thomson

Creative director

Factory Design

mail@factorydesign.co.uk