Design comes out of the cottage

Dr David Owen (remember him?) joined a conversation that I was engaged in at a do at the Royal College of Art last night. Upon hearing that we were in the design business, he quickly asked what it was like to be a freelance.

This took me back a bit. I thought: should I say I don’t know because I am a director of a design consultancy that delivers innovation for leading manufacturing and service industries around the world? A design consultancy that employs nearly 60 people (probably responsible for the livelihood of 200 people) running contracts with single values of up to 1.8m. Or should I just bite my tongue?

We were obviously on such different planets that I duly took a bite. But it does make you think doesn’t it. We are still a cottage industry in certain peoples’ eyes.

Michael Rodber

Jones Garrard

mr@jgextreme.demon.co.uk