Consultancy is a key to design’s future role

If design is to be taken seriously by UK business, corporate identity has to be one of the keys. Like architecture and product design, it’s a one-off “purchase” for many clients, but invariably involves decisions at the very top of a company and consistent commitment from senior management as it rolls out. If handled well, it can put design at the centre of corporate culture, wielding the kind of influence most designers can only dream of.

As an industry we should therefore draw great strength from the mark leading identity players are making worldwide, as WPP, Interbrand and the like realign their groups to cash in on escalating workloads. These aren’t just logo merchants; nor are they trading solely in research – the field that made many an identity specialist a force in the Eighties. Their offer incorporates the full marketing services package you might expect from a creative conglomerate.

Increasingly, it’s the design element within these megagroups that takes the lead with clients, evolving and guarding an identity to the point of briefing ad agencies and other consultants on its implementation. They’ve got size on their side and contacts with top clients through their stablemates’ work in, say, advertising. They’re also actively recruiting “suits”, not least from management consultancies or the client side. But the main thrust of their current success is a conscious refocusing of the business to offer consultancy rather than purely design services.

Smaller groups often dismiss megagroups as “uncreative”. Meanwhile, the big boys argue that consultancy is the only way forward for the industry, and that craft-led design outfits are doomed to fail. Both views are wrong.

Design is a complex business, best served by both true consultancies and jobbing designers prospering. Both need to be clear about what they offer and strive for excellence if we are to combat the mediocrity pervading UK design. But each needs to acknowledge the other’s strengths and build on them through closer collaboration.