Define purpose before establishing identity

I am a little depressed by recent letters, your editorial, and back page about the new identity for the Design Council. – Surely the Design Council is involved in the great UK tradition of recent years whereby we parade the image of success before we actu

I am a little depressed by recent letters, your editorial, and back page about the new identity for the Design Council.

Surely the Design Council is involved in the great UK tradition of recent years whereby we parade the image of success before we actually succeed and then confuse that image with actual success; the Thatcher years are a classic example of this.

Scour as I might the pages of the broadsheets and design magazines that plop on to my mat, I have never found a clear definition of what the reconstituted Design Council is supposed to be doing. Twenty-five years ago I was reliably informed that the Department of Trade and Industry wanted to kill off the Design Council; I thought at one time that it had succeeded. If it really has not, then perhaps it would be wiser to define its purpose clearly and simply, succeed in fulfiling this and then, when we all have some respect for what it is doing, redesign its corporate image.

Until it does clearly define its purpose and go on to succeed, it might as well use a black pudding as its logo for all the public cares. It would of course be far cheaper as well.

Giles Velarde

Museum and Heritage Design

Sussex TN35 4EF

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