Croatians target design as one route to recovery

Business people in Croatia view design as a driving force for economic recovery and a long-term investment, confirms the British Council.

The council has just completed Profit By Design, a three-day seminar on design management in the Croatian capital Zagreb.

Years of war have meant that Croatia is trailing its eastern European peers in competing in the region and in western European markets, says a spokesman for the British Council.

London Underground design consultant Paul Moss and former British Rail design manager Tony Howard addressed marketing and brand managers and directors from outfits such as state-run organisations, pharmaceutical companies and confectioners.

Local designers Ivica Belinic and Marko Korzinek presented two endorsement marks -Croatian Creation and Croatian Quality – commissioned by the Croatian Chamber of Economy to help promote Croatian-made products abroad. Product standards are yet to be devised for the marks, which launch this autumn.

A follow-up to the seminar is planned for December to gauge the success in applying the management principles.

Meanwhile, the British Council has set up a new World Wide Web site designed by CHD Design Consultants in London.

CHD has devised a separate home page for each of the council’s offices in 109 countries.

The British home page will feature new British artistic and design talents every month, the result of a competition to be organised through design colleges. Find the council at http://www.britcounc.org.