Why do you design?

About how much design is worth, about how it can improve finances for clients, and, of course, about how to make money out of it.

Cash, money, an improved bottom line – this is naturally an extremely important subject. But it’s not the only value that design can bring.

This week there have been a number of examples of the value of design – beyond the money.

The most obvious is the update of Ken Garland’s famous 1964 First Things First manifesto, which explicitly set itself against the commercialisation of design.

Re-written by designer Cole Peters, the updated document criticises a professional climate the ‘prizes venture capital, profit and scale over usefulness and resonance’. It calls for designers and others to use their skills to improve areas such as education, medicine and humanitarian aid. So far the manifesto has had more than 100 signatories.

And another project that is explicitly aiming to harness design for good is Open IDEO’s Amplify programme, which is calling for ideas to transform international aid through a series of challenges.

The programme, and Open IDEO’s platform, is based on a collaborative platform, which means that all ideas are shareable, remixable and reusable.

On a rather less humanitarian note (but still an important issue for some…) KSS has been rolling out designs – developed with Heavenly’s branding – that aim to inspire England’s rugby team ahead of their crunch Six Nations match against Wales this Sunday.

Key features include a engraved wall showing the English rugby team’s historical achievements, and messages of support from fans, which will be showcased in the tunnel leading the players to the pitch.

Meanwhile Mytton Williams creative director Bob Mytton reminds us of the key reason people get into design – it’s great fun.

Mytton tells us how he reignited his creativity through an ambitious self-initiated project, and a sprinkling of jazz.

As he says, ‘It was good fun and therefore made me want to explore creativity… It took me away from the usual routine of life that we so often slip into without realising it.’