Royal Society of Medicine opens doors to designers
The Royal Society of Medicine is offering corporate membership to design groups that work in the healthcare sector.
A new membership scheme – the first in the society’s 200-year history – will offer ‘limited’ spaces to design consultancies and advertising agencies, as well as to lawyers, medical suppliers, pharmaceutical companies and private healthcare groups.
A total of 50 places will be available, with ten to 12 of those earmarked for design and advertising.
The Big Window has created the corporate membership pack, and the consultancy’s director Adrian Nunn enthuses about the opportunities that RSM membership could offer design groups.
‘This is a venerable institution in a very smart location which could give designers the ability to mix and network with key people in the medical profession. There are design groups for whom 60 per cent of their work is in healthcare, and this would be ideal for them,’ says Nunn.
RSM marketing director Janice Liverseidge says, ‘It is nice to come off-site for meetings with clients sometimes, and we can provide a place for lunch, drinks or coffee.’ She details the society’s itinerary, saying, ‘We have innovations briefings in which inventors will come in and talk about how their products have changed healthcare.’
The RSM appointed The Big Window in August on the strength of the consultancy’s previous work for the society. ‘We opted for an understated, straightforward and simple look, as this is not a big sell,’ says Nunn.
The corporate membership scheme launches on 1 December, with design groups ‘welcome to get in touch with us for a look around’, says Liverseidge.
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This is an excellent break through as it begins to demonstrate that industrial and service innovation design firms, in particular, are high level knowledge providers. Their inclusion in a formerly science and academic led Institution is an acknowledgement of the vital skills and knowledge designers bring at the outset of the innovation process rather than their engagement later down the line as an aesthetic supplier of services once all the intelligent work has been done.
This news follows on from BDI’s accreditation by the Institute of Knowledge Transfer – another acknowledgement of the growing inclusion of a certain faction of designers in the knowledge base.
We wholly welcome this.
Well done RSM! This acknowledges the changes in the strategic top end of the design sector.
A number of design firms, including my own Butters Innovation, now work very closely and at early stages with clients who are making new technological and scientific breakthroughs. Increasingly we are being regarded as the leading knowledge providers when it comes to planning for, resourcing and delivering market relevant solutions.
RSM are demonstrating an awareness that building close relationships with experienced, creative developers like us is a key success factor in delivering new and improved products, services and experiences.