Design policy and design strategy –
musts, for design matters to all of us

Design leaves nothing to chance – whether it is the economic process or everyday life. Practically everywhere there is potential to simplify or improve products and processes –a fact of which more and more business leaders and policymakers are gradually becoming aware. According to estimates based on studies conducted by the Bureau of European Design Associations (BEDA), in 2012 half a million people in Europe worked in the design industry, generating an annual turnover of 36 billion euros; some ten years later we speak of nearly three million designers achieving sales figures higher by far.

Styria alone has 4,400 companies with 16,100 jobholders and an annual turnover of 1.7 billion euros in the creative core industries. Why?
Because slowly but surely it is generally recognised that successful design creates added value, lowers development costs, and encourages innovation. In the past decades, the value and importance of design have thus grown tremendously. The design process now plays a key role and decides about success or failure, no matter whether it is a product or a whole city.