By Keith Richards
Talking about value creation in the design industry, people often think about the economic impact (EI) of the industry and how it contributes to the national economy. There is so much more than that. When we talk about design that is publicly visible, designers have a responsibility to sort of satisfy the people the design serves. Not everyone would agree with that, but the point is that it has a lot of impact on the impression people are left with. If the town hall of Oslo was built in gold and diamonds it would give a very different impression than it does now, built in bricks and concrete.
In January 2018, the British news publication The Guardian went through a redesign. According to Benton, Miller and Reid, the redesign of The Guardian had a huge impact on value creation. “The redesign involved big, bold design changes and an extensive user testing process. This gave the design team confidence that they weren’t going to alienate their existing readers with the new visual identity and format. The impact of the redesign has been significant cost savings and jumps in sales, subscriptions and donations. They acquired almost four times more print subscribers than an average week before the redesign.”[1]
In April, it was decided that the Norwegian train-company NSB and bus-company Nettbuss were going to be merged into one company. Therefore, they also needed a new name. The name they finally landed on was VY. Vy is a Norwegian word, that means “view”. The company has received a huge amount of criticism for the new name and the Norwegian people find the change unnecessary and strange. Now that the months have passed, people seem to get used to it and are waiting for the design- and profile change to happen. According to www.kampanje.com[2] there was announced two new design contracts. One for ongoing design agency services and one for strategic design development. The award-winning Norwegian design company Snøhetta took the job. How is Snøhetta responsible for value creation in the Norwegian society by doing this job?
This
is a process that is supposed to cost a stunning 280 million kroners over four
years. This is a comprehensive process and will have a huge impact on Norway’s
reputation within design. Vy has hundreds of trains, buses and electric cars mainly
in and around the Oslo area, as well as all over the country. A tourist
visiting Norway is almost guaranteed to see or experience some of VY’s services
or products. The same goes for people strolling the streets of Norway’s cities
or traveling around the country. Some people take the train or bus every day. Therefore,
it is very important that Snøhetta delivers a satisfying result. With such
great visibility, it is part of how people perceive Norway as a designer
nation, and a technological nation. For some, it can affect their everyday
lives.
[1] Sally Benton; Stephen Miller; Sophie Reid, The Design Economy 2018: The state of design in the UK, 2018
[2] https://kampanje.com/design/2019/05/nsb-ble-vy-for-280-millioner—na-frister-de-nye-designbyraer-med-35-millioner/
Making sense of art and design industries 