What we do

What is the Design Council?

We are the national strategic body for design.

What does that mean?

We believe design can help people to do what they do, better. We're funded by the UK government, and we promote the use of design throughout the UK's businesses and public services. We demonstrate that design can play a vital role in strengthening our economy and improving our society.

Why does the Design Council exist?

We have a goal - to help UK managers become the best users of design in the world, supported by the most skilled and capable design professionals.

What is the Design Council doing to realise that goal?

We have a plan. The Good Design Plan. It sets out what we plan to achieve during 2008-2011, and how we will measure our successes.

The Good Design Plan breaks our aims down into five areas. We want to: 

• Build the UK’s capacity to innovate and deliver world-class brands, products and services by supporting the effective use of design in business and the public sector. See how we're going to achieve this objective
• Drive the development of new solutions to UK social and economic challenges and involve communities in designing local services.
  See how we are going to achieve this objective
• Boost high-level skills in design to support a competitive creative economy and a thriving UK design sector. See how we are going to achieve this objective
• Champion the value of good design and its importance to social and economic success. See how we are going to achieve this objective
• Be recognised as an exemplar design institution for our influence, impact and enterprise. See how we are going to achieve this objective

That wasn't what I thought the Design Council did...

The Design Council has existed for more than 60 years, and in that time our remit has changed quite a bit. Some of the things we used to do are now provided by other organisations. Some of the things we do now are new services that we have developed because the UK needs different things than it did in 1944.

But if we don't do what you think we do, we hope that we can tell you someone who does.

Frequently asked questions

You may have other questions about what we do and won't do and it's worth checking out these answers to some of the questions we are frequently asked. In each case, we'll tell you if we can help. If we can't, we'll signpost you to another organisation or information resource that we think is best-placed to answer your query. (And if the information we give you isn't helpful, please tell us.)