Video: The Design Economy 2018 – Fjord

As part of our flagship Design Economy 2018 research, we present seven case studies, which bring to life how a selection of different firms use design. For an introduction to the case studies, please see here.

Fjord is an international design and innovation consultancy which was acquired by Accenture Interactive in 2013. Fjord has since grown from 250 people to over 1000 designers in 27 studios across the world.

In this video, Group Director Celia Romaniuk discusses the merger, which sought to allow Fjord’s culture to grow and thrive, as well as some of the design approaches Fjord apply in their work with clients.

The acquisition is indicative of a recent trend of large global consulting firms acquiring design studios to expand their service offering to clients. Now five years into the merger, Fjord has seen a shift in the scale of their clients. They work with some of the largest companies in the world, across telecommunications, finance and banking, energy, automotive, and retail. In the same period, understanding of design within the business world has grown dramatically. This means that Fjord increasingly work with CEOs and board-level executives who are interested in the role that design can play in strategy.

Fjord helps clients embed design in their organisations as a mindset and process that has the potential to drive innovation. This means scaling design within an organisation, bringing different people together to solve problems and come up with ideas and embedding an understanding of design within the organisational culture.

Photo: Fjord/Paul Raeside; Copyright Paul Raeside 2018

Video: James Oriel

Thanks to: Celia Romaniuk, Orla Hennessy, Rebecca Greenwald and Eleanor Jubb