Strategic Innovation Lab (sLab)

The Business of Design: Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Call for Chapters

Deadlines

Abstract submission: 1st June 2010
Draft chapter submission: 10th September 2010
Final chapter 31 January 2011

Introduction

This book is about creativity and entrepreneurialism in the context of design. It focuses on design businesses and the knowledge and understanding designers need in order to apply their ideas in business. The authors take an interdisciplinary approach, showing how design business innovation is based on strong competencies in creative design practice, combined with marketing and corporate strategy skills and an understanding of broader contexts such as culture, identity, sustainability and inclusivity.

Design matters because it has the potential to make a difference to how we live, what kind of society we live in and what kind of planet we inhabit. However, economic performance also matters and increasingly, wealth generation will depend on creativity, innovation and design. Creative design skills, a responsible and environmentally aware approach and a clear understanding of the market will be more significant than the recent model of low cost, volume production, long supply chains, unsustainable use of resources and exotic financial engineering. We need to think globally about markets and social, environmental and economic impact, while at the local level, design can help companies to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive global market.

Objectives of the Book

• To provide an essential textbook on business for design students, lecturers and practitioners, written from the perspective of designers.
• To challenge conventional views of design, using interdisciplinary approaches with a scope of subject matter which extends beyond traditional design specialisms and problems.
• To demonstrate the relationship between creativity, design, innovation and entrepreneurship via a broad range of case study examples.
• To show how successful design businesses combine creative, 'designerly' ways of thinking and working with analysis of strategic opportunities and market research, technical innovation and a reflective awareness of broader contexts.
• To enable designers to appreciate and use business strategy to become effective and responsible entrepreneurs or to move beyond a narrow design focus to play a more significant strategic role in their organisations.

Target Audience

Design students, teachers and practitioners interested in bridging the gap between design and business cultures. The book will also be highly relevant to students and practitioners in design management, design entrepreneurship and business management.

Recommended Topics

Chapters will address cross cutting themes and provide examples which illustrate these themes, via case studies. The Design Business in Action section chapter topics may be related to particular case studies or design areas. Examples of themes and case study topics include, but are not limited to the following:

Approaches to Design

•  Design thinking
•  Use of research in design process

Innovation, Management and Entrepreneurship

• Managing creativity: process, roles and models of working in design
•  Incubation and establishment of design businesses
•  Ownership, sharing and IP in differing business models
•  Microbusiness, remote collaboration and the global market

Design Business in Action

• The sustainable total product offering
• Innovating from waste: the supply chain and creative risk
• Fair trade production and creative partnerships
• Cultural identity and a sense of place in design brands
• Brand identity and authenticity
• Creating inclusive design: marketing strategy and consumer identity
• Targeting niche and subculture markets
• Participatory design and product development: empowerment in the design process
• Corporate strategies for customised design
• Gendered marketing
• Corporate competences in the creative industries
• Promoting the creative identity: craft marketing

Submission Procedure

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit a 2-3 page chapter proposal in Word. Authors will be notified by 25th June 2010 on the acceptance of their proposals. The final chapter will be c4-5,000 words long, supported by strong visual images and Harvard referencing.

Inquiries
Inquiries and submissions to:

Dr Emily Baines
Programme Leader: MA Design Innovation Faculty of Art & Design
Faculty of Art & Design De Montfort Universtiy
De Montfort University The Gateway
Leicester Leicester
LE1 9BH LE1 9BH
ebaines@dmu.ac.uk sbrown@dmu.ac.uk

Professor Stephen Brown
Director, Knowledge Media Design, De Montfort University
http://kmd.dmu.ac.uk <http://kmd.dmu.ac.uk/>
tel: 0116 257 7173
mob: 0787 246 3355
sbrown@dmu.ac.uk
Visiting Fellow, Centre for Distance Education, University of London