Concept: Design Board
From time to time working for a large corporation with little design support breeds an interesting idea. This one came to me when I realized I was swimming in a sea of business people who could not support me, or often even talk with me about design and its role in the products we develop.
I call the concept "design board".
Companies or organizations with small design teams (or teams of one) would field a board of local and remote design resources. These people would come from a variety of places: design firms, ad agencies, similar (but not competing) companies, and perhaps cohort designers or design leadership. For a fixed fee, these board members would prepare for and attend regular design review meetings. Also, they would agree to be on-call for the sort of advice senior level design support would provide if it existed in the board's company.
What does the company get out of it?
- Expertise of a gifted group of designers.
- Sounding board for new approaches--sanity check for the business interests.
- Enrichment of the company's in-house design team.
- Additional name recognition for the company's design efforts.
What do members of the board get out of it?
- Cash money.
- Recognition for design experience.
- An enrichment of their own skills in a wider variety of circumstances.
- More interesting Curriculum Vitae.
Labels: design board, design supervision, design team, design trustees, silicongorge, Thomas Richardson