New research co-funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) suggests that East Asian countries such as South Korea and Singapore are beginning to shift their economic emphasis away from low-cost production and into design.

The findings, which appear in a new report examining international design capabilities, could have significant implications for the UK, where high-value activities such as design are regarded as essential to future competitiveness.

The “International Design Scoreboard” has been produced by a consortium of UK universities led by the University of Cambridge and supported by the UK Design Council. It marks the first ever attempt to compare national design capabilities. The project has been funded by a research grant of over £300,000 from the joint Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)/Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) research programme ‘Designing for the 21st Century’.

Britain is currently recognised as a world leader in design. Design consultancies have an annual turnover of around £4bn and the design industry as a whole has a value of around £11.6bn. Overall, the sector is regarded as integral to the country’s future competitiveness and economic prosperity.

The AHRC supports the sector by funding research projects in design and has recently confirmed funding support over the next five years for over 70 post-graduate design students.

Professor Philip Esler, Chief Executive of the AHRC, said: “In the 19th century a deliberate and far-sighted investment in design made a major contribution to Britain’s leading role in the Industrial Revolution. In this era of the Digital Revolution, design will be just as, if not more important. For Britain to rise to this challenge, it needs accurate measures of its performance relevant to competitor nations. This project, embracing science, engineering and the arts and humanities in the UK’s integrated research base, represents an important means to this end.”

The complete Design Scoreboard report, entitled International Design Scoreboard; Initial indicators of international design capabilities can be downloaded from the  University of Cambridge website.

Project partners included the Universities of Nottingham, Strathclyde, Cranfield, Dundee and Loughborough.  The work is also supported by the UK Design Council.

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Notes for Editors

 Arts and Humanities Research Council: Each year the AHRC provides approximately £102 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,350 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. Arts and humanities researchers constitute over a quarter of all research-active staff in the higher education sector. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK. www.ahrc.ac.uk

 Designing for the 21st Century: is a jointly funded Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) research programme aimed at extending our knowledge of design through research.  From architecture to engineering and applied arts through to fashion, computing and communications, design is an integral element of our lives.  As design requires a collaboration of minds and skills, this programme is a joint initiative between the AHRC and EPSRC. By coming together in this way, researchers funded by both research councils have been able to work collaboratively and foster understanding of the different perspectives of design research.   The programme has supported leading-edge design research which will explore new modes of design thinking suitable for the challenges of designing for the 21st Century society.   Its objectives incude:

• promoting the formation of new communities and networks of design researchers, practitioners and end-users of design
• building shared understanding of theoretical concepts, cultures, languages and methods within different design communities
• stimulating new ways of design thining that will meet the challenges of designing for the 21st Century Society
• supporting leading edge research that is self-reflective, socially aware, economically enterprising and internationally significant.

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)