Analysis
DBA members vote to bring clients into membership and onto Board
DBA members have passed a resolution at their AGM to include clients within the membership and to bring client representation onto the DBA Board. At the AGM, DBA President Laura Haynes spoke about the renewed importance of design in creating and maintaining innovative and market leading companies in this country and around the world.
RecoHaynes announced the seven founding business members as Diageo, Buro Happold, HSBC Private Banking, Nestle, GSK, Arup and Virgin Atlantic – all companies who recognise the value of good design and who wish to move the agenda and continue to innovate.
Of these businesses Haynes says, “They have joined us, not just because they have design parts to their companies, but because they recognise the value of design, because they want to be part of our industry, they want to learn from us and they want to share with us”.
The client membership initiative has grown out of the client advisory group for the DBA’s directory, an online database of DBA-registered design groups that launched last year.
The inclusion of clients within the membership will enable greater opportunity for shared dialogue and productive debate between design and business, create greater understanding of the commercial value of design and promote high standards of practice amongst all members. Client representation on the Board will help to drive this new focus.
DBA membership has grown 25% in the last 3 years and now stands at over 400 design agencies, with a number of in-house design teams an existing element of the membership. However, for the first time in its history, the DBA is changing from being an organisation for the people who are in the practice of design, to include people who are involved in the purchase, commissioning, and management of design.
In addition to the announcement of client membership at the AGM, DBA members also voted new directors to the Board and re-elected existing members. Joining the Board:
Colin Burns, Elmwood
Erika Clegg, Spring
Simon Farrell, Tayburn
Steve Gibbons, Dew Gibbons
Oliver King, Engine
Re-elected:
Jonathan Ford, Pearlfisher
Graham Hales, Interbrand
Will Rowe, Rufus Leonard
Jim Thompson, 20/20