Since its formalisation in the 20th century, the concept of design management has received significant attention owing to its impact on design processes and outcomes. Even though the concept of design management was formalised recently, a number of tasks and evolutions had taken place prior (Hands, 2009). Design management has been in existence since the beginning of first corporations that invested in design. It is important to appreciate some of the tasks that took place in order to culminate into formalisation of design management. Prior to 1960s, the idea of design management was looked at from the perspective of designing aesthetic components (Clarke, 2011). In other words, the activities of before 1960s looked at design management as a way of adding aesthetic values to products as well as brands of different corporate entities. Between the 1960s and 1970s, design management concept changed into the idea of systemising design functions with the sole aim of making outcomes not only reliable but in line with user demands and needs (Clarke, 2011). It was at this juncture that quality control tools and techniques were developed. In other words, the concept of design management shifted from just mere aesthetic to ensure that all designs are able to achieve their intended objective.
The 1980s and 1990s were characterised by an increase of design managers who were now viewed as high profile individuals with remarkable contributions to bring into business operations. Design managers were seen as very influential towards business success (Hands, 2009). The focus of design management during this period shifted from mere quality control to strategic. The idea was to have designs within organisations as strategic assets. With such view, the design was now incorporated together with production and marketing. These three concepts were now considered to be very essential for organisations (Maeda, 2006). In the 2000s until the present, design management focus has now shifted from being a reactive strategic asset to a proactive strategic tool (Clarke, 2011). Design management is now seen as processes and activities that would enhance the ability to innovate and create markets as opposed to responding to needs in the market (Maeda, 2006). In other words, unlike in the previous years where design was seen as a way of solving a problem and meeting a need, the present environment has transformed design to an extent in which designers can now create products that lead to markets, that is, designers are creating new products, which are then demanded by the consumers.
References
Clarke, A. J. (2011). Design anthropology: Object culture in the 21st century. NY: Springer
Hands, D. (2009). Vision and values in design management. London: AVA Publishing
Maeda, J. (2006). The Laws of Simplicity. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
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