Artisan recently had the honour of attending the launch of Design Victoria: Five Years On, a publication highlighting the research into the Victorian design sector.

In July, 2008 Design Victoria engaged Wallis Consulting Group to research and develop a bank of knowledge on Victoria’s design sector that considered:
* its scale, performance, characteristics and capabilities - including its strengths, potential and key challenges
* how small to medium enterprises use and value design; and
* the impact of design on Victoria’s economy, environment and society.

'Five Years On' aims to harness and disseminate this knowledge to enable industry and the design sector to benchmark and improve performance.

The Minister for Innovation, Gavin Jennings MLC, released the report in December 2008. In the Ministerial Release Mr Jennings noted that Victoria's design sector is highly competitive, well recognised, contributes $7 billion annually to our economy and accounts for more than $300 million in design-related exports.

“There is great potential for the design sector to grow and further boost our reputation as a world leader and as a centre for design excellence,” said Mr Jennings.

At the official launch of the publication, Professor Margaret Gardner, AO. Vice-Chancellor and President of RMIT University, said good design is a fundamental building block of innovation, a critical enabler of competitive industries and vital to building liveable, sustainable and cohesive communities.

“The findings of this report confirm that design is unequivocally a differentiating factor behind lasting competitive advantage. The design industry needs to work together to generate a widespread awareness of how design adds value to business,” said Professor Gardner.

Also speaking at the launch, Chairman of the Design Victoria Advisory Board, Tony Quick, said, “Five Years On sets the context for today’s design agenda and helps to shape the future landscape for design in Victoria. It will further strategically influence how the Design Victoria programs will be delivered over the next few years”.

Click here to download the publication.

Click here for more information from the Design Victoria site.