Brand new direction
'Re-branding isn't trivial and it isn't easy. It's not just a case of swapping one logo for another, it is about a fundamental change in direction and attitude.'
'To re-brand successfully you have to get certain things right. Re-branding has to be driven by real chance and have clarity of vision. But the brand also has to be true and compelling: it has to resonate with the company's stakeholders. Everyone...must believe in what it stands for and be ready to deliver it.'
Brian Boylan, Chairman, Wolff Olins, Financial Times, 9 August 2000
Better by Design
'The general public are still fairly unaware of what the designer does, and programmes like this, where the design process is demystified, can only be good for the industry as a whole,'
Letter from Richard Hayter to Design Week, 4 August 2000
Role of government to be active but not interventionist
'To be successful companies must innovate and take risks. They must learn how to compete on world markets against global competition.'
'To support enterprise, to encourage innovation and responsible risk taking, the DTI itself needs to be more enterprising and innovative and less risk averse. To be forward looking, creative, and ambitious. These are the characteristics which any organisation needs to succeed in a rapidly changing world.'
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Stephen Byers outlines the role of Government in relation to business and industry, Press Release, 2 August 2000
Better by Design
'[the series] makes you wonder what happened to capitalism's insatiable drive to create better, cheaper, faster products in order to win over the consumer in the creation of a virtuous cycle of wealth? Why does it take a TV series to provoke a rethink of cramped airline seats, or the razor?'
Joe Joseph writing in The Times, 2 August 2000
Better by Design
'Seymour and Powell embody the notion of design as problem solving, and this fascinating series should send design course applications soaring.'
Christopher Dunkley writing in the Financial Times, 2 August 2000
Soul Proprietor
'Strategy is all about commitment. If what you're doing isn't irrevocable, then you don't have a strategy -- because anyone can do it ... I've always wanted to treat life like I was an invading army and there was no turning back.'
Troy Tyler, founder of smartRay Networks, quoted within Fast Company magazine, August 2000
Better by Design: Airline Seat
'Dick and Richard...were teeming with ideas, but soon found that there was a problem for every solution...but some of their modifications...did seem to minimise discomfort and by the end of the programme, they'd done just about as much as possible to maximise the available space, short of trading in the 747 for a Tardis.'
Victor Lewis-Smith writing in the Evening Standard, 19 July 2000
Better by Design: Review
'The series is more concerned with the process of solving design problems than the solutions themselves, making it a rare educational resource...Better by Design seeks to normalise, rather than glamourise, the design process. If the term 'designer' brings to mind an arrogant architect or someone more concerned with appearance than ergonomics, then Seymour Powell will change that perception....there are obviously creative thinkers on both sides of the camera in this series.'
Times Educational Supplement, 14 July 2000
Better by Design: Get with the programme
'...design is generally handed to the fluffheads of the homes and gardens sections. The same is true of TV. But at least we have another Better by Design series....it's worth reiterating why these programmes are better than home makeover shows: it's because they deal with fundamentals, not cosmetics. Seymour Powell weren't interested in lacy bits. If they were, they didn't show it...'
Hugh Pearman writing in Design Week, 14 July 2000
Government Annual Report
'Everyone should have the chance to experience and develop their creativity when they are young.'
July 2000
Italian object lesson
'There is an interpretation of design, peculiar to mass production factories, which views design as one of the available technological and marketing tools. This interpretation tends to diminish the role of design by considering it simply as a means for boosting industrial production while cutting costs.'
Alberto Alessi, Italian product manufacturer, quoted within the Financial Times, Saturday 8 July
Duo with an eye to the future
'If you look at all other things being equal - quality's the same, price point's the same, we've all gone out and learned how to do platform-sharing - what's going to differentiate car companies in the market place? It has to be design.'
J Mays, Head of design at Ford, quoted within the Daily Telegraph, Saturday 8 July
‘Design Champion’ to raise standards
‘Every government department should appoint a 'design champion' as part of a five-point plan by a new cabinet group committed to raising design standards in public buildings...'
As reported in Building Design, Tuesday 26 May 2000.
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