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If you’re a designer in West Michigan, get out your calendar.
6/17/2008
By Patrick Revere
Holland, MI — Design West Michigan, a professional association born out of a $15 million U.S. Department of Labor grant, wants to promote a cohesive community of people who work within the discipline and promote the importance of its work to the area’s economy and overall productivity.
A gathering is planned from 5:30 to 8 p.m. June 23, 2008, at Haworth Inc.’s headquarters on M-40 near Waverly Road.
Headcount
• 5:30-8 p.m. Monday, June 23, 2008
• Haworth Inc. headquarters at M-40 near Waverly Road
• To organize design community/educate non-design community
“It’s indeed about recognizing how the creative process effects new economic aims,” John Berry, of Greystone Global, said of the initiative and the gathering. “We want to bring together like-minded people who are about problem solving and see how this discipline can grow and be an overall benefit to business in general.”
The gathering will serve as a networking opportunity, an educational forum, and a way for the association to further build its data base of professionals interested in a proactive change to the economy.
“This is something we feel is unique, and could be very productive for this movement and for the design disciplines,” Lakeshore Advantage President Randy Thelen said.
Jay Frankhouse of Fuel D, a Zeeland-based design firm, said the goal of Design West Michigan is to have the region be viewed as “design-centric” within the area and across the nation.
“There are a lot of people here who wonder why so much design work done here is sent to other regions and states,” Frankhouse said. “Maybe part of this is a simple sense of awareness that you don’t need to go far to get people who will do good work.”
Frankhouse has been involved with Design West Michigan since last fall, and said much of the dicussion during previous meetings has been about deciding what “design-centric” means and how it should be measured.
“Case studies are one technique that’s going to be used,” he said. “We want to take examples of instances that show how design made a difference to the bottom line.”
Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development, or WIRED, is a program funded by the labor department that seeks to convert West Michigan’s economy, and others like it, from largely manufacturing-based areas to areas with an emphasis on front-end, knowledge-based work.
“No matter how you look at it, anything that can be made or served through repetitive processes is being shipped to other countries where the less costly labor can be used,” Berry said.
Professionals in the area’s of architectural, engineering, fashion, graphic, industrial, interior, landscape and Web design are invited to attend. The event if free of charge.
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