Design Council

Consumer are increasingly looking for products that reflect their values.

According to PwC’s 2024 Voice of the Consumer Survey, 'while cost-of-living pressures weigh, some consumers say they are willing to spend 9.7% more, on average, for sustainably produced or sourced goods'.

Design helps businesses create products that meet these sustainable standards while also being more useful, desirable and relevant to people’s lives.

The benefits are already visible. Companies like Faith in Nature are showing how a strong sustainability proposition, embedded through product and brand design, can support commercial growth.

What will customers expect from products five years from now?

Resilience is becoming a defining measure of performance. So how can design help deliver it?

Design enables organisations to innovate with intent, reduce risk and unlock new forms of value. The evidence is clear, from strong returns at business level to the rapid growth of the net zero economy.

There is an opportunity to go further and faster.

How is your organisation using design to support growth?

Design underpins much of the UK’s economic and cultural value, yet the systems that protect it are not always easy to navigate.

Protection can vary significantly depending on the type of creative work. For designers and businesses, that variation can create uncertainty at the point where clarity matters most.

We are working with government and our partners at ACID to help build a clearer, more accessible approach to intellectual property, one that better reflects the value design brings across industries and society.

🔗 Explore our latest work on IP and how we are strengthening conditions for design-led businesses: https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/our-work/policy-and-advocacy/

The rules around design and AI are shifting.

The Data Use and Access Act marks a turning point for British design. But as it takes shape new questions are emerging about ownership, authorship and how creative work is used in training AI systems.

From proposals on transparency and licensing to the exploration of “style rights”, this is a critical moment for the design economy. It signals a move away from a free-for-all towards a more considered framework for how design is protected and valued.

We’ve unpacked what’s changing and what it means for designers today and in the future.

Read the full breakdown: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-does-data-use-access-act-mean-design-design-council-dchre/?trackingId=syrzz4w9K1OsLQ9Rb1jKBA%3D%3D

How do you know when your work needs protecting?

For many designers, that question comes up at specific points. When work is shared publicly. When it moves into production. When others want to use it, adapt it or build on it.

Intellectual property is part of how those moments are navigated. It can help clarify who owns what, how work can be used and how value is recognised over time.

There is no single route. What matters will vary across disciplines, business models and stages of a project. Understanding the terms is a starting point for making informed decisions in context.

Swipe through for a working glossary of key IP terms used in design practice.

Sign up to the Design Council newsletter for more insights on IP and design: https://assets-gbr.mkt.dynamics.com/90408acb-8077-427b-8b7a-85a69661fd86/digitalassets/standaloneforms/d0395041-4303-f111-8407-000d3ad54a9b

Intellectual property can feel complex and easy to overlook.

However, understanding how intellectual property works is crucial in helping designers retain control, build recognition and create sustainable income from their work.

IP sits across everyday design practice. Knowing what to protect, and when, is a critical part of working professionally and responsibly.

Swipe through to understand the basics of intellectual property and why it matters for designers.

🔗 Explore support from .copying.in.design and sign up to the Design Council newsletter for more on IP and design via the link in our bio.

Design is a major driver of economic and social value, yet the conditions that support it are shifting quickly. As new tools reshape how ideas are made and shared, questions of protection are becoming more complex.

If we want design to continue delivering value at scale, we need systems that protect originality while still enabling experimentation and progress. Intellectual property plays a central role in this balance, giving designers the confidence to develop and refine ideas that can shape better outcomes.

With AI now part of the creative process, the challenge is how we safeguard attribution and integrity without limiting innovation.

What does meaningful protection look like in this context, and how should it evolve?

Measuring impact helps organisations identify where the greatest effects sit and build a basis for continuous improvement.

Patagonia offers a useful case study. Its approach embeds measurement across the full product lifecycle and uses data to inform design decisions over time.

This reflects a core principle in the Design Council’s Skills for Planet Blueprint: impact is not a by-product of good design, but the result of deliberate, measurable choices.

Approaches like this help organisations move from intention to evidence. They make it possible to identify priorities, understand trade-offs and continuously improve outcomes for people and planet.

🔗 Explore the full perspective in our blog (link in bio).

Design is already shaping outcomes at every level, from everyday products to national systems.

But much of its impact remains unaccounted for.

Expanding how we understand value is not just a measurement challenge. It is a design challenge.

The Design Value Framework offers a way to make these impacts visible, so they can be designed for, prioritised and scaled.

👉 Swipe through to explore how expanding upon what we measure can help us make better design decisions.

🔗 Explore the framework: https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/our-resources/the-design-value-framework/

More than just a "nice-to-have."

In our Skills for Planet blueprint, we’ve identified 'Evaluating Green Impact' as a core green design skill area. To design for a regenerative future, you have to know your numbers.

Transitioning to a green economy means moving impact measurement from the sidelines to the centre of your practice.

🔗 Explore the Skills for Planet blueprint : https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/our-work/skills-for-planet/