Litereature

OPOKU, ERIC VERNON DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN AHMADU BELLO UIVERSITY, ZARIA. Email: opokueric2003@yahoo.com THE INCREASING VITAL ROLE OF DESIGN IN THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY ABSTRACT Design and designers are continually expanding the discipline, adding new dimensions and adapting to the changing economic, social and environmental circumstances. What implications does this have for the future' The emphasis of this paper is on the understanding the importance of the changing roles of design within the design process as it relates to product development. Introduction John Heskett (2002) once wrote that the history of design can be seen as a process of layering in which new developments are added over time to what already exists. This layer, he further states, is not just a process of accumulation or aggregation, but a dynamic interaction in which each new innovative stage changes the role, significance, and function of what survives. According to Newbury (1996) design is a creative activity whose aim is to establish the multi-faceted qualities of objects, processes, services and their systems in whole life cycles. Therefore, design is the central factor of innovative humanization of technologies and the crucial factor of cultural and economic exchange. Design seeks to discover and assess structural, organizational, functional, expressive and economic relationships, with the task of: * Enhancing global sustainability and environmental protection * Giving benefits and freedom to the entire human community, individual and collective * Final users, producers and market protagonists * Supporting cultural diversity despite the globalization of the world * Giving products, services and systems Design concerns products, services and systems conceived with tools, organizations and logic introduced by industrialization. The adjective "industrial" put to design must be related to the term industry or in its meaning of sector of production or in its ancient meaning of "industrious activity". Thus, design is an activity involving a wide spectrum of professions in which products, services, graphics, interiors and architecture all take part. Together, these activities enhance the value of life. As a discipline, design aims at solving problems or enhancing lives of end users worldwide. End users today are very demanding and have many expectations from brands, which, if not complied with, have a possibility of going into oblivion in a short period. Hence, it is important that any design should address the needs of the end user. It also has to be functionally and financially viable to appeal to a wide range of end users. It therefore, is a combination of using a creative solution and channeling it in the right direction to obtain the optimum output. In other words, it is an inspiration that sparks a creative idea, which needs to be driven through a process to make it a viable business. Design is about understanding the needs of end customers, the role a design will play in their life and the technology of realizing the design. Organizations, therefore, should focus on these aspects to ensure integration of these aspects into a homogeneous design so as to address all expectations of the customer. Moreover, there should be an underlining notion of innovation to ensure that the designs help the brand owners to create a differentiator. Today, there is an increased focus on the role of design within the experience economy and in relation to user-driven and user centered innovation. These very relations occupy a central position in this article. Context and Evolution of Design Research in Nigeria Quoting from the lead paper presented by Professor Abdullahi Umar during the celebration of the Thirty Years of Industrial Design in Nigeria, he stated that industrial design begun in Nigeria with the arrival of the Royal Nigerian Company (RNC), United African Company, PZ etc through their involvement in the production of textiles, ceramic, and cosmetics etc. Industrial Design therefore cannot be said to be a new idea in Nigeria. According to Umar (2010), Nigeria had traditional crafts prior to colonialism. All the major or minor ethnic nationality that makes Nigeria has its craft deeply entrenched in its material culture. The Yorubas excelled in ‘Adire’ tie and dye, the Hausas of the north in embroidery, Ebiras in weaving, Nupues in glass bead making etc. The introduction of formal education through the establishment the Nigerian College of Art and later the Department of Industrial Design in 1979 complemented an existing culture. Design research therefore emerged as a recognized field of study. Design research can be described in two distinct ways: undertaking research into the design process with the intention of improving its effectiveness and 
performance and undertaking research within the process of design with the aim of enhancing creativity, problem solving and design decision making. Since the 1970's the scope and nature of design research has been continually expanded and today it is becoming more integral to all forms of communication, product and service design. Design research related 
activities are continually expanding and today encompass a wide range of research activities such as design trend research, technology research and communication and brand research. The increasing interest in the use of design research is linked directly to the growing importance of 
design to business success. Many organizations are starting to clearly understand the need to use design to achieve and sustain success. This message is being positively reinforced by design and design-thinking champions such as Lintas, Saachi and Saachi, Adworks and Center Spread who are constantly promoting the benefits of design and design-thinking in the business arena. This awareness has resulted in organizations wanting to deploy design and design-thinking ideas that are relevant and demanded by the
market place. This need for assurance and the ability to verify a range of demand and aesthetics innovation issues is creating a potential window of opportunity for the strategic use of design driven by design research activities.
 
Design research I believe will be a prerequisite front-end business related activity within the next 3 to 5 
years for many medium and large organizations and more and more small businesses will seek external input. The reason for this assertion is that the context in which businesses, and subsequently design, operate in is becoming increasingly dynamic. Market globalization is forcing businesses and designers to design for unfamiliar consumers and markets; the ever increasing rate of technological change is driving the introduction of new technologies where past experiences are often no longer relevant, changing beliefs and behaviors are impacting on functional and emotional lifestyle aspirations of consumers, and the increasing importance of socially responsible agendas are dramatically influencing consumer attitudes and behavior to consumption. All these factors strengthen the need and case for design research activities. In response to increasing need and potential demand for design research activities, the composition of 
design research teams will continue to evolve. Based in part on the multiple and interrelated business 
dynamics previously discussed, many organizations are developing global multi-disciplinary design 
research teams that bring together psychologists, industrial designers, materials experts and 
anthropologists. Multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural design research teams as stated by Thackara (2005) are helping organizations 
such as Nokia to explore and inform themselves of new and future trends in new and emerging markets.
For example the redesign of mobile phones and communication experiences in Africa need to be more 
suitable for phone sharing usage, as mobile phone ownership in Africa is more frequently shared at family, village or local retailer level. (Thackara ibid). Role of Design in Delivering Success. Design extends its influence all the way from small personal belongings to large industrial equipment and nothing at all can be made successfully without being designed elaborately. The development of design in Nigeria has followed the path that has been witnessed in the rest of the world. It began with the gradual transition from the ‘father to son’-led design practice, whereby all the design thinking conceptualization, alternative strategies, design decisions, material selection, making and evaluation, etc., rested in the minds of the craft-designers, to the realization that design can have an impact on economic performance. In Nigeria’s case, however, this realization came only recently. However, Nigeria, as a nation, that neither participated in the Renaissance, nor in the Industrial Revolution, those factors that led to the use of effective design did not appear until recent years. In the era of global competitiveness in which we live, nothing at all can make its way to the market without being a creative design backed by creative thinking and extensive research. Once, it became clear that design could make a difference, the concept of industrial design began sweeping in. Schools of industrial design, ceramics design, fashion design and engineering design subsequently propagated the knowledge of design and gave birth to creative designer in Nigeria.   Students of industrial design are poised to make an impact; yet, they are anxious whether they would get jobs in the thinly spread industry in Nigeria. However, they need to know that their training allows them several other possibilities, like seeking jobs anywhere in Africa or the world and enterprising their own business by making use of a subsidy programme like the National Directorate of Employment. Industrial designers in Nigeria can derive themes and motivation for design from nature, environmental conservation and use of natural materials and can use them to make a difference in their work. Design research is a potential key activity for helping organizations strategically position their businesses and design activities. Consumer choice and product diversity help to explain in simple terms why design research is of importance to many businesses. The illustration below by Mulgan (2007) for instance exemplifies the potential wide range of choices available from a simple starting point of selecting a juicer. Options range from functionally undifferentiated products, through to electrically powered items culminating in high-end niche designer products. Diversity and consumer choice mean in theory that there are potentially no right or wrong market positions. However, success is based on developing the right strategy for the right market segment. Design research therefore has the capability, if done effectively, to play a key role in ensuring design strategies are positioned correctly by helping organizations understand key competitors strengths and weaknesses, technological and performance requirements, market characteristics, price point positioning, user profiles, functional and usability requirements, lifestyle aspirations and design trends. Failure in one or more of these areas can lead to a misalignment for example with the target audience and or market trends which can quickly lead to commercial failure. (Kotler, 1999). Effective design research activities focuses on understanding both functional and emotional issues and is concerned with determining new insights that can directly inform creative thinking, stimulate idea generation, improve design decision-making and verifying strategic directions. Building in the voice of customer into the design research process, either directly or indirectly states Mulgan (ibid) is a key factor in facilitating success. The ability to collect data is not in essence the critical activity, although very important. It is the ability to decode visual and non-visual data and translate emergent issues into concrete insights that drives success. Effectiveness can be characterized by the research teams’ ability to translate identified functional and emotional characteristics into unique innovation drivers. The core features of such good design researcher can be attributed to having strong design awareness, systematic planning capabilities, strong listening skills, abstract pattern recognition capacities, open-mindedness and empathy. Great design researchers do all of the above but also have the ability to synthesize, externalize, visualize and communicate issues. For many different reasons the Nigerian industry has gained a significantly better understanding of design in recent years, and consequently a better understanding of design’s application, design methodogical approaches and designers in general. This growth is reflected in the design industry too. According to Ekong and Ekong (2009) the design industry achieved an appreciable increase in growth for some time now but the full potential is far from being exploited. The use of design has first and foremost spread among medium sized and large companies, and most often in companies that depend and compete on an international market. It is therefore not possible to contribute this growth to a single actor or a single initiative. It is more likely the result of a focused effort from the authorities in combination with a massive focus on design in the news media, on conferences and in the public debate. According to Anna et al (2007) design centers in the developed countries have studied the measurable effects of design, and there is left no doubt that there is a direct connection between the strategic use of design and turnover, access to international markets and profitability. The big organizations in Nigeria like the industrial organizations, employer organizations, employee organizations and industrial specific organizations also seem to have discovered the value of design too. What we still miss, though, is more focus from these organizations when it comes to the unexploited potential of design within areas such as business service, retail trade, food industry, agriculture, tourism, transportation and logistics. Just to mention a few. Some years back the debate was about design or business. Today there is less focus on the fact that design is not about art. There is still a lot to be desired when it comes to the organization’s understanding of the number of sectors that design can influence and strengthen, both within the trade, service and industry, and not the least within the area of public services. Everything, however, seems to point to a very promising future for the design industry in Nigeria. The question then is: What type of role must the designer adopt to face these changes in our lives and our future requirements' The answer is simply that the designer must allow his creative potential to interact with the environment to anticipate product needs and to create the best design for the future. The designer should not overload himself and his concepts with concern for the near past and the present. If we think about it, the distance between ourselves and source of our creative inspiration, our history and the present environment, is very small. Conclusion. In conclusion, I will aligned myself with the theory of Essam (2008) called Optimistic Futurism. It is the way towards confidence, transformation and creativity. Optimistic futurism will enable us to develop our technical potentials, skills, and enable us to deal with digital software and new technologies. Optimistic Futurism is an attitude that will serve our creativity, as it is a logical solution and will not affect our ability to create and innovate. Indeed, a designer equipped with knowledge and experience will be a source of power, having the ability to control his production in a positive and useful way. As much as our task is to deal with the future, we will be able to increase our creatively and innovation to achieve this end by adding self-belief and a desire to be forward-looking to the mix. References. Anna, M. (2007) Creative Communities: People Inventing Sustainable Ways of Living, http//:www.sustainable-everyday.net. Retrieved, August 27th, 2010. Ekong, C.E. and Ekong, I.D. (2009) Industrial Design Culture: An Imperative in Nigeria’s Technology Development, NGA Nigeria. Pp. 171-177. Essam, A.A. (2008) Design Characteristics for the future. Art, Culture and Environmental Design, http//www.design21sbn.com/share/2188. Retrieved , August 27th. 2010. Kotler, P. (1999) Principles of Marketing. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Mulgan, G. (2007) Social Innovation: What it is, why it Matters and how it can be accelerated. Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship, University of Oxford, Oxford. http//:www.youngfoudation.org.uk Newbury, D. (1996) Knowledge and Research in Art and Design, Design Studies 17, Elsevier Science Ltd. UK. Thackara, J. (2005): In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Umar, A. (2010) Thirty Years of Industrial Design, Unpublished Conference Paper, Celebration of 3 Decades of Industrial Design, Exhibition and Home Coming, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.