Wyd. specjalne/2011 - Regionalny Ośrodek Informacji Patentowej ...

WIPO Award for Innovative EnterprisesIdentification – DESIGNInterview with Beata Bochińska,President of the Instituteof Industrial Design Co. Ltd.– Do you think that we are sufficiently awareof how important design is to the economicdevelopment, taking into account that Polisheconomy has been undergoing major systemicand structural transformations for morethan 20 years?– Polish companies are more and more awareof the importance of design to the economicdevelopment. They already know what kindsof opportunities arise from the co-operation witha designer. After all, every producer wants hisproducts and services to be purchased and customerschoose the products and services, withina certain price limit, which are best designed,and it is not only the external appearanceand packaging that counts. Design is more thanjust appearance or functionality. It is also lowcost and high efficiency of production, distributionor service, as well as designing satisfactionand loyalty of users. However, a considerably fewcompanies are aware of this and still fewer havethe competence and resources to use designin that way.Companies cannot yet professionally managethe design process. They do not know howto write a brief and they find the co-operationwith external studios troublesome. Projects areoften chosen by the marketing director or a presidentwhose decisions are governed by their ownsense of beauty and who disregard the conditionsand needs of a changing market. Manyentrepreneurs are only at the beginning of theirway and should start with small steps – theyshould gain knowledge of where and how to lookfor a designer, what and how to order, and howto estimate the costs related to the product’slaunching.Industrial design is one of the cheapest methodsof introducing innovativeness to products.It is only necessary to plan the co-operationprocess with designers and to develop a systemin which it will be possible to use their skills.Creative industry in Poland generates only1 percent of GDP. It grows by 6 percent annuallyand employs 230 thousand persons. Therefore,there is a considerable development potentialin this area. The strategy of investing in designis one of the priorities of the Operational ProgrammeInnovative Economy. The subsidieswithin this programme amount to more than onebillion Euros up to 2013.– Can we positively assess the achievementsof the Polish design, its potential and, mostof all, the interactions between the designand industry in the recent years?– Yes, we can. It is proved by the results of a surveycommissioned by the Ministry of Economyand carried out in 2007 by the Institute of IndustrialDesign on 300 Polish companies. Mostcompanies (60 percent) consider design to bean effective tool of market competition. The vastmajority of the sample (80 percent) believes thatinvesting in design is profitable and one fourthof the sample even points out that the priceof a well-designed product can increase by20 to 40 percent. For as many as 76 percentof entrepreneurs design is crucial for the company’sdevelopment, whereas 60 percent of themclaim that using design translates into higherconsumer satisfaction and improved imageof the company.The abovementioned survey shows that designis no longer limited solely to the stylisationof the object’s appearance but it also encompassesall the issues concerning the functionality,exploitation, as well as cost of production,transport and recycling once the product’s usageis ended.The fact that investing in design is profitable canbe proved also by a growing number of Polishbrands, successfully competing on both Polishand global markets.– Could you give us some examplesof the Polish design and its industrial implementationwhich particularly prove that gooddesign is not only profitable but also buildsthe company’s reputation and prestige,and substantially influences its positionon the market?– A good example of the Polish design and its implementationin the Polish industry is the PROFImcompany co-operating permanently with fivedesigners. Its own designs are characterisedby good harmony between the product’s functionality,ergonomics and aesthetics. Its proposedsolutions, marked by economical usage of materials,follow the global design trends in the fieldof the office furniture design. The companyconstantly invests in its infrastructure, as wellas the design and laboratory facilities, whichallows it to satisfy the requirements of externalclients. One of its recent achievements is mPOSI-TION – a computer chair on which the personis partly sitting and partly lying. It was createdjointly by the Institute of Industrial Design (conceptand results of ergonomic studies) and Studio 1:1which won a competition (project). The chair waspresented during the world finals of the world’sbiggest technological competition Imagine Cup2010, held in July 2010 in Warsaw. This modernpiece of furniture assures optimal conditionsfor working for many hours in a position facilitatingconcentration in any place – in the office, at homeor in the public space. It is not only an innovativeproduct, designed according to the latest ergonomicstudies, but above all a new philosophyof working.Another good example can be the finalistsof the last year Good Design competition, whichhas been organised by the Institute of IndustrialDesign since 1993. Zelmer – a well-known producerand exporter of household goods – hasbusiness relations with about 30 design companies,and co-operates each year with 12 designstudios. The company has a well defined newproduct development process and each projectis developed according to the company’s strictinternal guidelines (project brief). These effortsresulted in creating, among others, the juiceextractor that was awarded in the competition.Great attention to design characterises the MebleVox company, one of the leading Polish furnitureproducers and exporters. The Mee multisensoryfurniture collection is a well-thought-out projectas far as the security, ergonomics, functionalityand the needs of the users, both childrenand adults, are concerned. The furniture, apartfrom its basic functions, serves also as toys,enriches the child’s environment and surroundingand stimulates the development of its cognitiveand psychomotor functions.Also distributors appreciate the fact that gooddesign is important to strengthening one’s positionon the market. Leroy Merlin, one of the biggestglobal retail chains offering building materials,as well as finishing and decorative articles,has started to co-operate with the Instituteof Industrial Design, designers and several dozenproducers wishing to implement their severalhundred products with professional support fromadvisors and designers.– How would you describe the role of the Instituteof Industrial Design, a market company(having the status of a scientific unitWydanie specjalne KWARTALNIK URZĘDU PATENTOWEGO RP • 9