Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

5International trade in creative goods and services: Global trends and featuresenters into the debate of IPRs. For many, design is an inputinto all manufacturing processes and cannot be separatedfrom any final physical product. Others, such as theIndustrial Design Society of America, define “design” as“the creation and development of concepts and specificationsthat optimize the functions, and value the appearanceof products and systems for the mutual benefit of users andmanufacturers”. 46Without arguing the merits of different approaches,design fits into the “functional creations” category of theUNCTAD definition of creative industries. It is the result ofcreativity expressed as a knowledge-based economic activity,which produces goods or services with creative content, culturaland economic value and market objectives. As such, thedesign industry is part of the creative economy given that itcuts across the artisan, manufacturing and services componentsof the value chain, interacting with technology andqualifying for IPRs (see chapter 1). As an artistic work,design is associated with copyrights and specifically with“design rights” although the delimitation between the artisticexpression and the industrial manufacturing is not evident.Certainly, without design, most goods and services would notexist or would fail to be differentiated in the marketplace.As the 2010 World Design Capital, Seoul, Korea,organized a summit in February 2010 where municipal leadersfrom a number of cities could demonstrate the impact ofdesign on the competitiveness of cities in the 21 st century, aswell as the importance of design policies for urban developmentand business. More than 30 cities around the worldsigned the “Seoul Design Declaration”, which recognizesdesign as a core competency and an asset to cities. Seoul alsocreated a platform to showcase cities that have capitalized ondesign to reinvent the urban fabric of their cities.Current statistical classifications 47 do not allow a clearidentification of those functional products with higher creativecontent in the design value-added chain. Therefore, incarrying out the statistical analyses, an effort was made toselect those products with a presumably high design input.At this stage, it is not possible to isolate the design inputfrom the final product. Thus, the export figures reflect thetotal value of the final products, not the design content. Toa certain extent, this explains the predominance of high figuresunder the design subgroup of creative industries.Design products include goods only. The analysis containedin this report is based on trade data for architecture(original drawings for architectural plans), interior objects,jewellery, toys, glassware and fashion, as indicated in table1.2.A and table1.2.B in the annex. Industrial design is notcovered, and architectural services are treated under “functionalcreative services”. All of the items included under“fashion” are accessories; clothing and footwear are notincluded owing to the impossibility of differentiating designcreations from mass-production goods, as explained earlier.Furthermore, as for all creative industries, the lack of datafor copyrights, trademarks, brands, etc. makes it difficult toassess the overall economic impact of each subgroup ofcreative industries on national economies.Fashion is a creative industry deserving special attention,given its trade potential. The global fashion industry isexpanding; it goes beyond “haute couture”, which is distinctfrom the prêt-à-porter (ready to wear) and the trendy designwear. The fashion industry now includes a wide range ofproducts, including perfume, jewellery and accessories suchas scarves, purses and belts. A unique, handmade fashion creationis distinct from industrial-scale production. Therefore,fashion design products should be protected by copyrightsor trademarks before entering into highly competitivedomestic or international markets. Indeed it is the brand orlabel attesting to the creative content and novelty of productsthat ensures value added and higher revenues for thestylists. These and other intricacies of the global fashionindustry need to be better understood in order for the fashionindustry to be enhanced in developing countries. 48The originality of ethnic textiles, combined with thediversity of works by fashion designers from developing countries,is conquering world markets. The organization offashion weeks in developing countries like Brazil, China, India,Jamaica and South Africa contributes to the promotion of thework of designers and stylists and to the circulation of fashionmodels from the South through the world. In this respect,developing economies are called upon to better explore tradeopportunities in world markets in light of the liberalizedmarkets for textiles and clothing that emerged following theexpiration of the Multi-Fibre Agreement in 2005. 4946 For further information, consult the websites of the Industrial Designers Association of America, the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the Design Council, London.47 he international statistical classification used for the trade data presented in this report is the Harmonized System 2002. For further explanation, see the explanatory notes in the annex.48 A comprehensive analysis of the fashion industry in the Caribbean is presented in Nurse (2006).49 International trade of fashion goods and services is ruled by multilateral and regional agreements. Issues relating to the removal of trade obstacles such as rules of origin, preferentialtreatment, safeguards and import quotas are negotiated within the WTO and are crucial instruments for access of products from developing countries to world markets.156 CREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 2010