Why Designers Should Care About Business

We all know there was a time when creatives had a seat at the board table. The time when Don Draper was meeting with the CEO of Campbell Soup deciding the next year’s strategy or when BBH made Levi’s iconic through their 'Launderette' commercial.

Since then, things have changed. CEOs don’t ask creatives what they should do anymore and decision-making becomes purely data-driven. Even though it’s clear that design-led companies built by visionary creatives like Steve Jobs have higher revenue growth and outperform their peers. Designers have a unique ability to turn customer pains into elegant products, find simple and beautiful solutions and really change customer’s behaviour through the magic of an experience.

But these skills alone are not enough: if designers want to earn that seat at the board table, then we need to start by relearning the language of business. If your company measures success in LTV and CAC, ROI of the new campaign and increasing the share of TAM, then you need to know how everything you are doing is linked to those metrics. So that the next time you want to do a rebrand or improve the UX – you can give a tangible number of how much additional revenue this will potentially bring to the business or how much cost it will save.

This is an incredible moment for designers and this is precisely the reason we have designed our Executive Programme for Design Leaders, the equivalent of an MBA for creatives and designers with 15+ years of experience, taught in-person by industry leaders.

This course is where the brightest creative minds come together to learn about Design Leadership, and how to build a truly Design-Led Business. And we’re not talking about dense textbooks and heavy, theoretical lectures. This programme is curated and delivered by the CEOs, CTOs and Heads of Design from top businesses, startups and product companies, speaking to you directly from their own experiences.

With five intensive modules spread over two years, from London to California, designers are learning from companies like Wolff Olins, Google, Bloom & Wild, and Wise about topics like Finance, Operations, Sales, Leadership and HR. These industry leaders are sharing real, tangible learnings that designers are bringing straight back to board rooms around the world, changing the way they – and their companies – think about Design Leadership, and what it means to be a Design-led Business.

Future London Academy has just opened applications for its second year of the Executive Programme for Design Leaders. There are only 20 places on this course; the earlier you apply the better chance you will have to join us in 2022, and to start your own journey of redefining the meaning of Design Leader.

Begin your application to the Executive Programme for Design Leaders, learn more about Future London Academy, or simply get in touch.