DESIGN CENTER OF THE PHILIPPINESDEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY

TRADE AND INVESTMENTSPROMOTION GROUP

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ABOUT THE AGENCY

© 2018 by the Department of Trade and Industry

Any part of the publication may be used and reproduced, provided proper acknowledgement is made. Unless otherwise stated, all images in this material are

property of DTI.

mandated to promote DESIGN as:• a creative tool for improving the quality and competitiveness and

branding of Filipino products in the global market;• a strategic tool of value creation for sustainable economic growth

and development; and• an innovative tool for enhancing the quality of human life.

The Design Center of the Philippines is an agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) that focuses on the development, promotion and enhancement of design for all Philippine products. It is committed to cultivating a culture that thrives in design creativity, value creation, and innovation.

Programs and initiatives seek to strengthen the national competitiveness of Filipino ingenuity and creativity as well as empower MSMEs, designers, and consumers in the local and global markets.

The Design Center of the Philippines brings together design communities and builds meaningful partnerships with designers, innovators, industry leaders, key influencers, and policymakers to exchange ideas and explore possibilities that inspire and strengthen the country’s design ecosystem.

DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY

TRADE AND INVESTMENTSPROMOTION GROUP

DESIGN CENTER OF THE PHILIPPINES

DESIGN CENTER OF THE PHILIPPINES

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HISTORICALBACKGROUND

The Design Center Philippines was created in 1973 through Presidential Decree 279 with the mandate to develop, enhance, and promote the design of Philippine-manufactured handicrafts. The agency’s projects, services, and activities were channeled toward two specific ends – the promotion of design awareness and the creation of new product designs. National Artist for Visual Arts Arturo R. Luz was the inaugural executive director who led the agency in conducting and implementing promotion, research and development programs that paved the way for innovative and pioneering design for Philippine products and handicrafts.

• Full-scale Crafts Development Program and pioneering research and development projects on buri, buntal, and handmade paper among others

• Intensive Design Promotion and Design Education program (institutionalization of Industrial Design in local schools)

• Became part of International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID), now World Design Organization (WDO), whose vision is to advocate industrial design-driven innovation for a better world

With export promotions as the focus of the Department of Trade and Industry in the early 1980s, the Design Center realigned its programs towards the improvement of the quality and competitiveness of Philippine non-traditional export products through design.

The Philippines was esteemed as the “Milan of Asia,” owing it to the country’s prolific furniture designs, and with several furniture designers winning international awards (Star Awards of Paris and Roscoe Awards of the US) for their product designs, including Design Center designers Dem Bitantes and Val Padilla.

• Notable international product specialists Allain Huin, Docey Lewis, James Penland, Mildred Lacovetti, Carmen Chesneau, Nils Refsgaard, Alex Neumeister, William Vernon, Paola Navone, Frank Sander, Ed Frank, Philip Cutler, Conrad Capaccio, Martin Marley, Bryan Leech, Karen Hellemaa, and Jean Volckeart mentored Filipino designers for the discriminating global market

• PRODEX (Product Development for Exports) on solid wood furniture, woodenware and home linens, leather goods and food packaging.

• Cost-sharing scheme for design services for MSMEs to value professional design practices.

• Design Mobile or Design Center on wheels promoted design consciousness and services in the countryside

With the government’s focus on energizing the growth of MSMEs, which comprise 99 percent of the country’s manufacturing industry, the Design Center intensified its efforts to assist countryside manufacturers with design intervention appropriate to their capabilities. The agency worked heavily on design intervention for MSMEs participating in provincial, regional, and national trade fairs.

• Regional Designers’ Competence Build-up Program enhanced design and creative talents in the countryside

• Developed the Local Counterpart Program, wherein select designers from the regions were mentored by Design Center to strengthen their design servicing and information gathering skills

• Its Consumer Industrial Design section gave design services to well-known brands such as White Westinghouse (design of interior compartments, handle); Tupperware (motifs for melamine plates and bowls); and VMV Cosmetics (container design)

• Organized the first Industrial Design Forum in 1998, coinciding with the agency’s 25th year

• Published Philippine Ethnic Patterns: A Design Sourcebook (2006) in partnership with the National Museum of the Philippines. A rich, cultural resource for creatives, the sourcebook presents the ethnic patterns as they are grouped according to materials such as bamboo, metal, terracotta, and textiles.

• Became a member of Design Management Institute, an international membership organization that bridges design to business, culture, and customers to facilitate organization change and design driven innovation.

The Design Center continues to cultivate the country’s creative capital, and strengthens the design culture as a response to the need for the dynamic role of design in accelerating businesses by creating new value, new markets, and new user experiences.

• Republic Act 10557 or Philippine Design Competitiveness Act of 2013 was passed, giving the agency the responsibility to cultivate a culture that thrives on creativity, value creation, and innovation

• Intensified collaboration with design schools to sustain the agency’s on-the-job training, apprenticeship, incubation programs through a series of workshops, seminars and actual design projects supervised by senior designers

• Partnered with IPOPHL to establish an Innovation and Technology Support Office to protect the intellectual property of its research and materials, and emphasize the importance of design protection

• Design Solutions 2015, a design recognition system, acknowledged 22 innovative products that are solutions to identified national socio-economic and environmental issues

• Produced four publications, namely Celebrate! Decorate! – A quarter century of Creative and Innovative Material Development and Holiday Decorations from the Philippines (2013), Abaca @ Home: The future is NOW for abaca (2015), Capiz: Gift from the Seas (2015), and Inabel: Philippine textile from the Ilocos region (2015), in partnership with industry associations

• Celebrated Intramuros as a potential creative hub in Metro Manila during Design Week Philippines

• Organized the ASEAN Creative Cities Forum and Exhibition in April 2017, which spurred the inclusion of Baguio City in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as the first Philippine City in the list

• Organized the maiden edition of International Design Conference – the first platform for international design information exchange

• Flutter Lamp by Catalina, using twined corn husk designed by Stanley Ruiz for Lucent Objects, was handpicked by Thailand’s SACICT for its Crafts Trend Book 2018

• New Design Graduates Training Program is currently honing its pioneer batch of the new breed of design professionals in the Philippines

1973-1983: DESIGN PIONEER

1983-1993: DESIGN FOR EXPORTS

1993-2010: DESIGN FOR MSMEs

2010-PRESENT: DESIGN INNOVATION

MISSION

The Design Center of the Philippines shall:• Promote the use and appreciation of good design• Improve the quality, range, and competitiveness of Philippine goods and services• Strengthen the Philippine design industry

CORE VALUES

• Design Excellence• Creativity• Innovation• Imagination

VISION

By 2025, the Design Center of the Philippines envisions to become an internationally-recognized center for design excellence; nurturing innovation, value creation and protection

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CORE FUNCTIONS

The Design Center supports the design industries of the Philippines through programs and services tailored to address the design needs of MSMEs, designers, stakeholders, and the public.

DESIGN PROMOTION. Engaging business enterprises, manufacturers, designers, and the public to recognize and appreciate the role of design in their everyday lives

DESIGN INNOVATION. Combining creativity and strategy to bring together business and design to improve the quality of life through new value, new user experiences, and new markets.

DESIGN LEARNING. Enhancing the learning and competency of next generation designers as well as supporting professionals in the Philippine design industry

DESIGN PROTECTION. Helping protect intellectual properties of Filipino designers, manufacturers, researchers and students through IP consultation, search and registration as well as patent drafting services of the Design Center’s Innovation and Technology Support Office (ITSO)

DESIGN SERVICES. Addressing design needs to foster design awareness and appreciation, as well as advance the skills and knowledge of MSMEs to create products for the global market.

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SIGNATURE EVENTS/PROGRAMS• Design Week Philippines • International Design Conference• Materials Research and Development• Design Research and Development• New Design Graduates Training Program• Regional Product Specialist Program

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SIGNATURE EVENTS/PROGRAMS/INITIATIVES

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ACTIVITIES/WORKSHOPS/SEMINARS

Design Services - Product Design- Package and Label Design- Graphics Design- Exhibition Design- Visual Merchandising- Trends BriefingMaterials/Design Research and Development Technology WorkshopsResource Center (Library)Design TalksITSO Services- Patent searching and drafting- Utility model searching and drafting- Trademark searching- Industrial Design searching- IP applications filing and registrations

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Telephone: (632) 832-1112 to 19Fax: (632) 832-3649Email: info@designcenter.gov.ph

Website: designcenter.phFacebook: DTI.DesignCenterPHTwitter: @DTIDesignCenterInstagram: @dti.designcenterphYouTube: DTI-DesignCenterPH

DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY

TRADE AND INVESTMENTSPROMOTION GROUP

DESIGN CENTER OF THE PHILIPPINES

www.dti.gov.ph

© 2018 by the Department of Trade and Industry