Imaginary Business makes Business

A quick article about combating recession and the knock on effect it has on business closures.

A new market for graphic designers perhaps? Or more for the visionaries? If this is able to entice new businesses to set up then this is a great approach to combating the uninspiring, white frosted (or that weird gunk they put…) windows, and spam letters piled up at the door flap.

Some quotes from the article (for the full report, click on the link below):

A smart delicatessen that caters only for window shoppers has sprung up in a Tyneside town after the council decided to put up fake shop fronts to cover empty units.

“We need to ensure that the remaining businesses continue to survive and that means ensuring our high streets look attractive to both shoppers and potential business investors.”

The colourful fake shop fronts are either taped inside the windows or screwed to the fascia so they can be removed and re-used as required.

“Other empty units have been decorated by local artists and we had one painted in the team colours of Whitley Bay after they won the FA Vase last year.”

Ms Goldfinch said the Chamber of Trade, the council and a local property consultant had worked together on the window design, which she said was a first of its kind.

“It’s an excellent way of promoting how a unit can be used, making you think about it in a different way to what you’ve been used to seeing,” she added.

What would happen if all the stores in the highstreet were just window dresses? Confusing times indeed.

Link: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/

Design Factfinder

A bit of a different website, suggested by Wayne Hemmingway and created by the Design Council (I think…).

It details statistics gathered from businesses across the country. Surveys questions the various aspects of designs affecting the success of businesses.

Business that thrive with design

It’s a pretty hard website to navigate through, and targets “Business Intermediaries”, “Design Businesses”, “Design Educators” and “Students” to use the site.

There are snippets of key information under “Headline Facts”, the majority of them are quite surprising.

Moreover there is a regional report breakdown of design in businesses. In summary, go to Yorkshire & Humberside if you’re a designer as businesses there appreciate it more, and avoid the North East. It’s shocking that it isn’t London despite its thriving design industry. Maybe Chicken Cottage are happy with their shop front?

It might be interesting to investigate why regions have their opinion about the usefulness of design. Or it might not be.

Link: http://www.designfactfinder.co.uk/