Resources for Clients
The Institute of Designers in Ireland have developed the following guides to help you grow your business and apply design thinking in your organisation.
The IDI are proud to partner with Design Council UK to present these cross-sector studies on design impact. We have added resources examining an Irish industry angle to the spread of resources from The Design Council UK and its former CABE partnership. These are a valuable resource for those looking to involve design in their workplaces, public planning, built environments, workplaces or facilities.
We are actively looking to acquire new and even more varied resources on a range of subjects, so please let us know if there is a topic that you would like to see represented.
How Design Benefits Business
Design works. It’s that simple. In the world of visual information, structural form, fashion and graphics and general good design can spark inspiration and stir thought. Read more →
Client Guidelines (New 2022)
Documents in this section provide inspiration and serve as “checklists” when developing brief documents, planning and calculating projects, and preparing for communication between clients and suppliers of design services. The documents are designed to be equally useful for both parties, and are available to everyone.
Finding, Briefing and Choosing a Designer
Selecting the appropriate creative practitioner for your design project is often difficult, especially for a small business. Read more →
Design Driven Innovation: Why it Matters for SME Competitiveness
How does design-driven innovation add value for SMEs? How can the design process be used as a tool for innovation? How well is design-driven innovation embraced? How can Ireland develop its SME's design-driven innovation capability?
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© Northern & Western Regional Assembly, March 2015
Design Buyers' Guide
Using design to add value to your business.
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© Design Council UK
Design Delivers for Business
Design Delivers for Business is a summary of evidence from our Design Leadership Programme for businesses.
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© Design Council UK
The Value of Design - Factfinder
Design can directly and significantly improve sales, profits, turnover and growth.
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© Design Council UK
Leading Business by Design
Leading Business by Design is our qualitative research project that investigates the strategic use of design at senior levels in a sample of UK and global businesses.
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© Design Council UK
The Impact of Office Design on Business Performance
This report examines the ways in which office accommodation can boost economic and social value for businesses.
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© Design Council UK
Active by Design: Designing places for healthier lives
This guide, part of our Active by Design programme, makes a powerful case for taking action to tackle 21st-century health problems through the places we build.
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© Design Council UK
Buildings for Life 12
Building for Life 12 (BfL 12) is the current industry standard for the design of new housing developments.
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© Design Council UK
Designing Neighbourhood Planning
All over the country, community groups are shaping the future of their neighbourhoods. See how.
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© Design Council UK
A Design Wayfinder
In future planning authorities, applicants, their advisers and communities will be expected to take responsibility for securing good design and for taking opportunities - such as design of wayfinding and signage - to improve an area.
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© Design Council UK
Managing Green Spaces: Seven ingredients for success
England’s parks and green spaces are being managed in a context which is changing fast and fundamentally. Councils are being given greater autonomy to determine the services they provide to their communities, but this autonomy comes with significantly reduced resources.
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© Design Council UK
Community-led Public Spaces
People want a greater say in how their local parks and public spaces are managed. As budgets tighten, local authorities can maximise the help that communities offer.
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© Design Council UK
Good Design: The fundamentals
We all use the 'built environment' – buildings, streets, parks and public spaces – every day.
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© Design Council UK
Planning for Places: Delivering good design through core strategies
An efficient planning system and a good spatial plan are essential to achieving high-quality places and good design.
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© Design Council UK
Improving Ordinary Places
How can people directly influence the quality of their places they live in? Why aren’t all architects trained in public engagement so that they can respond directly to local needs?
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© Design Council UK
Building Better Homes for our Old Age
People who need care support generally want to stay in their own home - a view that carers and commissioners have come to accept.
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© Design Council UK
Evaluating Housing Proposals Step by Step
Building for Life is the national standard for well-designed homes and neighbourhoods. This guide aims to help housing designers and developers achieve the Building for Life standard in their projects.
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© Design Council UK
How Community Groups Can Improve Public Space
This guide from the CABE team at the Design Council UK is for anyone getting involved in a public space project for the first time.
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© Design Council UK
Creating an Open Space Strategy: A guide to best practice
Drawing on CABE at Design Council UK's five-year history of support across England to those producing open space strategies, this guide clarifies the value and benefits of a strategic approach to open spaces.
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© Design Council UK
Sustainable Design, Climate Change and the Built Environment
Tackling climate change involves creating sustainable places. The construction and use of the built environment currently accounts for around half of national carbon emissions. But there are planning, design and management solutions to climate change, if we use design as a problem-solving process.
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© Design Council UK
Helping Local People Choose Good Design
This report marks the end of the first year of an affiliation between CABE and the eight leading design review panels in England.
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© Design Council UK