Described by Design Week as an accolade that ‘recognises individuals within design who have made a significant contribution to the industry; have provided inspiration and incisive thinking; or who have simply created consistently brilliant work. It aims to acknowledge people who are still making a key contribution to design today.’

Deborah said, on accepting the award “Whatever I can do at the DBA to keep you at the top of your game, is my mission. So keep doing what you do, reach ever higher in your aspirations because that’s motivation for me and the amazing team at the DBA. Thank you Design Week for this award. I’m honoured and humbled by it.”

Here’s what Design Week had to say on Deborah’s inclusion in their Hall of Fame:

“Deborah Dawton has made a major contribution to the industry on two fronts. 

One part of her work involves helping designers and design consultancies establish best practice, so that they can become more effective and aware of their rights, and the other is concerned with raising the profile of design, showing how it can help shape businesses so that they can grow by unlocking commercial effectiveness when design is invested in them. 

She has done this on the domestic and global stage for more than 15 years in her current role and like Design Week, the DBA, the organisation that she spearheads, looks to represent the needs and interests of designers. 

A four-year stint at BEDA – the Bureau of European Design Associations – saw Dawton work from 2009 to 2013 promoting the value of design and the design economy to the European Union and its contribution to the European economy. 

The real task was trying to embed design within innovation across Europe. One marker of the success of this was €6m (£5m) of investment in design-driven programmes.

Dawton, who trained as a designer, spent 10 years in charge of her own design events business, from 1993 to 2003. It was here that she really cut her teeth, running events with and for the likes of D&AD (Design and Art Direction) and the Design Council and the Design Museum. 

Today, she knows the industry intimately and is truly an expert. If Design Week ever wants a comment on something important affecting designers, Dawton is always there with a thoughtful and well-considered comment.” 

For more details on the Design Week Awards and Deborah and Rama’s inclusion in the Hall of Fame head here.

DBA Design Effectiveness Awards

The annual DBA Design Effectiveness Awards are both prestigious and authoritative, covering the broad spectrum of the design industry by measuring entries against their own design brief metrics and not against each other.

By integrating business aims and objectives from the start of the partnership, you set the stage for a transparent and accountable relationship between client and designer that provides the best creative and commercial environment for success. Award-winning case studies serve to demonstrate the excellent value for money and return on investment that a coherent, well-thought-out and professionally executed design strategy can achieve.

Find out more and read previous winning case studies at effectivedesign.org.uk

DBA Design Effectiveness Awards 2021

The deadline for entries this year will be Friday 27 November 2020. Click here to find out more.

Minister for Investment, Graham Stuart, MP said, “The new strategy is about taking the phenomenal exporting success of our world leading creative sector and turbo-charging it further.”

The CITIB strategy can be read in full here.

Chief Executive of the Design Business Association, Deborah Dawton, sits on the Creative Industries Trade and Investment Board (CITIB) representing the design sector. “Let’s showcase to the world, the breadth and depth of what we’re capable of creating and the impact that follows. We can change the fortunes of businesses of any size; we can change the behaviours of their customers; we can change the attitudes of society towards an issue.

“With the CITIB’s strategy set to boost creative industries goods and service exports by 50% by 2023, as an industry we should seize this opportunity to grow recognition globally of the difference design makes to the businesses and organisations who invest in it. The Creative Industries are the calling card for Britain abroad and the DBA is supporting DBA members, through our alignment and work with CITIB and DIT, to be a pivotal part of that and to grow members’ reach internationally.”

CITIB’s strategy has identified five key strategic markets that should be prioritised in the years ahead – China, USA, Europe, Middle East and Japan.

Currently DBA members can sign up via the DBA to be part of a major export mission to Hong Kong in December this year – email adam.fennelow@dba.org.uk for more information.

About CITIB

The CITIB was set up following the launch of the £150 million Creative Industries Sector Deal – part of the Government’s modern Industrial Strategy.

Its role is to develop and oversee delivery of an export strategy and explore, support and advise on high-value opportunities for Inward Investment and Foreign Direct Investment.

The industry-led initiative aims to stimulate trade in one of the UK’s most exciting sectors and continue a great British success story.

Members of CITIB include Adam Mansell, CEO of UK Fashion & Textile Association, British Fashion Council CEO Caroline Rush, Design Business Association CEO Deborah Dawton, Royal Institute of British Architects CEO Alan Vallance and British Film Institute CEO Amanda Nevill.

As a result of £1 million additional government funding CITIB members have already helped to promote the UK’s creative sector in 10 countries including China and the United States, generating a pipeline of more than £200 million of export opportunities. More than 250 UK companies have also been supported in developing their own export strategies.

The UK’s thriving Creative Industries are now worth over £100 billion to the UK economy and the Board will amplify this success around the world.

The first ever UK Creative Industries Trade and Investment Board (CITIB) strategy was published last week, pledging to boost creative industries goods and service exports by 50% by 2023.

Referencing the industry led strategy at the Createch conference as part of London Tech Week, Digital and Creative Industries Minister Margot James said, “The UK’s booming Creative Industries are a real success story, with the sector contributing more than £100 billion to the economy. We are delivering a Britain that works for everyone, and by sharing our skills and expertise with the rest of the world this strategy will give us the chance to deliver more growth opportunities in the years ahead.”

Annette King, Chair of the Creative Industries Trade and Investment Board said, “The UK is a world leader in the Creative Industries thanks to both the wealth of talent we have here, and that we attract from across the globe. By continuing to build on the success of our small businesses this strategy begins a new stage in our industry’s relationship with Government, where we work together to drive the success of our vibrant and exciting industry.”

The Strategy was published alongside the Creative Industries Council’s (CIC) top 50 Createch companies ‘ones to watch’ report.

Over 60% of users have used the ‘Calm Harm’ app more than once and 93% report a reduction in the urge to self harm after completing one of its exercises. It’s been downloaded around a million times across the world in more than 170 countries.

Free to use and designed to be discreet and anonymous, the app offers young people options such as distraction techniques or breathing techniques to help them overcome the urge to self harm.

Sixteen year old India says Calm Harm has made a huge difference to her. “When I have an uncomfortable situation, or start to get panicked, or have an urge, I will get my phone, I will choose an activity from it like ‘express’ or ‘distract’ or ‘comfort’, and I’ll have a go at it, and if it doesn’t work the first time, I’ll have another go and pick a different activity, and then I’ll log it in my journal and write down how I was feeling and what triggered it, so that the next time, I can go look at it.” You can hear more from India in the DBA film here. 

Dr Nihara Krause is founder and CEO of stem4, the charity behind the app. “Self harm is a major issue at the moment. It’s a behaviour young people use to communicate something – most often communicate distress – and we do need to provide some sort of tool to manage that, because our traditional services are very stretched. As a result, the threshold for acceptance for treatment is very high, and providing a digital tool that young people can use that is validated and follows scientific principles, is actually something that is very beneficial.

“The collaboration with HMA has made a huge difference to the effectiveness and distribution of the app. They worked with young people to get an idea of what would be appealing to young people. Because the app is so user friendly, it has been downloaded across the world in about 171 countries, and we have currently just under a million downloads. When we first released the app we had 24,000 downloads, and promotion of the app has primarily been by young people, through social media in particular.’

Nicola Tiffany is from HMA “Calm Harm is an amazing project to work on and the difference the app and stem4’s work in general is making to people’s lives is just incredible. Winning a Gold DBA award and getting recognition for the part that design played in its success is extremely rewarding and I am so proud of the HMA team for delivering such a fantastic project.”

Judging

Founder and CEO of London and Partners, Laura Citron is one of the FTSE 100 judges from the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards 2019.

“Unfortunately, self harm among young people is a really serious issue and I think I and the rest of the judges were really impressed by the way this team had used design to make something really effective and had involved young people in the creation of the design, that was clearly very powerful, and that they had achieved so much on such a small budget. Hugely impressive.”

“For this demographic, for teenagers, we know they are linked to their phones like umbilical cords and it’s quite normal for them to go to their phones, or to their friends through their phones, or to services, for everyday things like shopping or socialising, but also to get help about very personal sensitive issues. And the team who designed this were really sensitive to that and to the fact that people wanted to be anonymous – in the way that they designed, in the way that it collected digital information, and in the way that they designed a logo, that it wasn’t immediately obvious what it is – they had really understood how vulnerable young people use services on their phone.”

“In this case we can see that it’s design that’s having a really big impact on how powerful this app can be. This is a hugely important issue and we know that there are many many young people who can’t access face to face counselling services for whatever reason, so to be able to have an app that’s free to use that can help them to resist the urge to self harm is incredibly important.”

Design Business Association

The Design Business Association (DBA) is the world’s most vocal champion of the role of effective design in the creation of business growth. The most important way of communicating the value of design is by measuring its true effectiveness.

The annual DBA Design Effectiveness Awards are both prestigious and authoritative, covering the broad spectrum of the design industry by measuring entries against their own design brief metrics and not against each other.

By integrating business aims and objectives from the start of the partnership, you set the stage for a transparent and accountable relationship between client and designer that provides the best creative and commercial environment for success. Award-winning case studies serve to demonstrate the excellent value for money and return on investment that a coherent, well-thought-out and professionally executed design strategy can achieve.

DBA Design Effectiveness Awards 2021

The deadline for entries this year will be Friday 27 November 2020. Click here to find out more.

Cadbury Advent Calendar

Calm Harm

Eve Sleep

The Clock Gym

Govan Community Project

Harvey's Brewery

Third Space

Rural India presents a big opportunity for oral care brands. As awareness of oral health grows, people are looking for alternatives to the less effective toothpowder they have always used and sales of toothbrushes are increasing, up by 11% across India.

With the nascent market growing at pace, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) recognised that gaining early access with a new toothbrush for sensitive teeth could potentially deliver significant market share growth. But with low household incomes, price is a major barrier.

To persuade consumers to buy into the Sensodyne brand, the challenge for GSK and agency DCA Design International was to create a toothbrush specifically designed for the Indian market that would retail at the low-cost of no more than 30 rupees. That’s about 30 pence; and is a price considerably cheaper than any of GSK’s existing toothbrushes on the market. 

In order to reach the target market, a vast and diverse network of small, independent store owners who only sell low cost items, would also need to be persuaded to stock the toothbrush. Whilst overcoming the price barrier was key, for GSK it was also fundamental that the toothbrush design retained the Sensodyne brand’s quality features and design cues; it needed to be ergonomic, with a high-quality look and feel. The strategic approach to the project was defined by finding a low-cost way of designing and manufacturing a toothbrush that didn’t compromise on quality. 

It resulted in a skilful and holistic design approach which meticulously unpicked the entire process behind the design and manufacture of a toothbrush to meet these objectives, identifying as many efficiencies throughout the supply chain as possible. This fully integrated process led to the creation of a product that eliminates price as a barrier and has successfully persuaded rural dwellers to trial a more premium product. The number of Sensodyne Daily Care toothbrushes sold in the first six months alone exceeded delivery forecasts four times over, with the toothbrush encouraging millions of people to change their oral hygiene routine.   

Merchandised using a simple point-of-sale hanger, attached to an existing shelf in the store, the toothbrush has to work hard by itself to catch shoppers’ attention and successfully stands out in a visually cluttered store environment. With its premium cues and bright colours, it is attractive, affordable, and communicates Sensodyne’s visual brand language and the product’s value proposition. 

The smart use of materials and innovative design ensure the toothbrush is featherweight, weighing in at just 9.4 grams (7.6 grams less than industry standard) making it more efficient to produce and transport. The design solution’s manufacturing cycle is exceptionally rapid (37% faster than a typical toothbrush) and despite being made using 45% less material, it’s still premium looking, feels like a toothbrush should, and cleans sensitive teeth effectively. 

These efficiencies have enabled crucial savings to be passed onto the consumer at point of sale. As a result, the Sensodyne Daily Care toothbrush is cost effective enough for thousands of small store owners, scattered across rural India, to sell and its driven wider distribution, increasing Sensodyne’s toothbrush retail outlets by 17%. 

Crucially, as a direct result of the success of the low-cost, lightweight, premium-looking toothbrush, Sensodyne has increased its share of the toothbrush market in India. It’s opened up a whole new market for GSK and established the brand with a new segment of consumers.

About the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards

Founded in 1989, the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards recognise impactful, wide-ranging examples of design that have had a tangible and measurable impact upon business and societal success. Judged by a broad range of business leaders and entered jointly by client and designer, the Awards draw focus onto design’s strategic and commercial value to business and society.

Prestigious and authoritative, the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards is the only award scheme that uses commercial data as a key judging criteria. Nowhere is the quality and effectiveness of the design industry’s offer more evident than across the case studies recognised in the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards.

To read about the 2019 DBA Design Effectiveness Award winners announced at the ceremony on Wednesday 12 June, or for details of next year’s awards programme, go to www.effectivedesign.org.uk

Grand Prix winner

Winner of the prestigious Grand Prix this year was the Sensodyne Daily Care Toothbrush, by DCA Design International and GlaxoSmithKline.

And they had plenty to smile about, as the Sensodyne Daily Care Toothbrush is 37% faster to produce than a standard toothbrush, uses 45% less material and is significantly lighter to transport, delivering crucial cost savings. In creating a quality toothbrush which can retail at an affordable price, GlaxoSmithKline and DCA Design International have overcome price as a barrier to the emerging rural Indian market and exceeded delivery forecasts four times over in the first six months alone.

 Gold, Silver and Bronze winners

Golds went to 8 winners, including Calm Harm, a life-saving app for young people at risk of self harm. Design agency HMA and client stem4 celebrated downloads of around a million across the world in more than 170 countries. Over 60% of users have used the ‘Calm Harm’ app more than once and 93% report a reduction in the urge to self-harm after completing one of its exercises.

Gold also went to Anglian Water and design agency Spring’s funfair-themed, interactive, community event, which captured the imagination of the public. Over three million people were reached, and there were over 20,000 actual interactions – three times more than the target – thanks to the radically different corporate communications.

And following the launch of Quorn’s new look by Bulletproof, two million new customers have tried the brand for the first time. To keep up with demand, one hundred more employees have been hired and £150 million invested in a new production capacity, earning it a Gold award too.

There were also 33 Silvers and 18 Bronze awards, click here for the full winners list.

Deborah Dawton is Chief Executive of the Design Business Association. “Uniquely, the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards are entered jointly by both client and agency and determined on the evidence and data of the impact design has had in those businesses. Three rigorous rounds of judging culminate on the final Grand Prix winner being selected by CEOs of FTSE 100 companies.

We bring the best and brightest of the design world together to celebrate the difference design makes, its impact measured across a broad section of industry, from global brands to small charities, all of whom saw the benefit that embedding design can bring.”

Clive Grinyer was Chairman of the Judges for the first time this year. “For all these companies and organisations, design was fundamental to their success and the driver of differentiation. Whether competing in complex markets, improving customer satisfaction or striving for social improvement, it was clear that for every entry there was never any doubt that it was design that made the difference.

These are great days for design, great human talent from around world centred in the UK to create design impact in commerce, government, the services we use and the products we buy.”

Photos

You can find all the photos of the Awards Ceremony here.

Design Business Association

The Design Business Association is the world’s most vocal champion of the role of effective design in the creation of business growth. The most important way of communicating the value of design is by measuring its true effectiveness.

The annual DBA Design Effectiveness Awards are both prestigious and authoritative, covering the broad spectrum of the design industry by measuring entries against their own design brief metrics and not against each other.

By integrating business aims and objectives from the start of the partnership, you set the stage for a transparent and accountable relationship between client and designer that provides the best creative and commercial environment for success. Award-winning case studies serve to demonstrate the excellent value for money and return on investment that a coherent, well-thought-out and professionally executed design strategy can achieve.