Running throughout November, the initiative aims to provide opportunities for young people to gain insight into real job roles and pathways.

The DBA is encouraging as many members as possible – especially those in product and graphic design – to support Discover! this year. It’s easy to register your interest now to start getting prepared. There are many ways you and/or your business could help inspire young people, from giving a virtual talk to advising schools on how to engage with industry.

Last year, DBA member BAGGI hosted a fun and interactive brand workshop for A-level students at Strode’s College in Surrey. “We wanted to put something back locally and inspire young people to consider a career in design,” says the brand consultancy’s founder Mark Baxter.

Nurturing future talent and supporting the local community are two things BAGGI are particularly passionate about and Mark believes Discover! is an important initiative to elevate the role of design in society, “so young people can see a future that’s relevant and can make real change,” he says.

“We ran a half day workshop at Strode College,” explains Mark. The session was a mixture of practical, theoretical and team-based exercises, covering areas such as what makes an effective brand, how to approach and interrogate a brief, and the process and roles within a creative agency, as well as a fun quiz and Q&A session. There was great feedback from the students and a number have since been in contact with Mark for advice on CVs and portfolios, with BAGGI currently considering summer work experience.

The agency also works with Bucks New Uni and are extremely keen to support local talent. Of being involved in Discover! “we’re super proud” says Mark, who highlights how “hugely rewarding” it can be for a design team or business to support the initiative.

Mark encourages other agencies to be proactive – “if there’s a school or college you know, get on the front foot and reach out to them,” he says. “Make a difference in young people’s lives by getting them excited about design!” adding how participating in the Discover! programme is “also hugely energising for both sides, and the tutors too”.

“There are so many ways you can get involved, from opening-up your studio for a day, to a one-hour online or in-school talk,” says the DBA’s Chief Executive, Deborah Dawton.

“If you are passionate about design, the richness it brings to your life and the wider world, I’d really encourage you to support ‘Discover! Creative Careers Month’ this November. Simply share your enthusiasm for design – what it’s like to work in our fantastic sector – and you could inspire a young person on a path they’d never even considered before.

Help us make a difference attracting and diversifying the next generation of design talent.”

• At a time when creativity is under threat and facing cutbacks, Rama calls for creative leaders to use their inherent skills of empathy, clarity and creativity to design new models of leadership.
• Driven by a desire to make business more inclusive and to provide leaders with the ability to apply their creativity to how they lead, Rama’s book is aimed at creatives and business leaders. It’s packed full of tools to make leadership more inclusive, impactful and human-centred. 
• It’s important to recognise your strengths but also pay attention to where you may favour one approach over another – great leadership requires balance. If you naturally lead with more empathy, where can you bring in more clarity or creativity? 
• Buy Rama’s book -> Creative Leadership: How to Design the 21st-century Organisation. 
• Clive was inspired by teaching non designers about service design which led him to translate how designers think and approach challenges for a wider audience. 
• His book reframes service design for everyone, showing how putting customers front and centre and prioritising desirability first helps businesses solve the right problems, not just one part of an experience.
• When all touchpoints align around the customer, you create the conditions for lasting, customer-led transformation.
• Buy Clive’s book Redesigning Thinking: How Service Design is Solving our 21st Century Challenges with the discount code DGBREDESIGNTHINK30.

And if AI is your thing, I’m reading How to think about AI (A guide for the Perplexed) – by Richard Susskind – thoroughly recommend it!

Coming up

Our next DBA Members’ Forum is on Tuesday 5 August (Monday is a Bank Holiday in Scotland) at 4pm BST. Further details available soon.