DBA Member Forum | December Summary

Here’s a summary, prepared under Chatham House Rule, to give you a flavour of the responses: 

• Collaboration creates possibilities none of us can reach alone. Whether it’s joining industry events or engaging in global movements, getting involved in the design community is key to shaping the future.
• ‘What’s stopping you from starting today.’ If the idea is good then the time is now. Asking yourself this question often can reveal what’s holding you back and help you make real progress.
• Great design deserves great impact; measuring how iconic a brand is can elevate design to a strategic level and inspire teams to aim higher.
• Global markets offer major opportunities for UK design. For more on developing cultural fluency and designing for new markets, be sure to join our next forum on 12 January. 
• How will you make sustainability part of what you do? Small actions create significant changes and designers have both the agency and the responsibility to champion circularity and push industry and government to do better. 
• If you’re involved in the development of products, check this out. Read a global call to action on circularity in The Circularity Gap Report 2025.
• AI isn’t here to replace creativity, but to give you more time for the human connection and conversations that create real meaning. Automate the unloved tasks and create more space for in-person interaction in 2026.
• True leadership requires endurance, reflection, and frameworks that help people grow. We must build the next generation, support them and set them up for success with ways of tracking and measuring their own performance. The DBA’s Twenty/Twenty mentoring programme can help here too.

Our next DBA Member Forum is on Monday 12 January at our new time of 1.30pm GMT.