A Founding Act for French Design Policy

Students

The first National Design Conference organised by the ministries of culture and finance were held in Paris in December, and attracted 200 participants and 1,200 contributors. The program focused on the promotion of French design, on international reputation, on the place in the national economic strategy and on training courses

“A founding act for the policy of the design industry.” These were the terms used by the event organisers to talk about the first National Design Conferences, the “result of an intense coordination work with all players of this industry” that helped lay the groundwork of the “next policy for design in France”, and helped draw a national roadmap.

Overall Upgrade

Organisers deemed the design industry still too “fragmented” in France, and they provided several propositions to improve this situation. One is the creation of the National Council of Design, which mission would be to provide the government with advice using the same template as one used for the National Council for Digital Industry. Beside this critical action, the creation of an International Grand Prize of Design, and the organisation of a France Design Week, an international and federating event designed to improve the visibility of French design, are also considered.

Domestic Economic Strategy

To improve the market position of French design, participants to the Conference wanted to put design at the heart of the government’s economic strategy and include an investment strategy from companies, particularly in key industries (innovation, climate change, digital transition). More generally, speakers say it is necessary to develop meetings between companies and designers, and make sure that Bpifrance, the national institution for company funding and development, promotes “the existence of the design aspect in any project for which help is needed”.

Campus Art Network and Training Courses

Multiple speakers also talked about training courses in Design. As the result of the French tradition of decorative arts, the current state of training in design is “diverse, and divided between public and private institutions”.

This diversity and richness are precisely what Campus France promotes with its Campus France directory, a network of 130 French higher education institutions offering training courses in art, design, fashion, music, architecture and more. The Campus Art network helps students from all over the world access over 500 art training courses at various levels (prep class, Licence, Master and PhD courses).

To know more:

- On the Conference for Design: https://www.culture.gouv.fr/Actualites/Assises-du-design-un-acte-fondateur-pour-la-politique-du-design

- On the Campus Art directory: http://www.campusart.org/accueil/le-reseau-campusart/