MAXIMISING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

DAS aims to strengthen and become a stronger platform to grow business opportunities, to open new markets and to secure industry partners that can help our design SMEs succeed internationally.

The Challenges

• Lack of financing to grow design businesses
• Lack of know-how to grow design businesses
• Lack of a platform to partner with other design disciplines for regional projects
• Lack of a central platform to secure professional design services
• Lack of professional standards in the industry

Our Strategy

PROMOTING DESIGNERS AND DESIGN COMPANIES

The Singapore Design Awards will be launched this year as an annual event to promote professional standards, feature outstanding design companies and raise the stature of member companies. In addition to this, we will launch the Singapore Designers Day. It will celebrate the role of designers in everyday living, work and play.

FINANCING SUPPORT

We are working closely with relevant government agencies such as DesignSingapore, Spring Singapore and IE Singapore to secure grants for our design SMEs. We will also build relationships with financial institutions and profile our member companies.

KNOW-HOW TO GROW DESIGN BUSINESSES

We are partnering with academic institutions to provide business management skills to our SME owners and secure government funding to back up these courses. We will also build a job search service, which can be outsourced to an external vendor, into our website to ensure that the right talents join our member companies.

A CENTRAL PLATFORM TO PARTNER WITH OTHERS

We will build a partnership with IE Singapore to secure regional opportunities and participate in trade visits as a group. We will also feature a market alert so that interested members can participate and find relevant opportunities and partners. We will also work with other business chambers to secure relevant business partners and expand our economic space.

AN ENHANCED PLATFORM TO FEATURE PROFESSIONAL DESIGNERS AND COMPANIES

The DAS website will become a credible business portal to feature individual designers and professional companies. We will also recast Designer magazine to be the official magazine for the DAS community. Designer magazine will present the latest trends and relevant insights and will be integrated into the official DAS website to create a seamless experience. Companies interested to engage professional designers can also broadcast opportunities.

PROFESSIONAL DESIGN MARK

We will promote a professional standards mark for members to adopt voluntarily. It will be different from accreditation and will be managed by all the ex-presidents of the DAS. Adopting the mark will show that the individual or company subscribes to the shared professional standards of the DAS. This will make it easier for companies to make a decision when selecting a professional designer or firm.