About Us
As Singapore's national agency for design, we champion the use of design to grow business, spur innovation, and improve lives.
Singapore is a nation by design. Nothing we have today is natural, or happened by itself. Somebody thought about it, made it happen.
Design is a powerful tool for change – it can generate impactful outcomes for our society, our economy and the world. At DesignSingapore, we believe that innovation and design are critical to create experiences that draw out emotion and care. We have a responsibility towards our environment and our future, and Singapore is the perfect place in the world to design the solutions that will propel the world forward.
DesignSingapore Council
At the DesignSingapore Council, we are passionate about unleashing the power of design to drive growth and economic success, bring people together and improve lives.
The design sector is poised to enhance Singapore’s value proposition and contribute to its economic growth and progress. Thus, the DesignSingapore Council was established in 2003 as the national agency that promotes design. In 2015, we were designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Design. This recognition is incorporated in our mission and is used to develop the creative culture and eco-system in Singapore to fully integrate design and creativity into everyday life.
To help us achieve this, we are guided by the Design 2025 Masterplan, with three focus areas, detailed below. The DesignSingapore Council is a subsidiary of the Singapore Economic Development Board.
Vision
Singapore to be an innovation-driven economy and a loveable city through design by 2025.
Mission
To develop the design sector, help Singapore use design for innovation and growth, and make life better in this UNESCO Creative City of Design.
Our focus
Our work focuses on three areas:
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Expand the role of design in business and government
We help organisations and enterprises use design as a strategy for business growth, and for excellent delivery of public services.
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Help everyone develop a design mindset
We nurture industry-ready talents skilled in design and innovation, and foster a design-minded workforce for the future economy.
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Develop the Singapore design brand
We advance the Singapore design brand through raising design appreciation on home ground, and making emotional connections with people across the world.
Our genesis and journey
The National Economic Review established that the creative industries were important for Singapore’s next phase of development.
Establish
We were set up under the then Ministry of Information and the Arts (MITA), now known as Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI).
Promote
We sought to develop the design sector to enhance Singapore’s value proposition, promote and enable design adoption by Singapore enterprises for economic growth, innovation and social progress. We set out our vision in the DesignSingapore I Initiative.
Enable
In this phase we continued to support the development of the design sector and support businesses in the adoption of design for innovation and productivity. We put forth our strategies and programmes in the DSG-II Strategic Blueprint of the DesignSingapore Initiative.
We moved into our home at the National Design Centre.
Focus
We put in place a bridging plan to focus on productivity and innovation in the food, retail and infocomm sectors and build the emerging design domains.
Singapore was designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Design.
Embed
We launched the 10 year Design 2025 Masterplan to further integrate design into the way we live, learn, work and play – to embed design into our workforce, businesses, government and community.
On 1 April 2019, we transferred to the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) to position design as a key driver for innovation-led economic growth and a core competency for local companies as they expand into global markets.
