INTRODUCTION

The Design Strategy and Action Plan 2018-2020 ("Plan") was published in the Official Gazette dated June 28, 2018 and numbered 30462. The Plan has been prepared by Science, Industry and Technology Ministry ("Ministry") and approved and published by High Planning Council. The vision has been determined as being a global brand of Turkish designs and accordingly the 5 main objectives and 20 actions are identified in order to achieve this vision. Accordingly, it is expected that;

  1. Company capacities will be developed in order to increase the quality and quantity of the design sector,
  2. The effectiveness of the current support will be increased,
  3. The transformation in design training will be provided, and
  4. The Design Council will be more effective within the implementation of the actions.

MAIN OBJECTIVES

a. The design management, production and usage capacity of the public and private sector shall be developed

Under this objective, Turkish Design Advisory Council ("Council") shall operate more actively. The informative and instructive activities regarding effective management of the design processes shall be organized by Turkish Patent and Trademark Office ("TÜRKPATENT") and provided to the Council and there will be 12 events in one year. Furthermore, training programs including design making, developing and managing shall be provided by professional designers or academicians for R&D and Design Centres personnel and this training will be provided to at least 100 R&D and Design Centres every year. And most importantly, the Design Valley shall be established:

  • Establishment of the Design Valley
    Design Valley shall be established by either Ministry or TÜRKPATENT. The buildings and centres located in the Design Valley shall fulfil the design related information, data, research and consulting needs of the companies. The buildings such as design studios, national design research centres and design library shall be established, and thus it will be provided that the designers and industry will be able to operate interactively. In this scope, the location shall be determined, and feasibility report will be prepared. The regions where the design activities are more intense shall be considered while determining the location for Design Valley.

b. The effectiveness of the design support shall be increased and the entrepreneurship in the design field shall be supported

According to this objective, Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology and Ministry of Development shall together prepare reports regarding the analyse of the current design supports and they shall bring proposal for improvement. As per the outputs of the prepared analyse reports, the necessary regulations shall be made on the support mechanisms. The industrial design shall be included to the R&D and product development and commercialization supports as an evaluation criterion. The design academicians and professionals shall participate to the election and evaluation board with respect to design-required R&D and product projects.

c. The human resources capacity and quality shall be increased in the design field

As per this objective, the professional competence of the "Technology and Design" instructors shall be increased in the design field. In the undergraduate and graduate education, the majors which have same content, but different names shall be gathered under the same name, and the name recommendation will be advisory. Furthermore, the necessary measures regarding increasing of the design education quality at the undergraduate and graduate level shall be taken and accreditation system shall be created.

d. The visibility and awareness of the Turkish design at the national and international level shall be increased

Seven different actions were determined in detail in order to actualize this objection. Accordingly, the communication strategy regarding the international recognition of the Turkish design shall be determined and implemented.

In this scope, the design emphasis shall be increased under the roof of "Turkey Discover the Potential" and, "Turkey Design Week Event" and "Design Turkey Industrial Design Awards" shall be organized every year regularly. In this respect, the written and visual materials regarding the increasing of the design awareness shall be created and accordingly at least 3 productions such as short-films, cartoon film, documentary and news shall be prepared in one year. Turkish designers shall be introduced at the national and the international level. Moreover, joint organizations with the international design institutions and councils shall be organized. The events increasing the design awareness shall be organized at the Science Centres. Last but not least, Turkish World Design Council shall be organized, and Design Museum shall be established:

  • Turkish World Design Council
    The Turkish World Design Council shall be established within the purpose of evaluation and increasing of Turkish design in the Turkish culture geography. This first event will be held on 2019 and after will be held biyearly.
  • Design Museum
    The Design Museum shall be established so as to record the production and design processes regarding the original product design in Turkey from the past to the present and to create Turkish design storage by gathering object and archives material.

    This action is similar to the Design Policy of the European Union which regulates that the methods using in the introduction of the design will be differentiated.

e.Decision-making processes shall be supported and oriented by developing information and data capacity related to design

This objective includes 3 different tailored actions. In this scope, the sector analysis of the design activities in Turkey shall be made. And furthermore, Turkey's design culture elements and local funds of knowledge shall be recorded. Most importantly, data set related to design shall be determined and design inventory database shall be created.

The data inventory and data sets to be used in the inventory shall be created. In addition to this, the data obtained through data sets shall be recorded on database. And last, the current data shall be monitored through the database.

CONCLUSION

Within the implementation of strategies and actions designated under the Plan, the Council will execute the studies regarding;

  • Establishment of the infrastructure in order to implement the determined policies
  • Creating high value-added designs
  • Ensuring that Turkish design and designers will be preferable in the global market
  • Providing the industrial-designer cooperation
  • Creating "Turkish design" image

Last, within the scope of the Plan, web designs and coding, digital game designs and computer-supported designs and animations are design-related items, and further, public-private partnership is supported in the Plan.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.