Toward a Design-led Entrepreneurial Framework

A likely route to employment in the communication design sector is self-employment, be that in practice or as free-lance. Communication designers form, manage, and run their design enterprises. Therefore these individuals are design entrepreneurs. Communication design is a business, and like any other type of business, these practices must make a profit to survive and grow. However, the literature on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial theories have tended to ignore design as an enterprise. Designers have identified skill deficits that center around entrepreneurial and business management skills, which would seem to be hindering the growth and sustainability of individual creative enterprises and the sector as a whole. However, there would seem to be a previously unconnected relationship between the entrepreneurial and design processes which may address the deficit in business skills within creative enterprises. Design entrepreneurs are different from other forms of entrepreneurs as the design entrepreneur is inextricably linked to what they do and their product offering. This paper investigates the relationship between design and entrepreneurship and
proposes a design-specific entrepreneurial framework for creative enterprises.