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Design is open

Updated Wednesday, 8 April 2026

Design is Open is a series of videos with UK-based design leaders, sharing their journey as designers and their reflections on how the design world and the roles designers play is changing.

Find out more about The Open University's Design courses and qualifications.

Design is a dynamic profession. Today, design skills are needed not only in traditional design domains, but also across a variety of non-design domains and sectors, to help put creativity into action and address social and environmental challenges. 

In the UK alone, over 1.6 million people—about 1 in every 20 workers—are employed in design roles, with more than 77% applying their skills in new and sometimes unexpected areas such as healthcare, digital services, finance, business innovation, and public services (Design Council, 2022).   

Design is in demand, because it is about shaping and bringing ideas to life – ideas that can make a real difference to people, places, and the planet. Whether the challenge is about improving digital and physical connectivity, reducing social isolation in an ageing society, enabling innovation, or helping make our cities greener, design is central to developing innovative and meaningful responses. This is why design must remain open to possibilities, ideas and methods.

In the first video below, Daisy Carter and Joanna Choukeir of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce (RSA), and Rachel Bronstein from The Design Council talk about new designer roles and responsibilities and how their organisations have been supporting the development of designer skills and capabilities.

PDF document Transcript 126.4 KB

You can now listen to in-depth interviews with the designers, as they share their personal journeys and discuss different design projects.

PDF document Transcript 120.6 KB

PDF document Transcript 116.3 KB

PDF document Transcript 112.0 KB

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References

Design Council (2022) Design Economy: People, Places and Economic Value. Available at: https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/our-work/design-economy (Accessed: 8 April 2026).

 

 

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