International Design Liaison Center

A Point for Ongoing-Human-Resources-Training: The Design Liaison Center

Twenty-first century society requires an application of the concepts and methodologies of design in an incredibly wide variety of situations. This means that the roles of designers have changed by the minute as industry grows and develops.
At the same time, designers are being asked to achieve greater diversity and sophistication in the substance of their designs. For example, new areas of design that did not exist just a couple of decades ago have arisen, especially universal design, user interface design, and sustainable design.
In considering the education of human resources for design, we find that more multi-faceted and continuing, lifelong training methods are being required. The academic study of design should have a similar structure to that of economics or business administration, such as MBA programs aimed at working adults or behavioral economics, which arose out of observations of consumer behavior. It might be fair to say that a continuing, lifelong educational system and architectonics set in which industry and design influence one another will be parts of the essential structure for educating human resources for design.

However, it is doubtful that such a structure exists in contemporary Japan. There are many issues connected with the education of human resources for design, such as the lack of a continuing education system for working adults, insufficient design management education closely connected with economics and business administration programs, and the lack of a global training system, based on educational and research institutions in every nation.
Thinking in those terms, we can assume that two essential elements that should be promoted when educating human resources for design are integrating theories developed through education and research with the practices of industry, and forming international alliances.

Given this, the Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization (JIDPO) received support from Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd., the developer of the Tokyo Midtown complex, to open the International Design Liaison Center, a base for international alliances, on March 30, 2007.
We believe that the International Design Liaison Center will be able to serve as an international base for educating human resources and will be able to use various design-centered alliances between industry and educational and research institutions to link theory and practice while supporting programs that "grow" personnel for the design profession.