Opinion BY Christian Palino

Where’s the DM in the I?

The Design Management Institute (DMI) was founded in 1975 and is described as an “international nonprofit organization that seeks to heighten awareness of design as an essential part of business strategy.” To put a more concise point on a definition of design management for this organization, they have their finger on “the business side of design.”

Lucid Brands, Continuum, LPK, and the IIT Institute of Design have been credited in collaboration with the DMI for the redefined business strategy, positioning and branding that has taken place over the past couple of years for the institute. A PDF with a lot of bullet points and diagrams can be found here.

I’ve always felt as though I was overlooking something with the previous logomark, having seen it as some sort of eye/globe/latitutde-and-longitude mash-up and thus was unable to establish an easy visual connection or reference to “design management” — a phrase that has taken on diverse meanings in recent years with the emergence of design as a discipline in business management. But that’s another conversation. Though with a little stretch, one could draw out the idea of of a focal point inside a larger global context, or an emerging pattern or plan that could resonate as strategic. That being said, it is certainly a recognizable mark who’s visual clout had grown alongside the institute’s.

Thomas Lockwood PhD, the President of DMI, on the new identity and strategic plan for expanding mission and global reach:

The idea of “connections” emerged throughout the collaborations, research, workshops, SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis and interviews… DMI has a solid, international history and has made significant contributions to the field through thought leadership strategies like conferences, seminars, publications and case studies. DMI established a three-year vision and roadmap to optimally deliver these design management resources to an international community, and further develop the 34-year old organization.
— Press Release

The new identity was unveiled at the 2009 DMI Re-Thinking… Design conference in San Francisco, and described as reinforcing DMI’s commitment to “creating and sharing knowledge about design management and the role of design in business success.” As per our usual trajectory here, I’ve looked for a way try to make a comparative assessment of the previous visual identity with the latest redesign, but I’m at a loss. Perhaps the red pixelated cube is “sharing knowledge” with the dot on the “i” of “dmi” or vice versa? Perhaps. Though outside of this elusive connection, it is difficult to reconcile what the red pixelated cube or the red dot on the “i” of “dmi” has to do with design, management, business or the institute’s mission. Or perhaps I’m just not enlightened on design management. Perhaps not.

Thanks to Joe Meiring for the tip.

DATE: Jul.14.2009CATEGORY: Non-Profit 4 COMMENTS

JWo’s comment is:

I'm seeing separate elements, not "connections," especially within the type treatment.

On Jul.30.2009 at 05:22 PM

Mark’s comment is:

The new one sort of lost that interesting line work in favor of I guess blockiness. It's lost a little of it's uniqueness. What's the blockiness/pixelness supposed to represent? I"m confused.

On Jul.30.2009 at 07:55 PM

Philadelphia birth injury lawyer’s comment is:

Really prefer the old one, the eye is way better than the blocks.

On Nov.16.2009 at 11:28 AM

Bobby’s comment is:

Meh. Like the eye much better.

On Nov.16.2009 at 12:44 PM