The need to organize the design industry through a national professional organization is expressed and emphasized within the community of design practitioners as well as among national design organizations and politicians. Unlike, for example, architects (Architects Sweden), artists (The Artists’ Association of Sweden, KRO) and illustrators/graphic designers (Svenska Tecknare), the design profession is an unorganized field (group of practitioners) in Sweden. There is no collective trade union or national professional association dedicated to safeguarding the designers' professional role, working conditions and promoting their interests towards politicians, policy makers, employers and clients.
For many years, Form/Design Center has worked with design industry development efforts in close dialogue with design practitioners in southern Sweden. There is a strong collegial spirit within the design community and a willingness to join forces and gather around common issues in order to achieve more together. Against this background and the fact that the demand for design professionals to organize is greater than ever, we want to investigate how Form/Design Center can contribute to a professional organization for designers coming into place.
Welcome to an open industry meeting where we gather around the issue and together explore why a national professional association is needed, what role such an organization needs to fulfill and what interest and potential member basis exists for one to be established.
