The Session with Mr. Michael Thomson
Speech: Current Status of European Design
Mr. Michael Thomson is the founder and a director of Design Connect in UK. He has been currently active in British design field as a design facilitator and other positions to promote design. He had been at the position of a board member of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design from the year 2001 through 2005.
Mr. Thomson had visited Japan as a design ambassador requested by Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP). Together with GK’s request to him for a speech at GK about recent European design and his own will to visit GK made the session possible. The speech was about the current situation of European design, centered by a practical case of European Commission’s try, to adopt an effective design policy.
Mr. Michael Thomson:
The founder and a director of Design Connect (1995) in UK.
He has been working since the establishment of Design Connect in British design field as a designer, a facilitator, a strategist for many international clients such as Tupperware, Dyson, Samsung and so on.
He also has been active in cooperation, as a specialist of a national design policy, with many design promotional entities from different regions and nations such as UK, Asia, Australia, Iceland, Ireland, Italy and Katal. He has been leading the adoption of a design policy as an important governmental issue for European Commission. As a result, Mr. Thomson had succeeded in making the Bureau of European Design Associations (BEDA) to have management- autonomy to include design in the innovation strategy first time in Europe in 2010.
Had been the representative of BEDA from 2007 through 2009.
Also, responsible as a board member of ICSID from 2001 to 2005.