The Drum’s creative coverage brings design back into the fold

As we do this, the first thing to be clear about is that the creative section will still be a home for ad agencies, and we intend to continue building on our coverage of the world’s best advertising.

But just as it belongs in brands, design belongs in The Drum, too. That’s why this week, we teamed up with members of the Podge community, a haven for designers for decades, to talk about why design has a natural home at The Drum and why we want to start elevating its place in our coverage.

Why creativity needs design

If we think about the kind of people designers deal with when taking on new work or new briefs, if it’s on behalf of major brands or large enterprise, it’s likely with people at the C level, maybe CMOs. A major part of our readership.

For smaller clients, it might be business owners. Either way, at a strategic level, it’s with people who have authority for decisions on branding, marketing and experiences and who often work with agencies and partners across the creative disciplines.

Meanwhile, design agencies might be working on campaign and marketing activity, in some cases informed by brand strategy or design work they’ve done, and in others, they’re commissioning work out to ad and marketing agencies.

It doesn’t really matter how it comes about. The point is that design dovetails with the ad and marketing world. Its return to our coverage will be a complementary addition for our readers.

However, this position only considers design agencies that specialize in branding and identity work and those offering other services like UX and digital product design. There are so many other stories to tell about how different strands of the design and creative industries interface with brands.

Where the creative industries interface with brands

From design-led brands run by in-house teams to the likes of spatial design, service design and social design (design for good) – if it’s the right kind of story, then we’ll tell it.

We will be selective about the kinds of stories we tell within the creative section, often looking beyond news to deliver in-depth perspectives offering insight, analysis and opinion.

Collins chief creative officer Brian Collins is one of several new columnists we’ll be introducing to the section soon, so stay tuned for a broad range of perspectives from experts across the creative industries.

Given that we’re reintroducing design to the creative section, we thought it would be good to establish a baseline on where the design industry is today and where it’s heading. So, to help us get a snapshot of this, we invited Design Bridge and Partners chief creative officer Emma Follett and Thomas Matthews co-founder and director Sophie Thomas to rattle through some big topics.

In the video at the top of the page, you can see us tackle how design agencies of different sizes are approaching sustainability, how agencies are moving beyond existential worry to work with AI in practical ways, plus we reflect on how business is looking and whether there might be an uptick after a challenging start to 2024.