THE big event in David Kester’s week was another boost for his constant refrain that good design is good for Britain. The chief executive of the Design Council (pictured) was just back from a typical initiative to find the next world-conquering British design icon, in the tradition of the red telephone box, the Underground map, the Spitfire and the Mini.

Kester hosted a breakfast meeting at 11 Downing Street, attended by Tom Dixon, head of design at Habitat, education secretary Alan Johnson and creative industries minister Shaun Woodward. They discussed a new national skills plan to help firms boost their performance and profits through better design.

Earlier Kester was in Sheffield to meet local business leaders to promote Designing Demand, a new Design Council-supported programme for UK firms, run in partnership with Regional Development Agencies.

Kester gave an example of how it works. A small home-cleaning products maker was being outsold on crowded supermarket shelves. After joining Designing Demand, the products were rebranded in eye-catching containers and sales rose 35%.

The UK design industry is worth more than £5 billion a year, employing some 70,000 people. The council is the government body charged with supporting it.

Kester, 43, who is paid £138,000 a year, was appointed chief executive in 2003. But his work, and that of the council, goes beyond helping firms prosper. It is also to use design to make public services more effective. For example, another of Kester’s diary dates was checking the progress of a scheme in Bolton where the NHS primary care trust is devising a strategy to help diabetes sufferers cope with the condition. The council’s designers devised a card game that patients can play. It reinforces key rules on managing the disease, such as strict attention to diet.

Moving on to the northeast, Kester was briefed on the “Low Carb Lane” scheme in Ashington, near Newcastle upon Tyne. Design Council staff are working with local people in a street to come up with a model for using their cars less.

Back in London, Kester met people from Toyota, Rank Xerox, Lego and other blue-chip companies to discuss a venture in which design-conscious firms will pass good practice on to the wider business community. In another meeting with industry figures he spoke of how firms might design objects so they can be recycled more easily.

Firms that had design at the heart of their business were more innovative, more productive and more competitive, he said.

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