Designers’ confidence in economy bouncing back

NEW YORK, May 11, 2009. AIGA’s Design Leaders Confidence Index for the first quarter of 2009—based on responses from 317 design leaders working in various types of practices—has gained slightly from the previous quarter, increasing from 54 to 67, suggesting a bottoming out of the profession’s concerns over the economy. The benchmark for judging this index is 100, where the confidence level was when AIGA began tracking this information, in April 2005. The current confidence level mirrors the attitudes of a year ago.

In terms of the design economy, 56 percent feel the economy is worse now than it was six months ago, yet they are slightly more optimistic about the design economy than they are about the economy as a whole. However, only 14 percent believe the design economy will weaken over the next six months and 48 percent feel it will improve moderately or substantially. Thirty-seven percent believe it will be about the same. This is very similar to their perception of the potential performance of the overall economy.

Two out of five design leaders believe that their likelihood of adding new staff is less than it was on January 1, 2009; only 14 percent feel they are more likely to add staff now than they had anticipated at the start of the quarter.

AIGA’s survey uses the same methodology as the Conference Board Measure of CEO Confidence, which had declined to a historical low last quarter, but posted a gain in the first quarter of 2009. The Conference Board measure now stands at 30, up from 24 last quarter (a reading of more than 50 points reflects more positive than negative responses). The survey includes about 100 business leaders in a wide range of industries.

“CEOs remain pessimistic about current conditions, but have grown more optimistic about the short-term outlook,” says Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “This improved outlook, however, does not extend to the labor market. The majority of chief executives still expect employment levels to decline further in the coming months.”

CEOs’ overall assessment of current economic conditions remains quite pessimistic, with no business leaders stating conditions had improved compared to six months ago. In assessing their own industries, business leaders remained pessimistic. Only one percent claim conditions are better, the same as in the final quarter of 2008.

When looking ahead six months, CEOs’ outlook improved. Now 17 percent of business leaders expect economic conditions to improve in the next six months, up from approximately 11 percent last quarter. Expectations for their own industries were also less pessimistic, with more than 26 percent of CEOs anticipating an improvement in the months ahead, up from about 12 percent last quarter.

The next Design Leaders Confidence Survey will be conducted in mid-July 2009.

For more information, visit www.aiga.org/confidence-index.

About AIGA

AIGA, the professional association for design, is the oldest and largest membership association for design professionals engaged in the discipline, practice and culture of designing. AIGA’s mission is to advance designing as a professional craft, strategic tool and vital cultural force.

Founded in 1914, AIGA is the preeminent professional association for communication designers, broadly defined. In the past decade, designers have increasingly been involved in creating value for clients (whether public or business) through applying design thinking to complex problems, even when the outcomes may be more strategic, multidimensional and conceptual than what most would consider traditional communication design. AIGA now represents more than 22,000 designers of all disciplines through national activities and local programs developed by 64 chapters and 240 student groups.

AIGA supports the interests of professionals, educators and students who are engaged in the process of designing. The association is committed to stimulating thinking about design, demonstrating the value of design and empowering success for designers throughout the arc of their careers.

For further information, please contact:
Jennifer Bender
Manager, communications and marketing
AIGA | the professional association for design
Tel 212 807 1990   Fax 212 807 1799