Branding American design

Can a service or process be branded as American? And is there value in that brand? The creators of a new certification mark, "Designed in USA", say yes.

RKS, the California based design consultancy headed by Ravi K. Sawhney, created and released the "Designed in USA" mark. Like the "Made in the USA" standard that certifies American manufactured products, the Designed in USA mark is meant to identify and establish the American brand for goods, services, and environments designed in the United States.

The creators hope to brand the services of American industrial, communications, architectural, and interior designers and increase recognition of the value of American design.

According to Sawhney, "Better branding our design community is one simple but powerful step to make our voice and value better known. I hope the creation and use of this brand will be a catalyst for a broader emergence of recognition, pride and optimism for the incredible things designers are creating every day in America because of our diversity, ingenuity and spirit."

Bill Moggridge, Director of the Smithsonian/Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum adds that "From Apple to Zipcar, creative design is at the heart of entrepreneurial success in the USA."

The mark is available to be used by designers and design companies for free as long as they meet the following criteria:

1. The designer or design company must design all, or virtually all, aspects of their offerings in the United States.

2. The designer or design company has been operating domestically for 12 months.

3. The designer or design company has not received unsatisfactory ratings from an applicable product/service rating company or government agency.

4. The designer or design company must retain evidence that designs are domestically produced with no, or negligible, foreign contribution.

Via: Dexigner

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com