The RSA

The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce was founded in 1754 to encourage the development of a principled and prosperous society. The Marketing Trust has been a generous supporter of the RSA's UK/ Europe wide student design award programme for a number of years.

The Design Directions scheme on average attracts over 2000 entries each year from over 100 colleges (including several from mainland Europe) and across a wide range of disciplines. It is one of the biggest student design competitions in the UK.

Marketing, in its broadest sense, is at the heart of the Design Directions scheme, since its primary focus is the development and promotion of creative and innovative services, systems and products that have the potential to enter the market.

Susan Hewer, Head of Design at RSA commented, "The Marketing Trust's ability and prescience to commit to funding for the programme over planned four year periods has contributed to the RSA having the flexibility to plan strategically and ambitiously for the future of the scheme. Such funding has contributed hugely towards helping to develop more ground-breaking projects than ever before, challenging students in new, developing areas, and re-defining the role of the designer in society."

The Marketing Trust has been supporting the RSA since 1996 and in 2008, the RSA was awarded further funding by the Trust for another four years for the Design Directions scheme. The competition challenges young designers to consider their future professional role and responsibilities in the broadest context and to recognise how wide societal benefits can be delivered through the development, application and promotion of innovative and creative ideas for systems, services and products.

www.rsa.org.uk

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