Design Bulldozer (finished)

The Design Bulldozer was a development programme for businesses. Running the programme with an experienced design manager helped companies to take advantage of design in the best possible way.

The programme consisted of two major stages:

1. Design audit and establishing the terms of reference. The design manager performs a design audit in the company by talking to the key employees of the company, and – if possible – with its clients and cooperation partners. The aim of the audit is to define the company’s options in developing its use of design. The results are used to set the terms of reference for initial design purchases and to find a suitable cooperation partner for the work.

2. Design process. The chosen cooperation partner carries out the design brief, and the design manager supports the company throughout the process. The role of the design manager is to be the company’s advocate and the design agency’s interpreter from start to finish.

This gives companies the chance to work with experienced design managers – finding them for cooperation is not easy under normal circumstances. The key to the success of the programme is the company’s readiness to use its resources, both financial and HR, to notice good ideas and make them come true.

A few examples of the outcome of design work:  

- Identity that supports the company’s strategic edge

- Involving design in the early stages of product/service development

- New kind of user experience (process innovation)

- More accurate product positioning

- Clearer story presentation

- Modern visual solutions

- An organised product portfolio

The beginning of Design Bulldozer 

The Design Bulldozer was first launched in 2012 and lasted until 2014, with ten entrepreneur and designer pairs participating. 

Companies: law firm SORAINEN, Baltika, Datel, Decoreter (Alpaka), Elvior, Meiren Engineering, Proekspert, Regio, Port of Tallinn, Wendre. 

Design managers Markko Karu, J. Margus Klaar, Jukka Halttunen, Monika Järg, Hegle Sarapuu, Martin Pärn, Janno Siimar, Ionel Lehari, Jannus Jaska, and Joel Volkov cooperated with the companies.  

Marko Sverdlik from Proekspert had this to say after the programme: “At first, we just wanted to give our brand a fresher feel, but we ended up changing the entire structure of the company.” 

Many essential structural changes took place in the companies over the course of the programme – read more in our design blog. A year on since the end of the programme, the essential changes in several companies have led to visual results. The best examples are the renewed websites of Proekspert, Datel, Wendre and Alpaka. 

See the Design Bulldozer film here.

The 2012–2014 Design Bulldozer programme was supported by Enterprise Estonia through the European Regional Development Fund. 

More information:
info@disainikeskus.ee