The Danish Design Center (DDC) was founded to focus on the value of Danish design to boost exports and turnover in Danish businesses and industries. The emphasis was on industrial design, which was mainly promoted in the form of objects designed for industrial production with function and aesthetics as the key parameters. Danish Modern was the ideal, and the finest products were rewarded with the ID Prize.

Based in the domicile of the Confederation of Danish Industry on Town Hall Square, DDC hosted lectures, exhibitions, and promotion events and published books, articles, and magazines about the use of design in industries. DDC also led big competitions, particularly in the public sector. At the time, the small square publications from DDC were known by design professionals worldwide as DDC’s calling card. The target groups were defined as designers, industry, the public, and the media.

Until 2000, DDC was headed by Jens Bernsen.

2000 – 2011

In 2000, DDC moved to its new domicile on H. C. Andersens Boulevard, also in the heart of Copenhagen. A radically new view of the concept of design emerged in the early 2000s, challenging the perception of design as the end result, a product achieved in a symbiosis of art and industry. Around the world and at DDC, the emphasis shifted to the process itself, and design thinking became a key term. This led to an expanded concept of design that also included systems design, service design, and co-creation.

DDC sought to promote design thinking in the private and public sectors. Design as a driver and a source of innovation was ideal. DDC promoted this message through courses, programs, and models, including the Design Ladder, 360 degrees, DesignBoost, the DIN model, etc. The expanded concept of design is now embraced by many companies and is increasingly reflected in the services offered by design agencies.

By virtue of the new domicile, DDC also staged many significant exhibitions during this period, which were targeted at industry and the design profession and aimed at communicating design to the general public. In addition to a café, a restaurant, and a design shop, the new building also offered conference services and became a popular venue for events, celebrations, etc.

In 2000-2005, DDC was headed by Ulla Hovgaard Ramlau. In 2005-2011, DDC was headed by Christian Scherfig.

2011 – 2014

At this point in time, DDC began to focus more on gathering, analyzing, and communicating knowledge about the key factors influencing design. This effort took place in cooperation with designers, partners, sponsors, businesses, industries, and a broad national and international audience. The goal was to preserve Denmark’s role as a leading design nation by facilitating design and innovation and demonstrating the key role of design in meeting society’s challenges. Another related ambition was to turn the domicile on H. C. Andersens Boulevard into a creative community for design companies and institutions. The design shop, exhibition activity, and restaurant were closed, and the conference services were discontinued. Instead, the shared office ‘Design Society’ was launched, and a new large café area was set up on the ground floor. The design organizations INDEX: Design to Improve Life and the Danish Fashion Institute (DAFI) moved in.

During this period, DDC was headed by Nille Juul-Sørensen.

2015 – 2020

The government’s growth plan for design and the creative professions from 2013 made it a natural move for DDC and the other national architecture and design organizations to move into BLOX, Realdania’s new complex on the former Brewhouse site. Therefore, DDC decided to sell the building on H. C. Andersens Boulevard and temporarily move into shared facilities with the architecture and design organizations in the innovation hub in the former military storage Fæstningens Materialgård at 30 Frederiksholms Kanal. The entire architecture and design field moved into BLOX in March 2018.

After selling its domicile, DDC no longer had public facilities for café and exhibition activities. Instead, it was now possible to expand the organization, bringing in new employees and competencies in design, innovation, and technology and renewing the focus on the interactions between companies and designers.

In early 2016, DDC launched a new strategy based on respect for history and the qualities represented by Danish design but also clearly oriented towards the future. The focus in the coming years was on conducting systematic experiments with design-based value creation in companies. DDC’s vision was to make design one of the three leading positions of strength for Danish companies. DDC has high ambitions but also a sense of humility and a clear understanding that the task of increasing companies’ use of design can only be addressed in open partnerships. Therefore, DDC aimed to establish strong and innovative partnerships with relevant stakeholders in Denmark and abroad. This shift in strategy also included relaunching the Danish Design Award, from awarding best-in-class product design, graphic design, etc, to celebrating the difference design can make in categories such as Save Resources, Healthy Life, Liveable Cities, and Outstanding Service. Pr. January 1, 2020, the design cluster D2i became part of the Danish Design Center.

2020 –

In 2020, DDC launched a new five-year strategy. Denmark’s national center of design aims to create sustainable growth through design.

We want to position ourselves as a laboratory that expands the field of design and qualifies the application of both design methods and thinking in companies, nationally and internationally. We do this by continuously focusing on select societal challenges that can be addressed through focused strategic efforts.

We focus our efforts on three huge societal challenges: the green, social, and digital transition. Our approach to these challenges is mission-driven innovation, and in 2021 and 2022, we launched our first missions: Designing an irresistible circular society and Designing a future where young people thrive. 

As a supporting infrastructure for the design field in Denmark, we are committed to gathering new knowledge about design and making it openly available to everyone.

In the summer of 2020, we launched our biggest organizational experiment to date, rethinking the DDC itself with a human perspective as the key management principle, becoming a self-leading organization.

In 2021, DDC launched a new website, visual identity, and brand platform.

The DDC was headed by CEO Christian Bason from 2016 to October 2023.

Starting December 1, 2023, DDC is led by Martin Delfer.