Design in UK business Awareness of the critical importance of design has risen significantly this year from just over a quarter to just over a third. Source: Design Council report by OLR: Design Awareness and Behaviour Study, 1998 In 504 interviews conducted in January and February 1998 with key individuals in the media, government, education, trade associations and businesses large and small, 34% gave design a nine or ten rating on a ten-point scale. That compares with 28% in 1997.   'The creative industries contribute some £50 billion to our national economy and will be the fastest-growing source of new jobs between now and 2006.' Rt Hon Peter Mandelson MP, Former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, House of Commons, 20 April 1998