Member of the Government of Styria responsible for Economics and Innovation

tries and highlighting the achievements of its members – especially at a time when flexible, quick “out of the box” thinking and acting is more in demand than ever. Creative Voice was originally conceived as a video format in which individual creative professionals introduced themselves, their work and their companies, providing insights into their everyday life and describing how they dealt with the new situation. The series proved highly successful and the format was therefore continued beyond the original theme. More and more companies created their own video clips and a wide range of topics was covered. Dozens of clips can now be seen on the Creative Industries Styria website.

The new podcast by Creative Industries Styria is, in a way, a further development of Creative Voice. The medium podcast, the “radio of the internet”, boomed during lockdown. Creative Industries Styria recognized its potential and began production on the podcast “Gespräche über Design, Kreativität und Business” (Conversations about Design, Creativity and Business). In these entertaining interviews, the who-is-who of the Styrian creative scene talk about their work, about trends and topics in the industry and about challenges and solutions in their respective areas of responsibility. By the end of 2021, six episodes of the podcast were aired and made available on all well-established podcast platforms.

Design Transfer Cleverly interconnecting design and corporate culture: That is the goal of Design Transfer, a three-stage consulting program and flagship project of Creative Industries Styria. Targeted and solution-oriented design is the be-all and end-all for modern companies to shine with innovative concepts and to be able to prevail over the competition in the future. Design Transfer not only connects creative professionals and companies, the integration of design also gives companies significant advantages, allowing them to unlock their full potential, acquire new customer bases and improve their positioning on the market. In close cooperation with company management, Creative Industries Styria develops individual Design Transfer guidelines and specifically filters out which services are needed in order to optimize strategic decision-making and achieve company goals. Design is becoming an important concept that helps to highlight new perspectives on classic design processes and thus to ensure longterm corporate success.

Styrian Products Styrian Products focuses on design and products Made in Styria, raising awareness for good, and therefore internationally successful design. The ever-growing collection of products now includes over 100 exhibits from around 60 Styrian manufacturing companies that have mastered the interplay between the creative and traditional economy. These products come from a wide variety of areas such as furniture and fashion, accessories and tableware, industrial machines and solid wood prefabricated houses, consumer goods Innovation and creativity have long held a special status in Styria. Having realized that potential from early on, the course was set for the strategic development of this important industrial branch with the founding of Creative Industries Styria in 2007. Since then, the Styrian creative economy has developed extremely positively, earning itself an excellent international reputation.

With its concentrated innovative power, the creative sector managed to react quickly to difficulties throughout the COVID-19 pandemic years and to master the crisis well overall. Our entrepreneurs have shown courage, seized opportunities and contributed decisively to the economic upswing that we were able to achieve last year. As a networking organization, CIS has a significant hand in this success, constantly promoting cooperation between creative companies and businesses from other sectors.

My special thanks go to General Manager Eberhard Schrempf and his team for their great commitment. Thanks to their achievements, I am convinced that the Styrian creative economy will continue to enhance its formidable position in the future.

Barbara Eibinger-Miedl Member of the Government of Styria responsible for Economics and Innovation

With Styrian Products, the design process is realized from the initial idea to the finished product. “Good” design, however, not only adds value to the company itself, but can also lead to international success. Therefore, every product that is included in the collection must be developed and produced in Styria and sold worldwide. Clearly, Styrian Products are the best ambassadors for quality Made in Styria and innovative spirit – for good design and active creativity – regionally, nationally and internationally. The 2021 exhibition was part of the Grazer Herbstmesse fair.

Experience Economy Experience Economy has been welcoming visitors for exclusive looks behind the scenes of successful Styrian companies since 2009. Experience tours through the more than 50 participating companies have so far attracted over 3.7 million visitors to explore production halls, workshops and machine rooms. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has also led to a significant slump in visitor numbers in 2021. Due to the repeated lockdowns, many of the tours could not take place. The companies offering experience tours in the 3rd quarter of the year 2021 did, however, record highly satisfactory visitor numbers - an increase of 10% compared to the previous year.

Creative Industries Styria acts as a project manager for Experience Economy, building bridges between creative professionals and businesses, thereby initiating sustainable cooperation. Their steadily growing network enables cooperation partnerships and synergies for the benefit of everyone involved.

In addition, Creative Industries Styria accompanies the project process, from the initial contact on part of the company to the conception and design, continuous quality assurance and advertising of the tours. It is particularly important to ensure high quality of the tours as this is what ultimately creates added value, which is equally relevant for creative industries, for businesses, for the general public and for Styria as a business location. The result is a heightened appreciation of domestic production and respect for the people in the company, but also a strong connection between the creative, the innovative and the traditional economy.

Membership Membership of Creative Industries Styria is organized on 3 levels: Free Members are part of the Creative Industries Styria network and are entered into the member directory at no additional cost. They also have access to a wide range of information on events, calls and competitions. Full Members are active members in the network and have access to additional services ranging from free lectures and events to participation in calls and competitions as well as reduced costs for network trips, excursions or conferences. Premium Members are medium and longterm strategic partners of Creative Industries Styria receiving an individually composed premium package consisting of basic and special services. On December 31, 2021, Creative Industries Styria had 1,398 members, including 1,200 free members, 188 full members (108 individual memberships, 80 company memberships) and 10 premium members. They all benefit from stronger networking with the traditional economy, higher visibility of their services and a high degree of internationalization.

Organization of Creative Industries Styria Partners of Creative Industries Styria GmbH include the Steirische Wirtschaftsförderungsges.m.b.H. SFG (Styrian Economic Promotion Agency), the city of Graz and the Chamber of Commerce of Styria. In addition to these partners, funding is provided through grants from the State of Styria (SFG), the city of Graz and membership fees, project partners, project partnerships and sponsors.

The shareholders of Creative Industries Styria GmbH hold the following shares:

51 % SFG 39 % city of Graz 10 % Chamber of Commerce of Styria

The core team of employees consists of 10 people: general manager, assistant to the general manager, office management, controlling, and 6 project managers.

Styrian Products focuses on design and products Made in Styria, raising awareness for good, and therefore internationally successful design.

Creativity is a key prerequisite for economic success. There may well be plenty of inventiveness around, but it is not always immediately apparent. It is therefore instrumental to focus our support on creativity in order to make it accessible. In that respect, Graz is in a fortunate position: as a university city, as a city of culture, and as a science and business location, Graz has enormous potential to translate creativity into products and solutions for people and society as a whole. As a result, Graz meets all the prerequisites for becoming a “creatope”: a vibrant design and creative scene, a young urban attitude to life and a local economy that is both innovative and effective. It is therefore hardly surprising that almost half of all Styrian creative enterprises have their headquarters in Graz.

The city of Graz aims to step up efforts to integrate more creativity in future urban development work. A clear commitment was made to take further action in the last municipal council period, in which shares in Creative Industries were increased from 10 to 39 percent. We are proud that Graz enjoys an excellent international reputation as a UNESCO City of Design and will continue to expand on this position in the future. With their expertise, their global network and role as an effervescent supplier of ideas, Creative Industries Styria is the perfect partner to implement these goals for the benefit of our Styrian state capital.

Günter Riegler City Councilor Graz responsible for Economics and Tourism

Awareness & Location

Only those who are visible exist. In other words: Be visible & be connected!

In order to raise awareness for the importance of creative industries for Styria and the location in its entirety, the state government has formulated these tasks in line with the strategy for the Austrian creative economy. Creative Industries Styria has made a priority of implementing and making these effective throughout Styria. As a missing link between the initial idea and the marketing of a finished product or service, design plays an important role in the creative process. The aim of Creative Industries Styria is to make this task visible, to raise public awareness for the achievements of creative industries and to expand their role in Styria. Ultimately, creative industries should be positioned more strongly in the overall context of the Styrian economy. CIS aims to act as an intermediary between traditional and creative industries. This will result in new synergies between key players that drive innovation processes and produce new products and services – often for new target groups and markets.