Design is the Cinderella of commerce and industry. Marketing may have elevated itself in the estimations of most business minds buts its more attractive sibling, design, is still perceived by many, in Ireland at least, as being somehow surplus to requirements.

The facts, however, appear to contradict conventional wisdom. Good design at the right price can sometimes rescue a company and even reverse buying trends, as sales of Apple's new computer the iMac are now so spectacularly proving.

Luckily, some of Ireland's designers, too, are proving to be world beaters. Local design talent is increasingly capable of hauling in international awards and the increased orders that go with them. Dublin-based design consultancy Hood Associates was the first Irish company to receive two awards last year at the "Oscars" of industrial design. The Hanover-based Industry Forum (iF) contest gave them two prizes for product designs created for the US multinational Carson Brooks and SupaRule Systems in Limerick.

A director at Hood Associates, Ms Elizabeth Jones, explains why good design gives companies the edge. "For most companies globalisation means more intensified competition, even if they are competing on the home market because they are still competing against the jargon of world-class products. The more a market opens up, the greater the competition. Soon you'll find we will have competitors from countries that are better known for design like Germany and the Netherlands. Changes in currency will make it even easier for them to compete."

Ireland's own Design Week also aims at gearing up Irish design to help it compete internationally.

Run for only its second year, Design Week showcases the work that Irish designers do for Irish companies, says its chairman, Mr Andrew Bradley. Events include the Glen Dimplex awards held every autumn (whose Grand Prix prize went to Boru Vodka) and an exhibition that puts the entries on show.

The Design Week Grand Prix winner, designed by Ms Gillian Murphy, was only six weeks out of the blocks when it landed the trophy, says Mr David Phelan, joint manager director of the Dublin-based Boru Vodka Company. However, design was highly instrumental in achieving a high profile for the vodka prior even to the award, he adds.

"Of course it's the quality of our liquor that's important first. But also important to us is delivering that quality of liquid through the packaging although the packaging is expensive the product is still competitive. If you look at most packaging you see that most companies are looking at taking cost out. As a small company we can afford, quite perversely, to put everything back into it."

With only four people behind the company, it could be argued that it has little to lose with such innovation, but as figures from other more design conscious nations - such as Japan - prove, companies of all sizes profit from good design.

The London Business School (LBS) has produced a report that shows that an extra one per cent of sales devoted to product design and development typically increases sales and profits by 3-4 per cent over five years.

The figures also suggest that well designed products help give the competitive edge. On average, 80 per cent of the production costs of a new line are determined in the design stage, says the LBS.

Despite the facts, the Government has failed to act on them, according to Mr Bradley, who also runs a Dublin-based design consultancy the Bradley and McGurk Partnership.

"We've tried interesting the Government in investing in design, but without much luck. The Government has seen the figures - if you compare investment in design to investment in capital, or compare it to investment in people, even, you get a very high return."

In Britain business has got the message and is warming to investing in good design, thanks in part to the government-backed Design Council. Good design also goes in hand with innovation. A report by the British Department of Trade and Industry shows that the most successful engineering companies also have the greatest record of innovation. Where the average firm introduced only 3 per cent of its products within the past five years, for the most profitable 25 per cent of companies the figure was 15 per cent. The most successful 10 per cent of companies introduced 62 per cent of their products within that period. Given the success of design-led products, the time has come, says Mr Bradley, for business to stop overlooking the importance of design. Conversely, it is also time for designers to get more business savvy, he adds.

"Design is where the marketing profession was 10-15 years ago. We are starting down that road to where marketing is today (represented at board level). There aren't many non-designers or business people in the profession of design as the companies are generally owner-managed. But we do need to see ourselves as offering a business proposition, not just a creative proposition."

Which is where Design Week's bridge building comes in. Its purpose is to profile to the business and commercial sector the talent that is in this country by showcasing Irish design made for Irish clients.

"We are also trying to mature the sector," says Mr Bradley. "Design is a comparatively big sector, but when it comes to lobbying, when it comes to organising itself, it is very immature."

Where investment in design pays off, according to Mr Bradley, is that it allows a company to experiment before committing itself to a product or an image.

"Design almost lets you get a head of your station to a certain amount. And allows you to compete with the best brands in the world, without the marketing and advertising budgets they have.

"With prototyping and packing you can develop product that looks like the finished thing and, to most customers, it is the finished thing. You can research it and show it to buyers, hawk it around the world - do what you like to it. And even before you go to tooling, make sales, get evaluation or even make modifications.

"So it's a very powerful tool in the sense of managing capital expenditure before you commit to major expense. It is a very good way to ease yourself into the market and you can save a significant amount of money. It has a big impact on a project even though it's a very small part of a project."

Ireland's Institute of Creative Advertising and Design (ICAD) will be patting the local design industry on the back on May 27th at its annual awards ceremony at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin. It is billed as another chance to showcase the best of Irish commercial creativity and is linked with an exhibition of entries that can be seen at the Arthouse Gallery, Temple Bar May 17th - May 25th.