The onslaught of depressing news about the recession is relentless, but it might not be all bad news for the creative industries.  History and innovation are on our side.  Quite on the contrary to the doom and gloom, it almost seems that we could be about to enter an exciting new period of where design will play a much greater and more positive role.

The creative companies that are most swiftly able to adapt to the times are actually doing better (and doing better things) now than they’ve ever done before. As the International Herald Tribune reports, some visionary companies like IDEO and Live|Work are using their creative energy to retool business and social services.  As budgets are cut and businesses look for more effective ways to communicate with their consumers, creative industries have the potential to flourish.  Small and nimble communications, graphic design, and creative marketing companies like FurnitureSeen will be in higher demand.

The online aggregator that connects the design community and consumers with brick and mortar showrooms is experiencing an unprecedented spike in interest as clients from the more artisan-oriented furniture industry now look at online marketing as a cost-effective alternative to traditional print advertising.  While other industries’ sales figures plummet, game companies like Nintendo continue to report strong sales, even outselling DVDs in some countries.  And games continue to spur innovation across other industries, such as health, defense, and architecture where their technology models can be applied.

In dark times, the brightest ideas shine through.  There is no magical answer as to how to weather the economic storm, but as The Guardian’s special feature inspire-innovate says, the storm is the time to fish.  Check out inspire-innovate for more great examples of creativity in industry.