About us
Practical business training for creative professionals who take their work seriously.
Supporting designers & makers since 1994
At The Design Trust, we help designer makers, creative teachers, and other creative professionals build businesses that are more resilient, profitable, and aligned with how they want to work and live.
We believe creative businesses deserve business training and advice that actually understands the realities of the creative sector.
That means:
Practical, thought-provoking training based on real experience
Business and marketing support tailored specifically to creatives
Teaching that helps you take action more confidently
Training and advice that strengthens your business without losing your creative voice or values
Whether you want to improve your sales, clarify your direction, grow your teaching business, or build a more resilient business, we’re here to help you move forward with more confidence and purpose.
The leading business school for designers & makers
The Design Trust has supported craftspeople since the 1980s and was formally established in 1994 by the late design journalist Peta Levi MBE.
Over the past 30+ years, it has become one of the UK’s best-known creative business support organisations, training hundreds of designers, makers, Etsy sellers, illustrators, artists, and creative teachers across the UK and internationally.
In 2011, Patricia van den Akker became the director of The Design Trust, continuing and expanding its mission to provide practical, relevant business and marketing training, specifically designed for creative professionals.
Based in North London, The Design Trust offers today:
Online memberships and creative business training programmes
Workshops and masterclasses - online and in person
Strategic 1:1 coaching and consultancy
Professional development training for universities and creative organisations
Specialist training for creative teachers and workshop leaders
Everything we teach is grounded in real experience.
We understand that small creative businesses are rarely straightforward. Many creatives juggle multiple income streams, seasonal sales, commissions, teaching, exhibitions, galleries, freelance work, and family life.
That’s why our approach combines practical business knowledge with creativity, flexibility, and a deep understanding of how creative people actually live & work.
About Patricia
Patricia van den Akker | Director, The Design Trust
Patricia van den Akker is an award-winning creative business adviser, strategist, trainer, facilitator and author, with over 25 years’ experience supporting designers, makers, artists and other creative professionals.
She combines strategic thinking with a deep knowledge of the creative industries, a huge passion for craft and its future, and a practical understanding of what it takes to build a creative business that works.
She is particularly interested in working with ambitious creatives who want to become more distinctive, make a meaningful contribution to the world, and build resilient, profitable businesses around their best work, values, skills and lives.
Patricia specialises in:
Creative business strategy, positioning & marketing - helping creatives identify what makes them special, reach the right audiences and create stronger opportunities for their work
Business planning, decision-making & implementation - connecting creative ambitions with income streams, finance, marketing, capacity and the practical realities of running a business
Creative teaching & learning - helping creatives develop distinctive, meaningful and profitable workshops, programmes, online experiences and learning communities
Alongside the creation, development and delivering of The Design Trust’s online programmes and memberships, Patricia works with a very select number of established and ambitious creative business owners as a strategic adviser & consultant.
She regularly delivers talks, workshops and professional development programmes for universities, creative organisations and membership bodies across the UK. Her recent clients include Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, Royal College of Art, The King’s Foundation, Embroiderers’ Guild, QEST, GNCCF, Craft Festival and Enterprise Nation.
Patricia is also the author of Teaching Creative Workshops In Person & Online, published by Bloomsbury Publishing in 2025. She increasingly works with experienced creative teachers who want to think more deeply about what, why and how they teach - and develop more distinctive learning experiences, programmes and communities.
Clients describe Patricia’s approach as thought-provoking but practical, honest and encouraging, strategic and creatively inspiring. She asks good questions, spots connections others often miss, help clients make difficult choices, and helps creatives understand both the bigger picture and what needs to happen next.
Patricia believes the strongest creative businesses are built intentionally - not by doing more, but by making better choices about what you create, how you work, who you want to reach and what you want to contribute to the world.
About Anne-Marie
Anne-Marie Shepherd | Social Media & Business Club Manager
Anne-Marie Shepherd manages The Design Trust’s Business Club and social media.
Working closely with Patricia, she helps ensure The Design Trust’s training remains practical, supportive, well-organised, and relevant to the realities of today’s creative businesses.
Anne-Marie has extensive experience within the UK craft and design sector, including running and organising leading craft fairs and events such as Made London and Made Brighton. She works freelance with various craft events and organisations across the UK on marketing and PR.
She is especially valued for her calm, thoughtful, and practical approach, and for helping create the welcoming and supportive atmosphere that The Design Trust is known for.
Through this work, she has developed a strong understanding of:
what helps creative businesses succeed
how creatives present and sell their work
the challenges artists and makers face when building their business
Within The Design Trust, Anne-Marie plays a key role in:
Managing our social media and partnerships
Managing, hosting and interviewing for our Business Club sessions
Community support and accountability for our Business Club and Dream Plan Do members
Delivering training on marketing and social media