The field of graphic design has continually evolved to encompass a wide scope of skills. From designing graphics to designing business strategies, graphic designers can be incorporated into all stages of industry projects. For some graphic designers around the world, broad uses of design practices are recognised as significant and are being applied to a breadth of large scale business and community sector frameworks. However, these skills are frequently underutilised and their value overlooked among small business projects. Perth-based design jobs, for example, are commonly outcome-driven and graphic designers are typically hired by clients at the end stage of business projects to only make project artefacts such as websites, business cards or brochures. Gjoko Muratovski, Director of The Myron E. Ullman, Jr. School of Design at DAAP, University of Cincinnati, puts forth that big businesses has benefitted greatly from integrating design’s intrinsic methods into all aspects of product and service development. In his paper titled Paradigm Shift: Report on the New Role of Design in Business and Society he states that “With the growing reputation of design as a catalyst for business innovation, designers are being invited to take on executive roles. Jonathan Ive (Apple, Inc.), Mark Parker (Nike, Inc.), David Butler (The Coca-Cola Company), and Todd Simmons (IBM Corporation) are perhaps the most notable examples of this emerging trend” (2015, p. 121). Literary statements such as this one, depict the rise of design using corporate giants as example. A discussion about the expansion of design amongst smaller business sectors, however, appears to be lacking. This report looks to explore this as the broad idea of my PhD. My paper views that there is gap in Perth local graphic design profession – graphic designers are not engaging with broader and more holistic design strategies such as those employed in service design. As part of my PhD project, this paper will discuss the literature review, research methods and design philosophy relevant to design strategies and processes used in graphic designers in Perth.