Can the Designs from one saved game be exported to a new game?

Don't think so but it would be a great idea.

Sort of. You can choose "Save Empire" which will save your empire and its current designs. You can then use that empire file for your new game.

Space Empires Depot | SE:V Balance Mod

I don't think it saves designs...
at least not my designs. unless maybe it only imports the ones you have tech for at the time.

If the designs can't be saved, how and where are they stored then? As I couldn't find them in the SE5 folder (I searched for the design name), I guess they are hidden somewhere in the save files. A shame!

In theory, it should be possible to store them in a design repository which is available for all SE5 games (within a certain game type). At least all designs the player is capable of designing (for example: has researched all components used for the design).

in theory could you then set the AI and maybe even a player to only use the designs that are in said repository?

My apologies, pyroman, for misleading you. When I said "in theory ..." I wasn't talking about the real game. Just day-dreaming what could (and should) be.
You can save empires and other settings, so why not designs? I'm aware it's easier said than done, and the GC2 solution isn't ideal either, but unless you leave the work to your ministers, designing your ships etc is an unnecessarily time-consuming, cumbersome and repetitive task.

What do you do, guys: Design your ships, units, etc yourselves in each and every game, or do you delegate?

Design for myself
I want to know what I get.

The problem with saving the design is, you would have to save them for every techlevel you get,
because thats the thing that changes most in games .. when you reach a certain tech and in which order. So you have about 50 predesigned ships and can't build any because some of the requirements aren't met.

What would be nice was some kind of ship template you could save. with your empire and/or with your ship styles ( because of the armor slots .. and i like to design my ships kind of logical .. engines in the back sensors in the front, cargo distributed and quarters and stuff on the inside ).

I cant think of how the template should look like, but it should go without TLs. ( so if you choose one template the creator just uses the latest tech. )

Remember : Pillage! then burn.
- Cpt. Kaff Tagon

I leave "Ship Design" turned off most of the time. Whenever I believe I need a new design due to larger hulls or better weapons, I turn OFF "Construction - Ships" and "Ships - Retrofitting" then turn ON "Ship Design" for ONE turn. (Caveat - Any ship with orders to retrofit that arrives in port during that turn WILL retrofit to the NEW design.)

I then check over each design and make changes I deem appropriate. Like adding weapons to troops with no weapons and warheads to drones with no warheads. I also move some of the internal components on my ships to increase survivability in my opinion. ( I could make changes to the components file but Aaron likes to come out with patches and overwrite my changes. )

Unole
Directive 721: Cover your own a$$ first. Solo