In today’s evolving world, design may finally be getting the respect it deserves in the boardroom and the living room. Both CEOs and consumers are taking notice of its importance and threading design into their professional and personal cultures.
As a voracious reader with an insatiable appetite for design, I recently came across a provoking article from a somewhat unexpected source: Fast Company magazine. The article titled What P&G Knows About the Power of Design (June, 2005) covered an interview with P&G CEO A.G. Lafley.
The article highlighted Lafley’s commitment to weaving design into the entire P&G company. Not just the brand, or the products, or the front lobby, but the whole company. He understands and respects the power of design and how it's truly pivotal in creating a brand experience that is emotional, real, memorable and special. It’s not just about the end product on the shelf, but about the process that got it there.
Lafley embraces the fact that design is a dialogue that needs to be learned and taught. And he's committed to it. "I want P&G to become the number-one consumer-design company in the world..." Those are strong words coming from the CEO of one of the largest companies in the world. Makes me want to drop what I'm doing and go stand alongside that guy.
Business’s evolving design focus has led to increasingly design savvy consumers. Take the OXO brand of kitchen tools. The company was started in 1989 by Sam Farber, then newly retired CEO of Copco, a successful cookware company. He started OXO because his wife Betsey suffered from arthritis in her hands but still loved to cook. At the time, cooking utensils were somewhat crude, uncomfortable, impractical and generally ugly.
Farber saw an opportunity. Although not a designer, he realized that design could indeed reshape a category from the ground up. That's precisely what OXO has done. With the consumer in mind, the products are well designed to work comfortably and well. All are aesthetically pleasing as objects, and they are all branded and packaged with a consistency and simplicity that is both refreshing and timeless. With form following function, OXO has designed a brand that consumers have grown to love, and they've shown their love with their wallets.Sometimes bad design is downright dangerous to consumers. You’re probably thinking about faulty power tools or exploding tires. How about a seemingly harmless medicine bottle?
Deborah Adler, an MFA student at the School of Visual Arts, was in need of a thesis project. She happened upon one when her grandmother accidentally took another family member’s medicine. Adler's brainchild was born: the ClearRx Prescription System. The system features an upside-down container with beautiful, simple typography. A color-coded ring allows family members to quickly identify their own bottles and flat sides prevent information from wrapping around out of view. Does it work? Target thinks so. All 1,033 Target pharmacies have adopted the system to rave reviews from customers. Is it functional AND beautiful? Ask attendees who recently attended the packaging’s debut at New York's Museum of Modern Art.
For a graphic designer like me, it’s exciting to see the evolution of design and its permeation into the mainstream. Design is increasingly becoming interchangeable with the every day. From the boardroom to the consumer, the lines of graphic design have become pleasingly blurred. •
|
