Today, design is more important than ever. It’s what sets brands apart in a world awash with multiple choices. As Brooklyn designer and author Frank Chimero says: “People ignore design that ignores people”. It’s all encompassing. Functionality. Look. Feel. Packaging. To succeed, a business can’t just have a product. It’s got to have a great product that excites the masses.
Creatives have always understood the importance of design. Management, less so. However, that’s changing, as Fast Company explains, venture capitalists are targeting designers to join their teams. They’ve recognized that design isn’t just about beautification, it’s about solving problems.
Price may have once took precedence over form in the boardroom because of the belief that people didn’t care much about how something looked as long as the price was competitive. But in our increasingly visually-savvy world, people want things to look great. They want to take photos of products and share them. They want to consider simple items, like a bottle of shampoo or a jar of peanut butter, worthy of being on display in their homes. They want interfaces that are easy to understand and simple to use.
Good design seems to mean a more transparent company, a better quality product, and increased reliability. And these things are what people will pay more for. It’s the start to making a product irresistible.
