Is It The Era of Design?

I read a timely blogpost on the forbes.com website today, titled “Welcome to the Era of Design.” The premise of the post is that we are living in an era in which the value of design both economically and socially is becoming indisputable. Successful global businesses founded on design principles, such as Apple, and social juggernauts like Pinterest are at the top of our collective mind. Innovation, the creation of new businesses based on well designed business models, and selling sleek products and services, benefit from well designed supply chains. The concept of well-designed user experiences and easy-to-use navigation are understood by practically everyone.

At its heart, good design leads to competitive differentiation, which begets greater customer loyalty and higher profits. And now with social media, well-designed brands can quickly go global, because people like to share good things. Thus, the article’s call-to-action for businesses is to design great customer experiences as this is proving to be the route to greater business success.

As a designer, it’s gratifying to see the growing awareness of design in this country. As a student I studied global design movements and styles and recognized how design challenged the US was. With the maturing of the web as a global medium and the availability of easy-to-use tools, the power of good design has never been more accessible to so many.

In this world of better tools and higher expectations, our role as designers has been elevated for those ready to take the challenge, because in spite of constant change, one thing remains the same, great design is about inventing and sustaining a vision.

It seems counter-intuitive but the easier online tools get to use and the more options there are for creating content, the more our clients depend on us to demonstrate long-term vision for their brands, websites and marketing, and weave the best tools together in the realizing of that vision. We’re psyched. Or as my sons would say, “we’re down for that.” Or is it “we’re up for that?”