Design as Equalizer

I'm hearing more and more about design from non-designers lately. With sour economic times and more product parity across multiple industries design is often used as the tie-breaker. Smart design-driven brands like Target, Apple, BMW, etc. all use design as a selling tool. It's great to see value tied to design and to have such a public conversation about design by non-designers. We creative folks often drink the Kool-Aid a bit too much on the design-front and spend much of our time trying to convince non-savvy design-minded folks, sales people, clients, etc. about why they should pick this concept over that one or how typography, illustration, photography, video, packaging, etc. all play into the consumers emotional connection with product but until that conversation happens amongst the non-designers we still all have a long way to go. It helps that the media has picked up on the design trend-wagon and not gotten off as quick as they usually do. Magazines like Time, Fast Company, Dwell, etc. all champion the brilliant minds, teams, etc. behind the design of everyday objects these days. Overall I'd have to say that the more education leads to better designed products, more functional objects and more liveable environments through city planning, landscaping, architecture, etc. Design in the corporate world has a long way to go and at the higher executive levels squeezed in-between sales, marketing, product, etc. there needs to be a position for design to sit and help bring everything together.