HBR Article Advocating the Importance of Design

What designer doesn’t like an article that well states how important design is in an organization, and how underutilized it is at the same time. That’s exactly what Umair Haque does in this great article from the Harvard Business Review titled The Gap Logo Debacle: A Half-Brained Mistake. I always find it inspiring to know that I’m not alone in corporate america in feeling like this powerful tool called design isn’t given even half as much attention as it should be, and often the designers are given even less.

Umair does a good job articulating his point with some nods to Apple, and by making an example out of the Gap. Some of my favorite quotes:

“Taking design as seriously as most companies take (yawn) “strategy” creates more value for Apple in a year than most companies create…ever.”

and…

“More than ever, it’s beauty, delight, and amazement that separates rapidly commoditizing “product” from stuff that’s treasured, adored, loved, and envied.”