Design – A Whole New World
Aesthetics Are the Inside Secret to Reaching Your Target Market
November 12, 2010
The professional title of designer is a very expansive category. Not only are there residential and commercial interior designers, there are multitudes of other talented and trained specialists participating in the world of design. There are architectural designers, urban designers, landscape designers, furniture designers, lighting designers, sound designers, graphic designers, web designers and automotive designers... the list goes on and on.
Whether or not you are aware of it, every detail of our daily lives has been designed to be aesthetically appealing to consumers. Homes, restaurants, cars, furniture, clothes, toys and every franchise you have every stepped foot into has been meticulously imagined, drafted, prototyped, developed, produced, tested and perfected. Anthropometrics, ergonomics, demographics, censuses, tallies and polls have all been carefully considered and carried out in order to introduce just the right products into our structured communities of commerce. All of these calculations and measurements, combined with just the right amount of allure and sophistication, are aimed at enticing us to buy these attractively crafted goods and services.
Within the last thirty years, the profession of interior design has expanded by an estimated 70% percent, with a trajectory predicting another 60% rise over the next century. Colleges and universities everywhere have begun to include the schools of planning, design and construction into their educational curricula. Accreditations, affiliations, degrees and licenses for professions related to these fields have increased in record numbers, as more and more businesses are profiting from the element of design as a way to hone in on their target market and one-up their competition.
In 2006, the do-it-yourself empire Home Depot invested billions of dollars in retrofitting their existing fleet of 2,100 warehouses to becoming more “female friendly.” McDonald’s, the most iconic fast-food restaurant on the planet, just unleashed its 2.4-billion dollar plans for a “new design direction” to retrofit all the exterior facades of their stores. And let us not forget the (young) granddaddy of them all: the multinational public corporation Google, who from their inception in 1998 understood that with their fresh new technology, they needed fresh new minds. To appeal to these people – and to encourage a “friendly and youthful work environment” – primary colors, slides, swings and beanbag chairs became standard furniture in the company’s national and international offices.
Since the invention of the computer and the World Wide Web, every company has the ability to enter the world of global commerce. So when you are planning to bring your product or service to the masses, you may want to take advantage of the myriad trained design professionals who can offer up good design that will help you attract more business. These professionals are trained in aesthetics and have the skill sets needed to assist in designing, developing and marketing a business office, storefront or building that will stand out from the competition.
So, when you are ready to launch your next venture, consult all the business professionals needed before you open the doors. Then, hire design professionals to keep the doors open! As Ray Kroc, the American businessman who took over the small-scale McDonald’s Corporation franchise in 1954 and built it into the most successful fast-food operation in the world once said, “You’re only as good as the people you hire.”
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