Looks matter more than ever. We've all heard critics and consumers wax poetic about iMacs, iPods, and even Target toilet brushes. Interior design has become a national pastime, and shows such as Trading Spaces, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy enjoy a popularity that Bob Vila could only imagine. In her recent book, The Substance of Style, author Virginia Postrel argues that we increasingly make purchasing decisions based on how products make us feel. "In a crowded marketplace," she writes, "aesthetics is often the only way to make a product stand out." In other words, for more and more companies--even manufacturing companies with relatively prosaic products like Kortec's--design is becoming extremely important. It can sometimes be the difference between success and failure.These days, even an investment research firm like Morningstar is keenly aware of making a good appearance. In the early '90s, founder Joe Mansueto hired the late Paul Rand (a renowned graphic designer who created logos for IBM, ABC, and UPS) to design the Morningstar logo--narrow red lettering with a rising sun as the O-- for $50,000. "Keep in mind this was back when our revenue was only a couple of million dollars. It was a lot to spend," says Mansueto, but he reasoned that it was for a high-quality product that he wouldn't mind keeping for a long time to come: "A logo is something that you want to last." He considers it one of his best investments and continues to put an emphasis on incorporating aesthetically pleasing forms and visuals in the company's print materials, CD-ROMs, and website. "I know that as a consumer, I'm drawn to products that are designed well," says Mansueto. "My house is filled with Sony products because I like their logo design."The arguments for good design are especially compelling for consumer products, particularly those made by smaller companies that don't have big advertising budgets. Big brands like Coca-Cola and Budweiser spend lots and lots of advertising dollars to create an aura around their products. For smaller companies without that luxury, their entire chance to convey a message about themselves to the customer is often in the look of the packaging.
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