The Golden Age.

Yesterday morning I sat down on a plane and opened Fast Company magazine to a big feature on fine design and how, supplanting art, it is the big big thing for collectors right now.

I also recently read Emotional Branding, a business-focused book that is, somewhat surprisingly once you get through it, essentially all about design.

I’ve been obsessing about how design is such a strong influence on our culture right now.

From my perspective, it ramped up when Target launched the first Michael Graves line. A little lightening bolt in the design world.

Around the same time, companies like Design Within Reach started selling iconic modern furniture by Eames, Mies van der Rohe, Aero Saarinen etc., making them available under one roof for the first time ever. And, in stock and ready to ship.

Companies like Apple have certainly embraced design with a chokehold. The design of their products, brand image and advertising is nothing short of groundbreaking. Innovative design has literally become a part of their culture and brand.

Frank Gehry and Richard Meir are practically household names. The business community is having in depth conversations about design. You can have a George Nelson marshmallow sofa delivered to your front door in less than a week.

Isaac Mizrahi has a TV show.

Some say good design for the masses peaked in the 1950’s. I say that was just a dress rehearsal.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are entering the golden age of design.

Enjoy the ride.

In most people's vocabularies, design means veneer. It's interior decorating. It's the fabric of the curtains of the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service. - Steve Jobs, CEO, Apple Computer