Perhaps more of a realization than a new era -- design and branding have always been important, it's core to the concept of identity and human perception of oth

Perhaps more of a realization than a new era -- design and branding have always been important, it's core to the concept of identity and human perception of others' value (and power). Comment edited to add that the power of a product, organization, or even political parties and states exists in its identity and reputation (the core ideas behind branding). These perceptions may or may not be well-founded. Recall the Danish folk tale of the "Emperor's New Clothes". Popular perception created around design and branding can become a cult following that is a distortion if not blindness to reality. In the article Apple is used as an example, but I would suggest history may show Apple to be a notorious example of this as many refer to Steve Job's 'reality distortion field' that extends to many loyal to the brand. (This coming from someone at this moment typing on a Macbook Pro).