People have always gravitated to things that are well designed. Design creates desire, but what good design means today is becoming far more than just face value. People expect more of the things they buy and use to serve a purpose; to actually solve a problem or to improve their situation, not just look nice. Good design is human-centric. It satisfies both the audience’s needs and desires, and good designers know how to put the audience experience first to get to ideas that are both solution and style. It’s called Design Thinking and it’s a way of thinking all brands [...]

Fortune Magazine has released its survey of the top 50 most admired companies in the world. Their top 10:
1 Apple
2 Berkshire Hathaway
3 Toyota Motor
4 Google
5 Johnson & Johnson
6 Procter & Gamble
7* FedEx
7* Southwest Airlines
9 General Electric
10 Microsoft
For such a global subject, though, there seem to be a large American bias. It does raise interesting questions about what it means to be admired. Some companies (Apple, Nike) are expected; others (Bank of America, Goldman Sachs) are bound to raise a few eyebrows given the current economic situation. What qualities do you admire in companies?