There’s a method to Target's madness.
Design is no long the province of up crust sophisticates who never got close enough to a cleaning product to be revolted by it. The store chain helped to make designers such as Karim Rashid, Michael Graves, Philippe Stack, Todd Oldham, and Isaac Mizrahi household names. In fact, recent research evidence suggests that our brains are wired to appreciate good design: Respondents who were hooked up to a brain apparatus called an FMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scanner showed faster reaction times when they saw aesthetically pleasing packages even compared to well-known brands like Coca-Cola.9 Mass-market consumers thirst for great design, and they reward those companies that give it to them with their enthusiastic patronage and loyalty. From razor blades such as the Gillette Sensor to the Apple iPad2 and even to the lowly trash can, design is substance. Form is function.