Design can bag you millions in free advertising, even international advertising.  There are very few members of the reading or surfing public who haven’t seen the image of an Imac.   But in a good percentage of cases, you didn’t see it in an Apple ad.  Instead, you saw it in Time, Newsweek, Business Week or on CNN, Fox News or on CNET, ITmatters, or any number of net sites featuring news in the world of computing and electronics.  Hailed as ground breaking the Imac featured candy colors, great curves and fantastic use-ability.  Harvard Professor Marco Iansiti calls Imac “one of the clearest examples I have ever seen of how outstanding design can turn a company around.”

Palm Pilot is another example.  It has been reviewed not just for its user-centered design excellence but for its sociological impact.   Pictured with Dick Tracy images and acclaimed a “wave of the future”, the Palm Pilot was all over the popular press…gratis.

Oxo Good Grips are another product lines that won the hearts of magazine editors.  Featured in home magazines, Popular Mechanics, design magazines, women’s magazines and even the popular press, this humble potato peeler filled miles of free column inches.