This is the third branding book from Marty Neumeier, who brought you the bestselling classics Zag and The Brand Gap! This time round, Marty explores design as the key factor in building customer satisfaction and loyalty. If innovation drives differentiation, what drives innovation? The answer, hidden in plain sight, is design. Design contains the skills to identify possible futures, invent exciting products, build bridges to customers, and crack wicked problems, and more. The fact is, if you wanna innovate, you gotta design. The discipline of design has been waiting patiently in the wings for nearly a century, relegated to supporting roles and stand-in parts. Until now, companies have used design as a beauty station for identities and communications, or as the last stop in a product launch. Never has it been used for its potential to create rule-bending innovation across the board. Meanwhile, the public is developing a healthy appetite for all things design. The Designful Company will show business leaders how to apply design thinking to every phase of their enterprise.

"Neumeier is the only design and brand expert who writes big-idea books filled with practical how-to advice designed to be read on a brief plane ride." --Jesse Scanlon, BusinessWeek "The revolution needs a dangerous handbook." --Brian Collins, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide

Marty Neumeier is president of Neutron LLC, a San Francisco firm specializing in brand integration for clients such as Kodak, Sun Microsystems, and Adobe. During his 30-year career, Neumeier has worked as a graphic designer, writer, editor, and publisher. He's also a frequent speaker on the topics of branding, design, and creative collaboration.

INTRODUCTION PART 1: THE POWER OF DESIGN A NEW DEFINITION OF DESIGN SIMON SAYS BE A DESIGNER HOW IS CREATIVE THINKING DIFFERENT? DESIGNING THE WAY FORWARD KNOWING, MAKING, AND DOING THE ORGANIC DRIVETRAIN THE LADDER OF DESIGN LEVERAGE PART 2: THE REBIRTH OF AESTHETICS A LANGUAGE FOR THE SENSES BEAUTY IN NATURE IS NEVER ARBITRARY WHAT IS GOOD DESIGN? DESIGNING IN DEPTH PART 3: LEVERS FOR CHANGE A FLYWHEEL OF INNOVATION 1. TAKE ON WICKED PROBLEMS 2. WEAVE A RICH STORY 3. BUILD AN INNOVATION CENTER 4. BRING DESIGN MANAGEMENT INSIDE 5. ASSEMBLE A METATEAM 6. COLLABORATE CONCERTINA-STYLE 7. INTRODUCE PARALLEL THINKING 8. BAN POWERPOINT 9. SANCTION SPITBALLING 10. THINK BIG, SPEND SMALL 11. DESIGN NEW METRICS 12. INSTITUTE BRANDED TRAINING 13. LEARN THROUGH ACQUISITION 14. ADD A SEAT TO THE TABLE 15. RECOGNIZE TALENT 16. REWARD WITH WICKED PROBLEMS A SUFFICIENTLY ADVANCED CULTURE TAKE-HOME LESSONS WICKED SOLUTIONS RECOMMENDED READING ABOUT NEUTRON ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INDEX ABOUT THE AUTHOR