• by mackenzie , January 10, 2008

As a design student in my senior year I am constantly on the prowl for cool companies in the industry. Recently, a post from Kem Meyer caught my eye: "This may be the coolest company in the world." The post profiles a communications design company, XPLANE, a self proclaimed "visual thinking company." XPLANE specializes in creating visualizations that communicate the value of their client's message.

I was intrigued by XPLANE's ideals, so I checked out their site. Xplane.com is a humble, yet excellent introduction to their brand personality and strategy. XPLANE reiterates that "Communication isn't a message sent, it's a message received." I have heard this quote before, but never before have I come across a company that demonstrates this so well.

I don't know that I would define XPLANE as the coolest company in the world, but they are definitely leaps and bounds ahead of most companies in the information design industry. The days of marketer's solely depending on swat charts and bar graphs are behind us - XPLANE obviously thinks so. We live in an increasingly complex world, and XPLANE is at the forefront of helping people communicate.

I would absolutely love to be employed by a company that has such a great understanding of their own purpose and strengths. I wish more people, especially designers, would realize that clarity = results.