A dig from AIGA’s website, an article Design as Religion.

Nick Currie makes an elegant reading of the contemporary design shops, comparing them with respect to the religious experience. Here is an excerpt from his blog post:

Well, here’s my credo. I’m not a designer, but I love design. I love stores like Analogue, Magma and Zakka. I enter them as reverently as Philip Larkin entered a church, removing his bicycle clips and doffing his hat. To me they’re temples to human creativity, places dedicated to higher values, yes, even spiritual values. In a world that knows the price of everything and the value of nothing, these stores and the curated, inspirational printed matter they contain reaffirm my belief that beauty really is elevating and that every “creator” is a kind of god. However pompous, pretentious, trendy, vain, empty, elitist or silly it may appear to non-initiates, our cult does contain values I’d call “spiritual.” I hope it continues and expands. If we spread the word, the congregation will rise.

He is making clear the link between rituals and design work.  Design, in its best form, is about meaning & spirituality — it is about embodying values in products & services.  It is about composing wonderful experiences.