It takes years, often many of them, to turn a simple design element into an unmistakable part of a brand. Movado's midnight dot. Adidas' stripes. Audi's grille. Apple's home button.

These things don't happen accidentally. Teams of high-paid creative types gather in large rooms for months, poring over prototypes and brainstorming for just the right combination of simplicity and seduction. Sometimes the result is fresh and bold, like the iPod click wheel; others put a unique twist on an everyday item, like Coca-Cola's contoured soda bottle.

And then there are iconic designs that are so natural, so perfect that they were barely noticeable at first. When Samsung and Apple were duking it out in court this summer, much ado was made over "rectangles with rounded corners," a shape, truly, that has been around for eons. Apple wasn't arguing that it made the first multitouch smartphone built around a rounded rectangle; it's that so much care, such detail was put into the size, shape, bezel and curvature of the iPhone and iPad that it's practically its own design language.

Back in the early 80s, when computer makers were more concerned with logic boards than looks, Apple commissioned German industrial designer Hartmut Esslinger to create a radical new enclosure for what would become the IIc. What transpired was more than a PC case. Dubbed the Snow White Design Language, it introduced the heart and soul of Apple's hardware, with clean, symmetrical lines, recessed ports, light colors and smooth corners. It all seemed so simple, obvious even, yet years later, I can still pick out a Snow White Apple computer from a lineup of impostors.

And it's no different now. Draw a tall black rectangle with slightly curved corners and it'll pretty much look like an iPhone. Add a dot where the home button or camera would go and it's absolutely unmistakable. You might call it the Rounded Rectangle Design Language.

Which brings us to the logo you see at the top of this article. Most of you who have been reading MacLife with any regularity over the past year or five have probably seen my byline on all sorts of writings--reviews, analyses, interviews, research pieces and just about anything else that fits into Apple's expanding universe. Now that the editors at MacLife have been kind enough to grant me a weekly space to share my thoughts, you're going to get all of those things, with an eye on design.

Some weeks I'll talk about an Apple product--like next week, with the iPad mini. Other weeks I'll offer my opinion on a new App Store trend or iPad accessory. Sometimes I'll explore something from Apple's archives or comment on the latest rumor making the rounds. Patent battles. Rip-offs. Ads. Everything you read in Rounded Rectangles will have some attachment to design from aluminum and glass to user interfaces and iPad commercials.

I'll be scouring the Internet--and my local Apple Store--for ideas each week, trying to tweet more (@morlium) and hopefully sparking some good discussions in the comments.

Good (and bad) designs are all around us. So if you see one, let me know.