Can the Apple logo make you more creative?

Apparently so, according to yesterday's Science Daily. In a recent study by Duke University and the University of Waterloo, Canada, researchers found that even brief exposure to established brands can cause people to inherit the behaviors championed by those brands.

Or in other words, exposure to the ubiquitous Apple might just turn you into Justin Long.

In the study, the researchers pitted two distinct brands against each other -- "nonconformist, innovative and creative" Apple versus "traditional, smart and responsible" IBM:

The team conducted an experiment in which 341 university students completed what they believed was a visual acuity task, during which either the Apple or IBM logo was flashed so quickly that they were unaware they had been exposed to the brand logo. The participants then completed a task designed to evaluate how creative they were, listing all of the uses for a brick that they could imagine beyond building a wall.

People who were exposed to the Apple logo generated significantly more unusual uses for the brick compared with those who were primed with the IBM logo, the researchers said. In addition, the unusual uses the Apple-primed participants generated were rated as more creative by independent judges.

Similar results were found with the Disney and E! Channel logos, with those primed with the Disney logo found to act more honest than their E! counterparts.

A fascinating bit of science, isn't it? With findings like these, maybe I should retool my office desk a little bit -- with logos from Google (thinking outside the box), Nike (speed) and Lexus (luxury). Or at the very least, ask IT to junk my crusty, less-than-inspiring Dell Inspiron.

With consideration to these findings, what logos would you surround yourself with? (Hint: there's a great example at the top-left corner of this page.)