Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals hold great promise in display technologies, as the tunable energy levels and narrow emission bandwidth allow for wide gamut in color space. Impetus for energy-efficient, high-color-quality display has driven the surge of interest in electrically driven quantum dot-based light emitting diodes (QD-LEDs). While extensive efforts have led to synthesis of QDs with near-unity photoluminescence quantum yield and fabrication of QD-LEDs with external quantum efficiency reaching to the theoretical limit (similar to 20%), low out-coupling factor poses a challenge in the way of improving the device performance when spherical QDs are used. Geometrically anisotropic nano crystals (NCs) such as nanorods or nanoplatelets represent a unique possible solution to enhancing light extraction efficiency. In this Perspective, we highlight important design principles of individual anisotropic NCs and their assembly in the context of LED applications.