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50 Articles

Design at a Crossroads

BRENDAN VAUGHAN Hello out there! Careful readers of this page may notice a new face in the upper right-hand corner. That face is mine. This is my first issue as editor-in-chief of Fast Company, and I’m thrilled to be here. Fast Company launched in 1995, just as I was launching my own career, and I remember thinking, Wow, great idea. The founding editors, Alan Webber and Bill Taylor, intuited that the acceleration of innovation would change the world forever, and they bottled that insight into a magazine that became the voice of the new economy. Nearly 30 years later, I’m excited to help write the next chapter in Fast Company’s history. Our plans are too big to cover in this space. They extend far beyond the pages of the magazine to our website,…

Design at a Crossroads

Why Did Corporate America Break Up With Design?

In 2005, the future of American business was reflected in the spotless tile behind a toilet bowl. Procter & Gamble had released the Mr. Clean Magic Reach, a sleek tool with a detachable head for scrubbing the darkest recesses of a bathroom. Developed in just 18 months, it represented a strategic move to elevate design throughout P&G, an effort that then CEO A.G. Lafley had spearheaded with an almost religious fervor. “Remember that one of the disciples had to put his hand in the bloody wounds to believe,” he told a reporter at the time, comparing the design skeptics within various divisions of the company to an incredulous apostle. “We have some businesses that are doubting Thomases.” His conviction paid off. P&G’s sales doubled and profits quadrupled between 2000 and…

Why Did Corporate America Break Up With Design?

Billy on the Screen

BILLY EICHNER BORN: September 1978 HOMETOWN: Queens, New York ALMA MATER: Northwestern University BIG BREAK: Creation Nation, a live comedy talk show in NYC FAVORITE ROMANTIC COMEDY: 1987’s Broadcast News THE MOVIE BROS, PREMIERING September 30, is the first gay romantic comedy ever released in theaters by a major film company (Universal Studios), and the first to feature an almost entirely LGBTQ+ principal cast. At the center of this double milestone is Billy Eichner, the actor and comedian known for his acerbic, high-octane game show, Billy on the Street, and roles in Difficult People, the 2019 version of The Lion King, and Impeachment: American Crime Story. Bros marks the first time Eichner has starred in and cowritten (with director Nick Stoller) a studio film. Here, the self-proclaimed neurotic talks about carrying the dual weights of representing…

Billy on the Screen

MINOR ROLES, MAJOR IMPACT

1 Harvey Fierstein “Harvey Fierstein truly broke ground. He was out there being openly, publicly gay, telling our stories in the early ’80s, decades before there was a supportive environment for that type of content.” 2 TS Madison “She’s a social media star and had her own shows on TV. I saw her in [the film] Zola, and it was one of the funniest scenes, and I thought, Oh man, we have to have TS Madison in this movie.” 3 Amanda Bearse “Amanda Bearse, who I grew up watching on Married … With Children, was on the cover of The Advocate as a lesbian actress in 1993—before Ellen, Rosie, all of them. She hadn’t acted in a [major] film in 30 years or something.” Illustration source images, clockwise from top left: Photofest (Fierstein); Bruce Glikas/Getty Images…

MINOR ROLES, MAJOR IMPACT

Follow the (Thought) Leader

You can tell a lot about a person from the accounts they follow on Twitter, whether they’re using the platform to get intel on the latest hot startup, track trends in Web3, see rise-and-grind affirmations, or just read up on celebrity gossip. To get a glimpse into the mindset of a dozen leaders in business and tech on Twitter, we took a look at the kinds of accounts they follow and then mapped out some commonalities between them. Of course, in the same way a retweet isn’t an endorsement, following someone doesn’t mean the follower is fully on board with all their opinions, but it does offer insight into who many business leaders are listening to, and the information they value on social media. Trying to define the philosophies of Social…

Follow the (Thought) Leader

Seeing Around Corners

“Food shortage and climate change are already a problem,” says Sara Menker, and they’re “about to get worse.” As the founder and CEO of Gro Intelligence, which combines agricultural and climate data with AI and machine learning to create models that predict the future of global food security, Menker understands, on a granular level, the scope of the problem. And she’s giving others the tools to solve it. Her eight-year-old company helps clients—government agencies, humanitarian organizations, banks like BNP Paribas, and conglomerates like Unilever and Yum Brands—“see around the corner and plan accordingly.” In May, Menker testified before the United Nations Security Council about the impact of such unprecedented factors as global conflict on food security, noting that 400 million people had lost reliable access to affordable, nutritious food in…

Seeing Around Corners

A MOSAIC OF DATA

01 Tracking Drought Climate and weather impact agricultural production, including crops used as animal feed. Gro’s Drought Index measures drought severity on macro and granular levels. 02 Soybean Prices To meet pork demand, China feeds hogs with soybeans from the U.S. and Brazil. Drought or flood impacts the price of these feed crops, which affects the price of pork. 03 Chinese Demand If pork prices rise in China, consumers might turn to other proteins, such as chicken, affecting the price of both meats and demand for corn, the main chicken feed. Source: Gro Intelligence, May 18, 2022…

A MOSAIC OF DATA

In the year since new NCAA policies allowed amateur athletes to earn compensation off their names, images, and likenesses (NIL), stories have run the gamut from aw-shucks pocket-money deals to eight-figure offers from college booster groups seeking to secure all-American talent. The proliferation of these so-called collectives, which create a buffer that protects university athletic departments from regulatory violations, seems likely to alter the $14.4 billion college sports business. Future athletes may matriculate with a clear sense of how much income they’ll earn through various off-field activities. “Many collectives want their teams to have a base salary,” says Sam Weber, senior director of brand communications at Opendorse, a platform that for 10 years has facilitated endorsement deals for pro athletes and last year opened its portal to qualified amateurs. While…

Shitposting is serious business. Just ask Lit, the pseu donymous creator behind the financial meme account Litquidity. He’s amassed 700,000 Instagram followers and 270,000 Twitter followers for his snarky commentary on the cultural mores of budding American Psychos and Bored Ape collectors, skewering Goldman Sachs interns for their penchant for overpriced Hamptons rentals, crypto bros for going all in on not-sostable coins, and Jeff Bezos for just … being. But Lit’s ambitions are far grander. “[My] vision is building out a Barstool Sports, but focused on finance,” he says, speaking to Fast Company over Zoom, his face obscured by his trademark avatar: a dollar bill adorned with a frazzled-looking George Washington. That Lit’s inspiration is Barstool, the infamously abrasive but undeniably successful digital media company, is telling. The meme maker has…

1938 The Financial Follies Financiers and businessmen joined up to poke fun the old-fashioned way—with song, dance, and NYSE jokes—in an annual lampoon that is still around. 1982 Off the Wall Street Journal This faux issue of The Wall Street Journal featured stories about Reaganomics, executives’ mistresses, and a report on death and taxes: “How to avoid both.” 2003 Wu-Tang Financial Comedian Dave Chappelle brought the Wu-Tang Clan to a run-of-the-mill financial services company in a parody for The Chappelle Show in 2003. 2011 Goldman Sachs Elevator Was that really an earthquake?” “No, I just dropped my wallet” is what you might hear in the Goldman Sachs elevator, according to the @GSElevator Twitter account. 2021 Every Finance Bro Comedian Trevor Wallace’s biting impression of “every finance bro” (“I had to stop watching Wolf of Wall Street and start living it”) has garnered more than…

Disruptive innovation is the key to plastics sustainability

Plastic plays a critical role in virtually all industries, from agriculture and construction to healthcare and manufacturing. Time magazine has called plastic one of the four materials (along with cement, steel, and ammonia) without which modern societies would not be possible. However, as global production of this cheap, lightweight, and highly versatile material doubled during the past two decades, plastic consumption grew even faster, according to the OECD, creating significant sustainability challenges. Meeting those challenges will require disruptive innovation from companies both large and small. “Many companies are under significant pressure from employees, customers, regulators, and investors to show progress toward sustainability goals,” says Paige Marie Morse, sustainability lead at AspenTech, an industrial software provider. “For the companies that make plastics, they also feel a responsibility to meet the increasing demand…

Disruptive innovation is the key to plastics sustainability

My Daily Media Diet

Walk This Way Wilderdog’s leashes ($32, wilderdog.com), crafted from rock-climbing rope, can be lengthened and shortened. A carabiner locks the rope onto harnesses and collars like these from Leeds Dog Supply, which supports no-kill rescues and shelters ($19.95, leedsdogsupply.com). Pair with a Wild One Poop Bag Carrier ($8, wildone.com). Instagram @GOODNEWS_MOVEMENT I love following this account as it restores my faith in humanity when I need it. Which is daily! Newsletter MESSY NESSY THINGS The writer, Nessy, curates the craziest stories from history. Every time I finish reading about something, I do a deeper dive. Pandora Playlist KRIS KROSS OR BONNIE RAITT RADIO As you can see, my tastes are extremely current. TikTok @MEGSTALTER Megan Stalter’s monologuing, deluded characters crack me up. I’m glad she’s made the leap to TV on Hacks. ANIMAL ACCESSORY “I have a 200 lb. tortoise named Clover. I bought him…

My Daily Media Diet

My Hiking Soundtrack

01 “9 to 5” DOLLY PARTON What a fun song! How could you not love Dolly Parton—not only for her amazing voice, but also for all the wonderful things she does to support literacy and give back to her community and the world? 02 “Good 4 You” OLIVIA RODRIGO Whether we’re taking off on a family vacation or hanging around the house, Olivia Rodrigo’s entire Sour album really helps me stay connected to my very own Girl Scout Junior. 03 “I Will Survive” GLORIA GAYNOR After a tough day, I like to close my eyes and belt out some Gloria Gaynor. 04 “Let’s Groove” EARTH, WIND & FIRE This song also features heavily in one of my family’s Friday-night traditions—a family dance party! 05 “Castle on the Hill” ED SHEERAN Ed Sheeran speaks so beautifully about his younger self and about how his home…

My Hiking Soundtrack

Fostering a company-wide web of innovation

The ability to obtain market data and trade securities at lightning speed is so entrenched today that it’s hard to remember how slow and inefficient trading was before pioneers like Tradeweb helped create electronic marketplaces. The company launched the first multiclient RFQ (request-for-quote) trading platform for U.S. Treasuries back in 1998 and has kept improving its electronic trading tools ever since. Tradeweb is now an essential player in the global bond markets, serving more than 2,500 clients around the world and facilitating more than $1 billion in trading volume every day. President and CEO-elect Billy Hult joined Tradeweb in its infancy and says innovation was always a top priority. “I wanted to work for a company that was-from my perspective-pointed towards the future and not stuck in the past or just…

Fostering a company-wide web of innovation

my operating system.

What’s your best habit, and your worst? Saying yes to everything I can fit into my calendar, and saying yes to everything I can fit into my calendar. What do you do when you’re creatively stuck? Draw until new solutions to problems emerge. Translucent paper is the tool of my creativity. It allows for building overlays where past ideas are still faintly visible, and new ideas can slowly evolve, layer after layer. Is there a businessperson you admire? Jonathan Rose, an urban planner, for bringing design excellence, creativity, and social responsibility to housing and real estate development. Also, Alison Fox of American Prairie, for leading a project to create the largest nature reserve in the contiguous United States. How do you unplug? Play the piano (early 19th-century German composers are best for letting…

my operating system.

1 TANZANIA Ngorongoro Crater Park The park is home to many Maasai sharing the habitat of the native animals. 2 NEW YORK CITY Central Park A complex design and a constructed context of native habitats, geology, and horticulture. 3 MONTANA Glacier National Park I love the melancholic beauty of the disappearing ice. 4 ITALY Garden of Ninfa The ruins of a medieval town transformed into gardens, walks, and woodlands.…

What to Download

Creature Comfort The Lay Lo dog bed ($150, laylopets.com) combines an orthopedic foam core with a removable, washable cover that comes in hundreds of colors and patterns. Accessorize with Haute Diggity Dog’s LickCroix plush toys (from $12.95, haute diggitydog.com). 01 Dog Monitor Loup, our 14-year-old chocolate labradoodle, can’t travel with us. Using this app, we can see and check in with her while we are away. 02 Whistle I use this app to track Loup’s health and her location via a smart-collar attachment. I also use it to get vet advice if I need a quick answer. 03 Pzizz I have a hard time falling asleep. Two things help—listening to Swedish podcasts or this little relaxation app, which is like a warm hug for your brain. 04 Matchesfashion This fashion app has, by far, the fastest delivery and best…

What to Download

IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO WALK WITH SALEHE BEMBURY AND NOT STARE AT EVERYONE’S FEET. The asphalt is stiek-to-your-soles hot as Bembury, one of the most famous shoe designers on the planet, threads his way through the stalls of Pasadena, California’s legendary Rose Bowl Flea Market where, once a month for the last 50 years, designers like Christian Louboutin have gone elbow-to-elbow with bargain hunters in search of unique treasures. The thousands of stalls filled with millions of kniekknaeks feel, in many ways, more oppressive than the blaektop, a seemingly endless array of faded Yu-Ghi-Oh tees and frayed Lakers jerseys, mid-century dining tables, and 35 mm-era Olympus point-and-shoots. But as we walk, a quick glance beneath the card tables reveals a whole other world, a tacit language gestured through our footwear. Gen Z goths…

THE MUSEUM OF MODERN BEMBURY

1 Versace Squalo “Palm Leaves” The design is a nod to the dress Jennifer Lopez wore to the 2000 Grammys. 2 Crocs Pollex Bembury is the first collaborator to challenge the brand’s Danish clog aesthetic. 3 Anta SB-02 This hiking shoe is Bembury’s first post-Versace work, defining his colorful outdoor POV. 4 Versace “2 Chain Reaction” Bembury remixed his outsize outsole hit for the rapper 2 Chainz. 5 New Balance 2002R “Water Be the Guide” Color and texture transformed a classic into a must-have. 6 Spunge x Vault by Vans Authentic Bembury renders his fingerprint in canvas for his take on the Vans “Authentic.” 7 Brandblack x Salehe Tan Navy This low-top hiking shoe is grounded with a mosslike Vibram outsole. 8 New Balance 574 Yurt “Shark Skin” Bembury’s whistle shoe; this colorway pays homage to the iconic dad shoe. 9 Yeezy Season 3 Military Boot The…

THE MUSEUM OF MODERN BEMBURY

DESIGN FOR THE AGES

● TOMORROW WILL BE BETter than today, capitalism promises us. Whether it’s the release of another iteration of the iPhone or a wave of COVID-19 vaccines formulated to keep up with emerging variants, the prospect of the next big thing provides us with an alluring sense of optimism. But it’s also turned us into short-term thinkers awaiting our next fix, at the expense of the environment and social equity. The 46 winners of this year’s Innovation by Design Awards—chosen by Fast Company editors, alongside an expert jury of design professionals—represent an alternative to the “what’s next?” design strategy, trading short-term solutionism for long-term, considered thinking. Take the Fairphone 4. It’s a smartphone that you can disassemble with a standard screwdriver to fix or upgrade by yourself. Yes, its form is an alluring…

● THERE’S A diversity crisis in the design industry: Fewer than 5% of designers are Black, and fewer than 10% of Black students enroll in undergraduate design programs. Diversity in Design (DID), a consortium of more than four dozen design – oriented companies, including 3M, Airbnb, and Gap, launched last year with a mission to dismantle some of the racial inequities in the industry. Created and primarily funded by modern – furniture powerhouse MillerKnoll, the organization aims to promote pathways for young Black creatives to enter the field by focusing on critical points in their lives: high school, highered, and entering the job market. “When we miss supporting Black designers at the beginning [of their lives and careers], there aren’t networks for mentoring and support in the workplace,” says Todd…

AN AIR – FRESHENING VACUUM

● WHILE OTHER vacuums signal their engineering prowess with transparent canisters, exposed mechanics, and other Jetsons – like features, Airsign’s HEPA Vacuum is a literal black box—albeit one with an accordion hose and a sleek multipurpose floor attachment. But there’s a lot going on beneath that restrained aesthetic. Airsign was founded by New York–based industrial designer Joseph Guerra, who spent two years creating a product that can trap dust, dirt, and debris while also improving air quality via a HEPA-14 filtration system. Eschewing trendy upright models, he opted for a retro canister design, which sits on the floor and allows for a more powerful engine. (It’s still relatively compact: slightly bigger than a home printer.) The vacuum itself is made from 20% recycled plastic, and can be taken apart, repaired,…

AN AIR – FRESHENING VACUUM

A PATIENT – FIRST APPROACH TO HEALTHCARE

WITH ITS 12.6 MILLION MEMBERS LOOKING TO ASSERT more control over their health than ever before, healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente “needed to take a leap in our digital experience,” says Prat Vemana, chief technology officer at the Oakland, California-based nonprofit organization. That leap encompassed a full redesign of Kaiser Permanente’s website and member app beginning in March 2021, which the company’s in-house development team completed with input from physicians and members. The overhaul brought intuitive app and website navigation, and uncluttered the user experience even as Kaiser layered in new features like on-demand urgent care and a personalized homepage that makes benefits information, lab results, and prescriptions accessible in one place. From other providers, “these would all be four or five apps that don’t talk to each other,” Vemana says.…

A PATIENT – FIRST APPROACH TO HEALTHCARE

A FASHION LINE THAT UPSCALES UPCYCLING

LONDON-BASED fashion designer Priya Ahluwalia (left), whose eponymous line uses deadstock and upcycled fabric, is on a mission to reduce the 85% of clothing that ends up incinerated or in a landfill. It’s a project informed by her Indian and Nigerian heritage: Ahluwalia became interested in the secondhand-clothing industry after noticing many Nigerians wearing discarded Western clothing and visiting Panipat, India, the global capital of textile recycling, where used clothing is turned into cheap items. As her business grew-Ahluwalia won the LVMH Prize in 2020-she looked for ways to broaden its social impact. Last fall, she launched Ahluwalia: Circulate, a program that enables people to send her clothes to be incorporated into her designs. Through a microsite managed by design firm A_DA and powered by Microsoft computer-vision technology, users can…

A FASHION LINE THAT UPSCALES UPCYCLING

AN OFFICE TOWER WRAPPED IN A PARK

LIKE MANY CORPORATE BUILDINGS, THE HANA BANK HEADQUARTERS WILL BE set on a landscaped campus when it opens an hour outside of Seoul in early 2025. But under the direction of architecture firm NBBJ, this landscaping will also wend its way into the atrium and around the building’s 15 floors, enveloping the tower in a ribbonlike “infinite park” that plays with the very notion of separating work from the world around it. The building’s design is focused on the idea of “restorative work,” says Robert Mankin, NBBJ partner. “It’s a place where you can actually leave healthier than when you arrived.” The park will be open to employees and the public alike, who can engage with art installations and social spaces along its different levels. When employees do sit down…

AN OFFICE TOWER WRAPPED IN A PARK

AN ACCESSIBLE BANK

IMMIGRANT LIFE CAN BE LONELY. That’s why Majority, a startup banking solution for migrants, has built its brand around the idea of community.Instead of charging fees, it offers a monthly membership, which covers core banking services as well as perks like discounted international calls. “Details matter,” says Magnus Larsson, cofounder and CEO of the three-year-old company. To make Majority welcoming during the sign-up process, in particular, Larsson and his team added a feature this year that makes it possible to open an account without a Social Security number. On the back end, Majority matches information from the customer’s home-country ID and proof of residence to a set of identity databases. The customer, meanwhile, is guided through a seamless mobile experience in the language of their choice.…

Banking Challenges for Migrants

● Households in the United States that did not have a bank account in 2021 Hispanic households White households ● From 2010 to 2021, the U.S. lost more than 15,500 bank branches. ● In 2020 alone, U.S. bank branches and savings and loan associations nationwide ● U.S. immigrant households that had a checking account in 2016 Households from Mexico Households from Cuba ● Top reasons cited by underbanked households for not having an account: 29% Don’t have enough money to meet minimum balance requirements 16.1% Don’t trust banks ● Percentage of users registering without an SSN who reported that Majority is their only bank account 62% Sources: Majority (12% of Hispanic households; 62% of users), FDIC (2.5% of white households; top reasons for not having an account), Brookings (15,500 bank branches; U.S. immigrant households), S&P Global Market Intelligence (U.S. bank branches and savings and…

Banking Challenges for Migrants

A LANGUAGE KEEPER

UNTIL RECENTLY, MEMBERS OF THE Indigenous Canadian communities of Dakelh, in British Columbia, and Nattilingmiut Inuit, in Nunavut, were limited in how they reproduced their languages on digital platforms. The problem: Many of the syllabic characters they use were either overlooked or inaccurately rendered when they were encoded, back in 1999, into the Unicode Standard, which supports the exchange of digital text across word processors, email, and instant messaging services. A broad swath of the characters used to write the Dakelh (or Carrier) language were incorrectly represented, making them illegible to the already small number of Dakelh speakers. Meanwhile, members of the Nattilingmiut community, who speak an Inuktut dialect called Nattilingmiutut, were missing 12 of their 138 syllabic characters entirely. “Because our writing system is 100% phonetic, if it’s not…

A LANGUAGE KEEPER

A MODULAR PHONE

OF THE 4.5 billion smart-phones now in use, nearly all are difficult to repair-even their batteries are often glued in place. The Fairphone 4, created by a Dutch electronics brand known for responsibly sourcing materials such as conflict-free tungsten and Fairtrade gold, is different: The back pops off without tools, and the parts inside, from the display and battery to the cameras and microphone, can be removed with a screwdriver. “The device is designed so users can take it apart easily,” says Oscar Karlsson, cofounder and design director at Above, the Swedish innovation agency that led the design for Fair-phone. Since Fair-phone’s parts are under warranty, Karlsson’s team identified components that would be compatible with future software upgrades. Above also elected for a Scandinavian aesthetic that will prevent the phone…

A MODULAR PHONE

AN ALGORITHMIC APPROACH TO ARCHITECTURE

TRADItional architecture inspired the design of the iKure Health Hub clinic in West Bengal, India, but in a very untraditional way. Working pro bono, architects from the global firm HDR designed the clinic using an algorithm that drew on a library of images of vernacular brick buildings from West Bengal. Paul Howard Harrison, computational design lead at HDR, wrote the program, which randomly generated thousands of potential options for the shape and form of the building, then sifted through them to optimize for shading, airflow, and natural light. The software finally landed on a semi-rectangular shape that contains two large courtyards and four smaller ones. Then the human designers intervened. The smaller courtyards were turned into light-well towers that act as beacons for the building while also bringing glowing light…

AN ALGORITHMIC APPROACH TO ARCHITECTURE

A PILL BOTTLE THAT CAN SPEAK

ACCESSING prescription medication can present a minefield for people with visual impairments. Often, patients need a separate device to read prescriptions, or they rely on memory to follow a pharmacist’s instructions. (Pill bottles are too small for braille.) The American Council of the Blind and CVS worked with digital-security company Identiv, which specializes in NFC and RFID technologies, to create an elegant solution. The new Spoken Rx program allows customers to use the CVS app to scan an RFID sticker on their bottles and hear a recitation of the most crucial components in prescription labels, including directions, medication name, and warnings. “The only way that we are able to take back our health is by knowing all of our data,” says Eric Bridges, executive director of the American Council of…

A PILL BOTTLE THAT CAN SPEAK

AN OS THAT RESPONDS TO GESTURES

ANDROID USERS CAN NOW PLAY MUSIC, order delivery, and text a friend simply by raising their eyebrows or smiling at their smartphone’s camera. Launched last fall and built into the Android 12 operating system, the Camera Switches accessibility feature was developed by Google’s multidisciplinary Creative Lab to ensure that people of all physical abilities can communicate through a digital interface. To inform user experience, the team worked with speech and language therapists, who connected their clients with the designers. “We find a group of users to partner with and co-create with us,” says Robert Wong, cofounder of the Creative Lab. After discovering, for example, that even people with the same condition have different physical abilities, the team devised an option that allows users to personalize how pronounced their gestures are.…

AN OS THAT RESPONDS TO GESTURES

A WEBSITE THAT INSPIRES TRUST

WHEN BREASTCANCER.org approached the digital-products firm Work & Co about redesigning its website, it had a clear goal: usability. Work & Co helped update the technology undergirding the site, which has been a vital resource for more than 200 million patients and their loved ones since its founding in 2000, and overhauled the user experience. Since visitors often arrive at Breastcancer.org newly diagnosed, the site had to feel immediately reassuring, delivering “a sense of trust and also medically vetted, accurate information,” says Lauren Shapiro, design partner at Work & Co. That meant replacing the gendered breast cancer pink with a more neutral color palette, increasing the font size, and rewriting articles in a service-oriented tone. Work & Co even identified user situations (such as “newly diagnosed,” “in treatment,” “caring for…

A WEBSITE THAT INSPIRES TRUST

A NEW WAY TO HARNESS WIND

THE INGEnious Wind-catcher, from the Norwegian company Wind Catching Systems, is more than just a turbine. It’s 126 of them, mounted on a grid that’s 1,000 feet tall. When the system becomes operational in 2024, it could deliver five times the annual energy of the world’s largest single turbine. That’s because the system is three times taller than the average turbine, exposing the blades to higher wind speeds. It also has smaller blades, which spin faster, and is designed to float in deep waters, where winds are strongest. Wind Catching Systems CEO Ole Heggheim says that most wind farms have been based on the model of Dutch windmills, but his system is optimized for offshore use: “[Just because] you have something that works on land, why would you do the…

A NEW WAY TO HARNESS WIND

A KID-FRIENDLY MRI

WHILE AN MRI IS INTIMIDATING FOR adults, it’s particularly scary for children. When a patient’s nervousness threatens to compromise a scan, “the default action of a radiologist [has been] to call in a specialist to sedate the child,” says Sean Carney, chief design officer of health-tech company Philips, a leading MRI manufacturer. To help doctors avoid anesthesia, his team developed an approach that acquaints pediatric patients with the MRI process even before they arrive at the hospital. It starts with a gamified mobile app that introduces kids to an elephant named Olly who has to get an MRI; using AR, the app can even insert an animated scanner into kids’ own environments. Once at the hospital, patients are invited to perform an MRI on Olly using a toy scanner. When…

A KID-FRIENDLY MRI

A SHAPE-SHIFTING CHAIR

THE HYGROSHAPE concept chair, developed by researchers at the University of Stuttgart, in Germany, relies on the intrinsic qualities of wood to transform-on its own-from one form to another. After slicing a tree into planks, the team uses software to analyze its grain and water content and anticipate how the wood will bend as it naturally dries out. The planks are assembled into a flat piece and wrapped in moisture-trapping packaging. Once a customer unboxes it, the chair shapes itself into a stylish lounger over the course of 8 to 12 hours. Lead researcher Dylan Wood says that applying this technique to furniture is just the start: Using it for “building components [is] much more practical,” he says. Wood and fellow lead researcher Laura Kiesewetter spun out a company, Hylo…

A SHAPE-SHIFTING CHAIR

A GAMIFIED INVENTORY TRACKER

WALMART SUPERCENTERS ARE RENOWNED FOR CONtaining multitudes: More than 120,000 items can be found on the floor of a store at any given time. Keeping track of this inventory used to be a time-consuming manual process for associates—though a necessary one, with Walmart’s stores now doubling as microfulfillment centers for online orders. In January, the retailer debuted an RFID inventory scanner that streamlines how apparel is tracked across its 4,000-plus stores. “Typical retailers can only account for about 65% of inventory,” says Valerie Casey (above), Walmart’s chief design officer. “Now everything gets logged in one-third of the time it used to take.” Attached to a phonelike screen, the scanner can log multiple products (which are affixed with RFID labels) from as far away as 15 feet. To ensure that associates…

A GAMIFIED INVENTORY TRACKER

AN ADVENTURE-READY EV PICKUP

TURNS OUT BEing freed from having to pack an internal combustion engine under the hood of a truck really opens the doors of creativity. At least, that’s what happened when Jeff Hammoud, Rivian’s head of design, began playing with that surplus volume in the EV automaker’s R1T pickup, which Rivian began delivering to customers last winter. In addition to an EV-only front trunk (or “frunk”), the R1T has a deep center console designed with women’s bags in mind, and room underneath the front and back seats. Then there’s the Rivian-invented gear tunnel—a 65-inch-long cavity between the cab and truck bed that can carry skis, muddy boots, and bags of groceries. “We really tried to find every little bit of volume,” says Hammoud. That also opened up less-expected opportunities, such as…

AN ADVENTURE-READY EV PICKUP

AN EXPANSIVE VIEW OF TRAVEL

MOST PEOPLE’S TRAVEL BUCKET lists are centered on a handful of cities, such as New York, Paris, and Rome. Airbnb’s redesign, which debuted in May, is built to pull us out of this rut and direct us toward the more than 100,000 other destinations across the globe where it has listings. The new interface de-emphasizes the search bar that asks where you want to go and instead offers 56 categories that question what you want to do when you get there. Plan to taste wine? Airbnb suggests a home in Michigan City, Indiana, instead of Sonoma. Hope to visit an island? Maybe try a cabin in Swansboro, North Carolina. Dream of sleeping in a castle? Consider Lago Vista, Texas. “Our general point of view is to spread out tourism,” says…

AN EXPANSIVE VIEW OF TRAVEL

A NATURALLY COOL CIVIC CENTER

THE VANCOUVER SUBURB OF SURREY, BRITISH COLUMBIA, GOT A hardworking new civic center last fall. The Clayton Community Centre combines a fitness facility, gymnasium, community kitchen, tool workshop, and recording studios, as well as offices for the city’s recreation, library, arts, and parks staffs. It’s also one of the largest buildings in North America to meet the stringent Passive House green building standard, which requires structures to limit their energy use through highly efficient insulation and ventilation systems. Despite its northern location, keeping the building warm was not the challenge. “We found out quickly that we had a cooling problem,” says Melissa Higgs, principal at Hcma, the architects of the project, citing the building’s variety of uses and all the warm bodies inside. To avoid relying on an industrial air…

A NATURALLY COOL CIVIC CENTER

A SIMPLER SELF-DRIVING CAR KIT

“EVERY car company has a different design language,” says YooJung Ahn, head of design for Alphabet’s Waymo autonomous car division, which aims to turn just about any conventional car into a self-driving one. Ahn’s challenge has been to enable pilot tests for Waymo Driver, its autonomous technology product, on different vehicles as it rolls into cities from Phoenix to San Francisco. Her team had to design a sophisticated hardware add-on that can be deployed on semitrucks and sedans alike—and still look good. That required a pared-down approach. “When you have a simpler design, it’s easier to make it adaptable,” Ahn says. Packed with 40 cameras, radars, and lidars, Waymo Driver sits on top of a car like a three-tiered hat, riding on roof racks that might otherwise hold a cargo…

A SIMPLER SELF-DRIVING CAR KIT

A PLAYFUL DIGITAL WHITEBOARD

“FUN IS DIFFERENT THAN FRIVOLOUS,” SAYS DYLAN FIELD, COfounder and CEO of the web-based design tool Figma. That mantra powered the launch, last year, of his company’s digital whiteboard app, FigJam. The new tool includes an array of playful features—stickies, drawing tools, an emote wheel for quick reactions—that approximate the contagious energy of IRL creative brainstorms. Within a few months, Figma had opened the platform to third-party developers, whose plug-ins and widgets have extended the app’s levity as well as its utility: a chat room, graphing capabilities, ice-breaker games that simulate Etch-a-Sketch and Connect 4. Companies that have adopted the app span industries, from automotive to banking to hospitality, and include Netflix, Nationwide, Stripe, and Twitter. Field says that 70% of new FigJam users are non-designers, and 82% of weekly…

A PLAYFUL DIGITAL WHITEBOARD

A DIVERSE DREAM TEAM

SERENA WILliams isn’t just a tennis legend and burgeoning investor. She’s also a committed designer. For nearly two decades, she’s collaborated with Nike to create clothes and sneakers. Three years ago, she came to Nike with a new concept: She wanted to launch an apprenticeship program that would help designers of color break into fashion, especially the world of sports apparel. (Nike itself has faced criticism for the lack of diversity in its ranks, prompting CEO John Donahue to launch a hiring effort two years ago.) In 2020, the Serena Williams Design Crew (SWDC) was born. Every year, Williams handpicks 10 or more designers from different disciplines, inviting them to Nike’s Beaverton, Oregon, headquarters to collaborate with her on her SWDC collection. Each cohort comes from a single city—New York,…

Accessible Design AIR4ALL PRIESTMANGOODE A system that enables commercial airlines to accommodate personal wheelchairs in their cabins, allowing passengers to remain in their wheelchairs Apps and Games STAYBL HAVAS NEW YORK AND HAVAS GERMANY A browser app that compensates for users’ tremors in real time to allow for smooth internet surfing Branding BRAND REFRESH SWEETGREEN A fresh brand strategy and design that pays homage to healthy ingredients and the people behind the foods Circular Design CIRCULAR 501 JEANS LEVI STRAUSS & CO. AND RENEWCELL A new jean made from recycled denim, designed to extend the product’s life span and reduce environmental impact Experience Design LIFE AND WORK OF FRIDA KAHLO ACCIONA CULTURAL An immersive exhibit that employs multi-sensory storytelling elements to reimagine the traditional museum experience and increase accessibility to works of art Health THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH EXPERIENCE PHILIPS EXPERT – ENCE DESIGN An adaptive environment for pediatric behavioral health patients, using ambient…

YOOJUNG AHN HEAD OF DESIGN, WAYMO NATHAN ALLEN HEAD OF GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAMS AND PARTNERSHIPS, GOOGLE DONNEL BAIRD FOUNDER AND CEO, BLOCPOWER TI CHANG COFOUNDER AND CHIEF DESIGN OFFICER, CRAVE ALASTAIR CURTIS CHIEF DESIGN OFFICER, LOGITECH ALEKS GRYCZON DESIGN PARTNER, WORK & CO SAGI HAVIV PARTNER AND PRINCIPAL DESIGNER, CHERMAYEFF & GEISMAR & HAVIV DAVID MURRAY HEAD OF DESIGN, GOFUNDME EMEM OFFONG UX DESIGN LEAD, JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. BEN OSTROWER FOUNDER AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR, WIDE EYE NICHOLE ROUILLAC FOUNDER AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR, LEVEL WHITNEY RUTTER CEO, LOCAL PROJECTS VICTORIA SLAKER VP, INDUSTRIAL DESIGN, AMMUNITION YURI SUZUKI PARTNER, PENTAGRAM STEPHANIE H. TAYLOR FOUNDER AND CEO, BUILDING4HEALTH RICHARD THE ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, PARSONS SCHOOL OF DESIGN, AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR, STUDIO THEGREENEYL AMY THIBODEAU CHIEF DESIGN OFFICER, GUSTO DANIELLE THOMPSON FOUNDER, DESIGN MATCH BOB WEIS GLOBAL IMAGINEERING AMBASSADOR, WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING HEATHER WINKLE SVP AND HEAD OF EXPERIENCE DESIGN, CAPITAL ONE *Judges recused themselves from deliberating on entries from companies where they’re employed.…

Design Company of the Year AIRBNB GOOGLE LOGITECH RIVIAN WALMART General Excellence CLAYTON COMMUNITY CENTRE HCMA GIVING GAP WORK & CO HEAT SOLUTIONS FOR BOSTON SASAKI NORTH AMERICAN SYLLABICS TYPOTHEQUE Accessible Design SPOKEN RX AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND, CVS, AND IDENTIV TOUCH CARD MASTERCARD WAYBAND WEARWORKS Apps and Games CUSTOM TEXT STICKERS GOOGLE THE EMPATHY APP EMPATHY NIKE RUN CLUB COLLINS Automotive POLESTAR O2 POLESTAR SAFETY INNOVATIONS ZOOX SUSTAINABLE-MATERIAL TIRE GOODYEAR Branding GIRL SCOUTS OF THE USA BRAND IDENTITY COLLINS Circular Design FAIRPHONE 4 ABOVE AGENCY THE HITHE IF_DO LOOPKITCHEN STYKKA PATH HUMAN SCALE Data Design PLASTIC AIR PENTAGRAM PRESS FREEDOM TRACKER WEBSITE REDESIGN ACCURAT RESTOR GOOGLE “VISUALIZING HONG KONG’S BIGGEST SUPERSPREADER EVENT” SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST Enterprise HUDDLES SLACK NET ZERO CLOUD SALESFORCE Experience Design ANICKA YI: IN LOVE WITH THE WORLD SITARA SYSTEMS CHILD CARE REDESIGNED BRELLA CLAUDIA AND NELSON PELTZ SOCIAL LAB, MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE L.A. YAZDANI STUDIO OF CANNONDESIGN CURRENTS: NIAGARA’S POWER TRANSFORMED THINKWELL GROUP MAGIC LEAP 2 MAGIC LEAP SONIC BLOOM YURI SUZUKI AND ALTER – PROJECTS “THE STREAM” AT UBER’S MISSION BAY HEADQUARTERS HUSH Experimental INTERACTION HARVESTING NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY LITTLE SIGNALS GOOGLE PROJECT MOAB FRESH CONSULTING STRIATUS ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS AND BLOCK RESEARCH GROUP AT ETH ZURICH ZONE DYSON Fashion and Beauty BIO-ALLOY MODERN MEADOW GIVENCHY DIGITAL REBRAND WORK & CO RETURNING…

THE COACH TAKES THE FIELD

THERE’S SOMETHING SILICON VALLEY’S MOST INDISPENSABLE CEO COACH MUST GET OFF HIS CHEST. “AT TIMES,” SAYS MATT MOCHARY, “I REALIZE THAT I’M A FRAUD.” IN THE LAST DECADE, MOCHARY has built a career on guiding a good percentage of the tech industry’s youngest and most prominent CEOs toward being better managers, feeling more comfortable in the role, and even achieving professional joy. He’s not only the guy who teaches young CEOs how to do the job while they’re doing it; what sets him apart is his recognition of the psychological distress his clients are under, and the emphasis he places on off-loading the drudgery and releasing the pressure. His past and present client list is a who’s who of leaders from the go-go 2010s, including Vlad Tenev of Robinhood, which had a…

THE COACH TAKES THE FIELD

I “YOU REPORT TO NO ONE … WHEN WE WORK TOGETHER, YOU WILL REPORT TO ME.” Mochary seeks to be a CEO’s point of accountability, promising that he can make their lives better in just three meetings. II “WHEN YOU FEEL FEAR OR ANGER, YOUR BRAIN GIVES YOU BAD ADVICE.” Avoid taking action until you can get out of this mindset. If you must proceed immediately, do the opposite of what your instincts tell you. III “SPEND MOST OF YOUR TIME (75% TO 80%) DOING THINGS THAT ENERGIZE YOU.” Everything else? Find someone else who enjoys those responsibilities. IV “MEETINGS ARE A NECESSARY EVIL.” To ward off wickedness, put someone in charge of every meeting, establish a goal, and prepare beforehand so the gathering is focused on action. V “THEY CAN LITERALLY RUN YOUR COMPANY FOR YOU.” Every CEO needs…

THE METAVERSE IS…

amazing overhyped scary disruptive silly exhausting useful coming (PROBABLY) LAST APRIL, THE COCA-COLA COMPANY ISSUED A TRIUMPHANT PRESS RELEASE ANNOUNCING THAT IT HAD INTRODUCED A SOFT DRINK IN THE METAVERSE. THE 136-YEAR-OLD BEVERAGE MAKER TOUTED ITS LATEST CONCOCTION, COCA-COLA ZERO SUGAR BYTE, AS “TRANSCEND[ING] THE DIGITAL AND PHYSICAL WORLDS.” ALONG WITH A LIMITED-EDITION REAL-WORLD VERSION THAT WAS AIMED AT GAMERS, THE DRINK WAS AVAILABLE IN VIRTUAL FORM WITHIN THE WILDLY POPULAR ONLINE GAME FORTNITE. Coke’s landmark moment had an absurdist tinge: After all, you can’t taste a virtual cola or get a caffeine hit from it. But it would have been almost odder if the company hadn’t staked its claim in the metaverse. Over the past year, many high-profile brands have trumpeted their own arrivals in this curious netherworld, from Zara (fashion…

THE METAVERSE IS…

ALL THE METAVERSE IS A STAGE

BRAND EXPERIENCES THE PROMISE So far, most “metaverse” brand ventures are little more than quirky marketing stunts inside meta-verse-like 3D environments. But if the true metaverse takes off, establishing a presence there would be as essential as having a website THE PRESENT In August 2021, fashion house Louis Vuitton paid tribute to its founder’s legacy with Louis the Game, an imaginative, immersive app for iPhone and Android that sends players through history to collect 200 birthday candles (along with Beeple-created NFTs). WORKPLACE INTERACTIONS THE PROMISE The pandemic has already accelerated the trend toward distributed, hybrid work. In the metaverse, disparate coworkers and outsiders, such as clients or customers, could get down to business in 3D work spaces designed with collaboration in mind. THE PRESENT With Virbela, any organization can set up a digital campus for meetings, informal brainstorming sessions,…

ALL THE METAVERSE IS A STAGE

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