Issue 149

October 2010

Masters Of Design 2010

Design is change, by definition. Any executed design creates or alters something. But the world in which design exists changes too, and the current velocity of that transformation, and its effect on designers, is at the heart of our 2010 Master of Design special.

From corporate giants to young upstarts out to change the world, this issue is crammed with pioneers who are exploring the frontier where design meets change head on. We're sure you'll agree: The results of that collision are dazzling indeed.
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Features

Making Over McDonald's

Inside the $2.4 billion plan to change the way you think about the most iconic restaurant on the planet.
Slideshow: Designer Burgers: How McDonald's Has Evolved With Time
McDonald's Design Heritage
Exploring the Mysterious Absence of Ronald McDonald
Slideshow: McDonald's Changing Face Around the World
Italian Furniture Designer Patricia Urquiola's Work Goes Beyond Just Furniture

With a blend of artistry and commercial savvy, Patricia Urquiola enthralls tony Italian furniture makers—as well as BMW, H&M, and high-end hotel chains such as Mandarin Oriental. It’s a beautiful business.
Slideshow: The Beautiful Business of Patricia Urquiola
Landscape Architect Walter Hood Aims to Build Community-Inclusive Spaces

Walter Hood transforms run-of-the-mill public spaces—city parks, highway underpasses—into pillars of the communities they serve. His goal: to prove that every place, and every person, can benefit from good design.
Global Architect With a Mission!

In the world of architecture, there's no hotter upstart than Denmark's Bjarke Ingels Group. BIG's ambitious buildings are poetic, practical and unlike anything else. Browse this Graphic Novel story!
Slideshow: The Controversial Architecture of Bjarke Ingels
A Generation of Emerging Designers Who Design With Purpose

This emerging generation of designers wants to do more than create handsome and functional products. It’s out to protect the environment, improve health, reform education, and empower communities.
Heirlooms of Tomorrow

Designed to wow and created to last, these heirlooms-in-waiting are an antidote to throwaway consumerism in this era of disposable goods.
Slideshow: Designer Hand-Me-Downs
Technology Designer Gadi Amit on What's Wrong With Green Design

Gadi Amit shares his own politically incorrect formula for sustainability: products that are beautiful, touch people emotionally—and don’t rust.
Fiona Morrisson Brands JetBlue With Whimsical Design

Fiona Morrisson helps JetBlue soar above the airline industry’s turbulence by merging branding and design.

Now

Now: October 2010

Events, conferences you don't want to miss this month.
Tony Hawk Talks Business in His New Book

Nobody has ridden skateboarding to moguldom like Tony Hawk, who traces his unlikely journey in a new book, How Did I Get Here? The Ascent of an Unlikely CEO.
Convention on Biological Diversity

Feeling all fuzzy? As this convention kicks off its 10th edition (this year in Nagoya, Japan), here’s a look at six critters worth saving—and the industries threatening to put them under.
100th Anniversary of the Cathode-Ray Tube

Happy birthday, boob tube! Well, almost. The cathode-ray tube, the technology that made television sets possible, was patented 100 years ago today. But it would be a slow slog before TV took over our living rooms.
Facebook: The Social Network

Whether you’re a potential investor in Facebook’s rumored $60 billion IPO, one of the site’s 500 million members, or just a movie buff, filmmaker Aaron Sorkin’s biting biopic of Mark Zuckerberg will likely be a must-see. To prep you for the film, here’s a crib sheet of our latest Facebook coverage.

How Nick Kokonas Is Shaking Up Fine Dining

The cofounder of Alinea and Next on reimagining the restaurant experience as entertainment akin to a Broadway show.
Why Environmental Activists Embrace Social Media

Six months after the BP oil spill, it’s clear that in the age of social media, a company can’t spin and rebrand its way out of a mess like it used to.
Tim Kring Crosses Platforms

Heroes may be over, but its creator still has some very big ideas about storytelling.
LearnVest Connects Financial Literacy to a New Generation of Women

The LearnVest team is adopting ideas from the likes of Weight Watchers and DailyCandy to help young women improve their fiscal fitness.
Netflix. Meet Hulu. Now, How About Merging Together?

Farhad Manjoo argues that Netflix and Hulu should stop competing and team up.
Technology Changes the Face of Politicking

Pols cast votes for Gowalla as the next social-media game changer.
The British Invade America Again (This Time, Through Fashion)

The fashions at British clothier AllSaints may be distressed, but its aggressive U.S. expansion suggests plenty of optimism.
Why Bashing Millennials Is Wrong

The problem, Nancy Lublin says, may not be the generation we love to pick on but the people who don’t know how to manage it.
Meet Five Amazing Millennials Who Have Already Changed the World
Humanitarian Design or Neocolonialism?

Fast Company's Bruce Nussbaum raised some controversial questions in a trio of posts -- and readers had a lot to say. We sample the debate.
Nussbaum: Should Humanitarians Press On, If Locals Resist?
Do-gooder Design and Imperialism, Round 3: Nussbaum Responds
Stanford University's Unique Economic Engine

Sixty next year, Stanford Research Park is, more than ever, the innovative heart of Silicon Valley.

Wanted

Why You Want the Complete Series DVD Box Set of The Larry Sanders Show

Before 30 Rock there was The Larry Sanders Show. Now you can buy the box set.
Alton Brown's Essential Kitchen Gadgets

The cookbook author and Food Network star shows off the gadgets in his kitchen that make for some good eats.
The Season's Best Headphones and Earbuds

With temps dropping, it's time for thicker skullwear, and whether you’re listening to Passion Pit or the Philadelphia Orchestra, NPR or Neil Diamond, these headphones will help it all sound better—and make you look more stylish.
Swizzle Sticks: The Ultimate Affordable (Not to Mention Adorable) Promo Tools

The swizzle stick--part branding platform, part beverage accessory--ensures that no drink goes unadorned.
Copper Sticker for Cell Phones Claims to Ward Off (Supposedly Harmful) Electromagnetic Fields

Clarus Transphase Scientific's Q-Link Mini claims to ward off electromagnetic fields from your cell phone, but no one knows if they're actually harmful.

From the Editor

Letter From the Editor: Design With a Purpose

In her welcoming remarks, the First Lady called design a "craft at the intersection of art and science, form and function -- grounding inspiration and innovation in fundamental principles of math and physics and engineering." She praised the honorees for "having the courage, even the audacity, to pursue your vision of the world as it can and as it
Fast Blurbs: October 2010

A list of easily digestible news from this month.
Contributors

Contributors (and their bios) in this issue.

Updates

What's shaking, happening with people who appeared in Fast Company.

Re: July/August 2010

Your letters, comments and, yes, gripes about the July/August 2010 issue.

Issue 149

October 2010

Masters Of Design 2010

Features

Now

Next

Wanted

From the Editor