Connect with Fast Company

In this conservative economic environment, where most entrepreneurs are hunkering down and playing it safe, aviation legend Burt Rutan is shooting for the stars--literally.

Rutan is the genius behind the Voyager plane, a multipropeller aircraft that in 1986 circled the globe on a single tank of gas. Rutan, who started an outfit in the Mojave Desert called Scaled Composites, has produced more than 300 experimental-aircraft designs. "He is almost single-handedly shaping suborbital flight exploration in pursuit of a universal dream to fly high," says Ideo's Jane Fulton Suri. On April 8, Rutan sent his test craft, SpaceShipOne, nearly 20 miles above the Earth--one-third the distance to space. Why not all the way? He received government permission only to burn the rocket for 40 seconds, giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "the sky's the limit."

Peak Performers: Four masters who are leading the world of design

• J Mays, VP of Global Design, Ford Motor Co.
• David Kelley, Founder and Chairman, IDEO
• David Macaulay, Author and Illustrator
• Burt Rutan, Founder, President, and CEO, Scaled Composites

Impact Players: Four high-impact projects that shaped the year in design--and the people who launched them

• William McDonough, Principal and founder, William McDonough + Partners
• Tom Ford , Former Creative Director, Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent
• Jonathan Ive, Vice President of Industrial Design, Apple Computer Inc.
• Marcia Lausen, Founding member, AIGA Design for Democracy

Game Changers: The risk takers and agitators who are rewriting the rules

• Adrian Van Hooydonk, President, DesignworksUSA
• Maurice Cox, Mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia
• John Maeda, Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, MIT
• Arnold Wasserman, Chairman, The Idea Factory

Collaborators: Champions who help make great design happen

• Robyn Waters, Founder and president of RW Trend, LLC
• Kun-Hee Lee, Chairman and CEO, Samsung electronics
• Sam Farber, Founder, Copco, OXO, and Wovo
• Bob Porter, Executive Vice President, SSM Health Care

Next Generation: Meet four rising stars who are charting the future

• Yves Behar, Founder, fuseproject
• Kathleen Brandenburg, Principal and Cofounder, IA Collaborative
• Geoff McFetridge, Founder, Champion Graphics
• Angela Shen-Hsieh, President and CEO, Visual i/o

A Jury of Their Peers

Introducing 11 jurors--top leaders from universities, cultural institutions, and business--who helped us select our 20 Masters of Design.

Lessons From the Masters

These five ideas will help you incorporate design principles in your work -- and better connect with customers and colleagues.