09-30-20

The most innovative designs of 2020

See all the honorees of Fast Company’s 2020 Innovation by Design Awards in the General Excellence category.

By Fast Company1 minute Read

Winner

[Image: The New York Times]

New York Times COVID-19 front pages
The New York Times

A nontraditional front-page layout using graphics to spotlight the unprecedented scale and horror of the COVID-19 pandemic

Finalists

[Image: Ammunition]

Ammunition x Gantri
Ammunition

[Photo: Clove]

Clove
Clove

[Photo: Google]

Google Maps Live View
Google

[Photo: Google]

Google Nest Mini
Google

[Photo: Guide Beauty]

Guide Beauty
Guide Beauty

[Image: Work & Co]

Ikea digital tools
Work & Co

[Image: Emojination]

Interracial Couple Emoji
Emojination

[Image: Logitech]

Logitech G Adaptive Gaming Kit
Logitech

[Photo: Nike]

Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Next%
Nike

[Photo: 3M]

Scotch Flex & Seal Shipping Roll
3M

[Photo: courtesy Newlab]

Spiro Wave
Spiro Devices

[Photo: MIT Media Lab]

Totems
MIT Media Lab, Mediated Matter Group

Honorable Mentions

[Image: Swing Left]

Blueprint
Swing Left

[Photo: HKS]

COVID-19 Conversions
HKS

[Photo: Chris Cooper]

The David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Perkins Eastman Architects, Ennead Architects, Icrave

[Photo: Vollebak/Sun Lee]

Deep Sleep Cocoon
Vollebak

[Image: Disney]

Disney+
The Walt Disney Company

[Image: Salesforce]

Einstein Designer—Powered by Deep Learning UX
Salesforce

[Photos: Samsung]

Galaxy Z Flip
Samsung Electronics America

[Photo: Pentagram/& Other Stories]

Giorgia Lupi & Other Stories
Pentagram

[Image: Collective Health]

Guide, a new product in My Collective app
Collective Health

[Image: Work & Co]

Help Supply
Work & Co

[Image: Municipality of Anchorage i-team]

LaAnchoria 3D Printed N95 Alternative Mask
Municipality of Anchorage i-team

[Image: Light]

Light Phone II
Light

[Photo: Magic Leap]

Magic Leap 1
Magic Leap

[Image: Microsoft]

Minecraft Earth
Microsoft, Mojang Studios

[Image: Pentagram]

ReInc
Pentagram

[Image: Sarcos Robotics]

Sarcos Guardian XO Full-Body, Powered Industrial Exoskeleton
Sarcos Robotics

[Image: Institute for Computational Design and Construction]

Self-Shaping Wood—the Urbach Tower
University of Stuttgart, Empa, ETH Zurich, and Blumer-Lehmann AG

[Image: Scanwell Health]

Smartphone-enabled, at-home test for COVID-19 antibodies
Scanwell Health

[Image: Tempo]

Tempo Studio
Tempo

[Image: MIT Media Lab]

Venous Materials
MIT Media Lab, Tangible Media Group

Video

Impact

‘Scope 3 emissions’: what they are and why companies must start reporting them

How U.S. taxes on the wealthy have taken a 70-year slide away from progressive taxation

This roadmap shows how the U.S. can cut emissions in half by 2030

News

When can children get the COVID vaccine? Good Pfizer-BioNTech results could mean fast timeline

What’s happening with Evergrande? China’s real-estate debt crisis rattles stock markets

Lego’s newest adventure-filled ad shows how creative play can solve real-world problems

Co.Design

How New York’s hippest architects are reimagining communal space for the post-Covid era

I hate myself for loving this whimsical VW bus pontoon boat

The American West is running out of water—and Big Oil, of all things, can help fix it

Work Life

One unlikely culprit to burnout? Your lack of laziness

After a year of loss, grief support should be a permanent benefit

5 ways to reboot your résumé this fall