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

Microplastics are everywhere. These sponges could help capture them

Look inside the best green buildings of 2022

Despite recent pay hikes, many American workers are still a long way from a living wage

News

Elon Musk is actually buying Twitter, will take the social media company private

Could OpenSea become the Amazon of NFTs? Web3 marketplace buys up competitor Gem

The ad world’s ultimatum to Netflix: Be bold

Co.Design

Meet the serial entrepreneur who wants to help designers make more money

This stunning church pays tribute to the victims of the Armenian genocide

Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila brand is turning agave waste into bricks

Work Life

Why a return to work might also mean better focus time

How the art of jiu jitsu made me a better startup leader

The gulf between workers and managers is growing, amid the return to office