These are the 397 most inspiring, innovative designs of 2018 | Fast Company

Winner:Design Company of the Year

Google

Google

Winner:Products

Google Home Mini

Google

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Google Hardware Design Team

Finalist:Experimental

Google Earth VR

Google

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Joanna Kim - Product Manager; Dominik Kaeser - Co-founder, Eng lead emeritus; Evan Parker - Co-founder, Eng lead emeritus; Rob Jagnow - Engineering Manager; Matt Seegmiller - Technical Lead; Andre Le - UX Lead; Adam Glazier - UX Lead emeritus; Mike Podwal - Product Manager emeritus; Nadav Ashkenazi - Software Engineer; Chun-po Wang - Software Engineer; Owen Chu - Software Engineer; Per Karlsson - Software Engineer

Finalist:General Excellence

Google Pixel 2 XL

Google

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Google Hardware Design Team

Finalist:Products

Google Pixel 2 XL

Google

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Google Hardware Design Team

Finalist:User Experience

Google Earth VR

Google

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Joanna Kim - Product Manager; Dominik Kaeser - Co-founder, Eng lead emeritus; Evan Parker - Co-founder, Eng lead emeritus; Rob Jagnow - Engineering Manager; Matt Seegmiller - Technical Lead; Andre Le - UX Lead; Adam Glazier - UX Lead emeritus; Mike Podwal - Product Manager emeritus; Nadav Ashkenazi - Software Engineer; Chun-po Wang - Software Engineer; Owen Chu - Software Engineer; Per Karlsson - Software Engineer

Honorable Mention:Apps and Games

Google Trips

Google

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Aurelie Bazard - Lead designer; Alessandro Cerruti - Interaction designer; Franziska Haemmerle - UX Researcher; Roxanne Pinto - Sr Content Strategist; Jen Schaefer - Content Strategy Lead; Markus Clermont - Engineering Manager; Dario Cazzaro - iOS Team Lead; Margaret Lisowiec - Android Team Lead; Soufi Esmaeilzadeh - Product Manager; German Kopytkov - Visual Designer

Honorable Mention:General Excellence

Google Earth VR

Google

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Joanna Kim - Product Manager; Dominik Kaeser - Co-founder, Eng lead emeritus; Evan Parker - Co-founder, Eng lead emeritus; Rob Jagnow - Engineering Manager; Matt Seegmiller - Technical Lead; Andre Le - UX Lead; Adam Glazier - UX Lead emeritus; Mike Podwal - Product Manager emeritus; Nadav Ashkenazi - Software Engineer; Chun-po Wang - Software Engineer; Owen Chu - Software Engineer; Per Karlsson - Software Engineer

Honorable Mention:General Excellence

Morse Code for Gboard Project

Google

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Google Creative Lab

Honorable Mention:Graphic Design and Data Visualization

Google Pixel Wallpapers 2

Google

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None

Honorable Mention:Products

Google Pixel 2

Google

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Google Hardware Design Team

Honorable Mention:Products

Daydream View

Google

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Google Hardware Design Team

Honorable Mention:Products

Google Home

Google

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Google Hardware Design Team

Honorable Mention:Products

Google Home Max

Google

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Google Hardware Design Team

Honorable Mention:Social Good

Morse Code for Gboard Project

Google

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Google Creative Lab

See past winners: 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012

All Stories In Innovation By Design

Design will kill marketing, says Ikea’s former design chief

Marcus Engman is leaving Ikea to run a consultancy that convinces companies to spend their marketing budget on what matters: design.

Design will kill marketing, says Ikea’s former design chief

Dyson’s latest product is a $550 hair curler

After six years and $31 million in development, Dyson is launching the Airwrap, a device that creates ringlets using a bit of aerospace-inspired physics.

Dyson’s latest product is a $550 hair curler

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Meet Krewe, the eyewear brand that New Orleans (and Beyoncé) built

The five-year-old brand’s founder is focused on giving back to his native New Orleans and putting it on the map of fashion-forward cities.

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There’s even a Warby Parker of towels now

Weezie wants to shake up a mundane industry with design.

There’s even a Warby Parker of towels now

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What the healthcare industry could learn from Lyft and Airbnb

The sharing economy is built upon service and interaction designs that engender interpersonal trust. Healthcare organizations could learn from it.

What the healthcare industry could learn from Lyft and Airbnb

Innovation By Design

The future of web design is less, not more

Low-Tech Magazine’s new website is solar-powered, which means it goes offline in cloudy weather.

The future of web design is less, not more

Innovation By Design

This building’s giant sundial shows how much energy it’s making

It’s one of the most efficient buildings in the country–but its most unique design feature might be the 40-foot-tall installation in the atrium.

This building’s giant sundial shows how much energy it’s making

Innovation By Design

Dieter Rams wants Silicon Valley to stop

In Gary Hustwit’s highly anticipated new documentary “Rams,” the legendary industrial designer indicts the world he helped create.

Dieter Rams wants Silicon Valley to stop

Innovation By Design

This long-lost Eames design is being produced for the first time

In the 1940s, radio companies rejected the Eameses’ designs as being “too modern.” Not anymore.

This long-lost Eames design is being produced for the first time

Innovation By Design

Sick of midcentury modern? Here’s where to buy today’s best design

Skip the spindly leg sofas and knockoff Eames chairs, and try these shopping destinations instead.

Sick of midcentury modern? Here’s where to buy today’s best design

Impact

Environmental toxins might be making men less fertile

This urban planner created a new metric to find a city’s most frightening intersections

Are you in the global middle class?

News

Students lost 5 months in math, 4 in reading during the pandemic

As Delta variant surges, Walmart, Sam’s Club, and Broadway tighten COVID-19 restrictions

Just getting more sleep might not improve productivity and well-being, a new study finds

Co.Design

Targeted ads aren’t just annoying, they can be harmful. Here’s how to fight back

3,600 microphones and counting: The ingenious ways the sound of the Olympics is created

The cardboard real estate boom is here

Work Life

Do this one thing to help feel better about yourself if you’ve got impostor syndrome

What leaders can learn from Simone Biles’ Olympics exit

9 tips and tools for effectively managing your hybrid meetings