These are the 397 most inspiring, innovative designs of 2018

Honorable Mention:General Excellence

Sensory Wellbeing Hub

HKS

See Credits

Lisa Adams, LEED AP ID+C, Senior Interior Designer, HKS; Jonathan Essary, MArch, Computational Designer, HKS; Upali Nanda, PhD, Assoc.AIA, EDAC, ACHE, Director of Research, HKS, Melissa Hoelting, Research, HKS; Giyoung Park, Research, HKS; Lisa Nono, Healthcare Interiors, HKS; Sarah Kleber, Healthcare Interiors, HKS

Honorable Mention:Space, Places, and Cities

Sensory Wellbeing Hub

HKS

See Credits

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

All Stories In Innovation By Design

Co.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.

Co.Design

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.

Innovation By Design

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.

Innovation By Design

There’s even a Warby Parker of towels now

Weezie wants to shake up a mundane industry with design.

Innovation By Design

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Impact

We can build our cities for e-commerce, we just need to repurpose our parking lots

Impact

The one strategy that could finance the whole Green New Deal

Impact

Native Americans invented lacrosse—and now the modern league is embracing it

Creativity

Media cared more about Biden’s creepiness than rape accusations against the president

Creativity

This ‘Stranger Things’ trailer made from stock video is appropriately creepy

Creativity

Honorable Mention:General Excellence

HKS

Honorable Mention:Space, Places, and Cities

HKS

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.

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.

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.

There’s even a Warby Parker of towels now

Weezie wants to shake up a mundane industry with design.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Impact

We can build our cities for e-commerce, we just need to repurpose our parking lots

The one strategy that could finance the whole Green New Deal

Native Americans invented lacrosse—and now the modern league is embracing it

Creativity

Media cared more about Biden’s creepiness than rape accusations against the president

This ‘Stranger Things’ trailer made from stock video is appropriately creepy

OK Go is helping these kids make art in outer space

Co.Design

America is facing an eviction crisis. This tool could keep families in their home

Madewell, Patagonia, and Eileen Fisher want to buy your old clothes

A Facebook designer creates the most delightfully absurd way to tell time

Work Life

Is writing a cover letter worth it?

Astronauts had fun on the Moon—and people on Earth fretted about it

3 things new parents need to return to work successfully