These are the 397 most inspiring, innovative designs of 2018

Winner:Experimental

AlterEgo

MIT Media Lab

See Credits

Arnav Kapur, Shreyas Kapur, and Pattie Maes

Finalist:Social Good

Hacking Manufacturing

Jifei Ou Project Lead, Instructor; Tangible Media Jie Qi, Instructor, Lifelong Kindergarten Artem Dementyev; Instructor, Responsive Environment; Amos Golan, Student, Tangible Media; Ani Liu, Student, Design Fiction; Daniel Oran, Student, Synthetic Neurobiology; Donald Derek, Student, Responsive Environment; Guillermo Bernal, Student, Fluid Interfaces; Laya Anasu, Student, City Sciences; Miguel Perez, Student, Playful Systems

Honorable Mention:Experimental

Hacking Manufacturing

MIT Media Lab

See Credits

Honorable Mention:Experimental

Kino—kinetic jewelry

MIT Media Lab

See Credits

Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao, MIT Media Lab Deborah Ajilo, MIT Mechanical Engineering Oksana Anilionyte, Royal College of Art Artem Dementyev, MIT Media Lab Inrak Choi, Stanford Mechanical Engineering Sean Follmer, Stanford Mechanical Engineering Chris Schmandt, MIT Media Lab MIT Media Lab in collaboration with MIT Mechanical Engineering, Royal College of Art, and Stanford University's Department of Mechanical Engineering

Honorable Mention:Experimental

Programmable droplets for interaction

MIT Media Lab

See Credits

Udayan Umapathi, Project Lead -- Concept, Engineering, Interaction Design Patrick Shin -- Engineering Ken Nakagaki -- Interaction Design Daniel Leithinger -- Interaction Design and Advisor Hiroshi Ishii -- Interaction Design and Advisor

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

Winner:Experimental

Finalist:Social Good

Honorable Mention:Experimental

Honorable Mention:Experimental

Honorable Mention:Experimental

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.

There’s probably microplastic in your poop

The 2016 election was so stressful it gave college kids symptoms like they had PTSD

Kids aren’t failing school–school is failing kids

“The Fall of Donald Trump” is the fantasy we deserve, if not the one we may want

Move over, Oscar: Podcasts are getting their own awards show

“Halloween” just broke this box office record, but what does that even mean?

Banksy’s latest prank actually has a long history

Wear a natural history museum on your feet with these $140 slippers

The people who clean up the mess Burning Man leaves behind

“The Fall of Donald Trump” is the fantasy we deserve, if not the one we may want

The Dodo’s humans were upstaged by Dixie the adoptable dog

There’s probably microplastic in your poop