Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2023 i Fast Company

IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE WE'RE NOT EVEN A YEAR INTO THE AI revolution. Was it only nine months ago that OpenAI released ChatGPT, launching 10,000 gleeful “I Asked ChatGPT to [Blank] and Here's What Happened” articles? The vibe shifted when people saw how often the technology “hallucinated” (i.e., got its facts wildly and dangerously wrong) and screeched to a cringey halt when Sydney, the nowretired nickname for Bing's chatbot, told Kevin Roose of The New York Times that it loved him. You could single out many moments as the tipping point of generative AI's innocent “this is so cool!” phase, but I'd nominate that one. In the months since, there has been hand-wringing about the need for government regulation and enormous anxiety about AI's potential to kill jobs. None of…

MATT DAVIS HAD BEEN working as an electrician for 10 years when he decided to make a career change. Davis, who lives in Squamish, British Columbia, was earning around $65,000 CAD per year ($49,000 USD)—not a lot for someone supporting a wife and young daughter. Plus, the long hours were getting to him. “The two major factors were financial and work-life balance,” he says. A few of Davis's friends turned him on to the idea of coding boot camps—intensive programs that teach essential skills to people seeking jobs in computer science. Some of Davis's friends had themselves graduated from boot camps—and they were earning twice his salary, despite having fewer years of experience in their fields. Davis, 35, had taken computer science classes in college, so he had at least…

OTRIVIN AIR LAB showcases one of nature's most enduring, powerful, and often overlooked organisms: algae. Created by London-based architecture and design firm ecoLogicStudio in partnership with consumer healthcare company Otrivin, the public laboratory and algae garden sits inside a timberframe structure within London's Building Centre, an innovationfocused exhibition hall. There, biodesigners collect biomass created by the algae as they mine CO2 from the air. These biopolymer filaments are then fed into a 3D printer to create new products, such as neti pots, stools, and bottles. Air Lab—part classroom, part exhibition—illustrates a path toward a circular city. The lab, says ecoLogicStudio cofounder Marco Poletto, places algae in the protagonist's role, emphasizing how powerful they can be in purifying the air and creating new life. “Design is an enabling tool for a…

WHEN trying to market an entirely new countertop appliance, a minimal footprint is key That's what cofounders Reuben Vollmer and Tyler Breton realized when they were creating Spout, the first atmospheric water generator designed to be small, affordable, and quiet enough for consumer household use. “You shouldn't have to even think about this machine,” says Vollmer, Spout's CEO. “It should, honestly, just be an afterthought.” The countertop device, launched in May, generates up to 2.5 gallons of clean drinking water a day. It uses hospital-grade air filters to make sure no airborne pollutants enter the water it produces, which is kept clean with a UV light in the pitcher lid. Bould Design, the firm that provided the industrial design for the Nest Thermostat, created the profile for Spout, which Vollmer…

SINCE ITS founding in 2015, Copenhagen, Denmark–based design firm Space10 has prioritized public engagement. Funded by Ikea and focused on sustainable, inclusive solutions, the agency shares its research online and hosts lectures and gallery shows in its Meatpacking District headquarters in Copenhagen. Last year, it took that engagement to the next level by opening within its building what it calls the Space10 Library, where visitors can study, collaborate, or just enjoy a coffee. The light-filled library, which merges with Space10's gallery and event spaces but can be divided via modular partitions and fabric scrims, resembles a kind of laboratory for learning—thanks in part to original white tile walls that adorned what was once a fish distribution plant. Floor-toceiling storefront windows connect to the bustling neigh borhood. Independent booths allow for…

EARLIER THIS YEAR, a joint venture between sewing crafts and fabrics giants Joann and Singer culminated in the unveiling of Ditto, a first-ever digital pattern projection system. Designed by Cleveland-based product innovation firm Nottingham Spirk, Ditto combines algorithmic intelligence and projection to ease one of the most notoriously frustrating parts of the designing process: working with paper patterns. Using the Ditto app, sewists can customize patterns and change measurements in real time, then project the pattern onto the fabric and begin cutting. “Sewing is skewing toward a younger audience, and this group is tech savvy” says John Nottingham, cofounder and co-CEO of Nottingham Spirk. Ditto is easy to set up, and its website includes a growing library of customizable templates from top brands and indie patternmakers. The product was unveiled…

AUTOMOTIVE SensorPods Kodiak Robotics An easy-to-install sensor system for autonomous trucks that fits in a compact enclosure the size of typical rearview mirrors BRANDING Figma Collins A vibrant brand campaign that celebrates the collaborative nature of design and creativity CRYPTO, BLOCKCHAIN, AND WEB3 Ledger Stax Layer A sleek physical wallet for storing, accessing, and sending cryptocurrency and digital assets through a pocketsize interface DATA DESIGN Proof-as-a-Service Radicle Science A crowdsourced, direct-to-consumer research platform that helps level the playing field with Big Pharma by helping companies gather clinical data on natural medicines and dietary supplements EXPERIENCE DESIGN Sydney Opera House: From the Sails: Light Years Art Processors A dazzling light and sound show celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House, projected onto the building's soaring sails EXPERIMENTAL Lunar Habitat…

THE BUSINESS OF WOMEN'S BASKETBALL has never been more powerful—or more in flux. Both the WNBA and the NCAA college tournament posted record viewership numbers last season, with the NCAA final alone pulling in 9.9 million viewers, a sign of the sport's surging fandom. Name, image, and likeness (NIL) endorsement deals on the college level, meanwhile, have raised the profiles of younger players to unprecedented levels; a star like Louisiana State University forward Angel Reese is commanding brand contracts that value her at an estimated $1.6 million. As these players prepare to enter the professional ranks—with outsize voices and platforms—Nneka Ogwumike is committed to making the WNBA a welcoming environment. The 33-year-old forward for the Los Angeles Sparks has shaped the pro league since being drafted No. 1 in 2012,…

Sama has a pleasant smile and a cheerful tone as she welcomes you to Hamad International Airpor t. She can give you an immersive walk-through of the first- or business-class check-in, help you collect your boarding pass, and even explore the Qsuite, the World's Best Business Class. But unlike any other flying experience, here you have the luxury to “try the experience before you buy.” Qatar Airways’ latest hire is the industry's first-ever MetaHuman cabin crew. When it comes to the metaverse, there is no shor tage of opinions. But look beyond the hype, and you'll find a more nuanced use of the technology. Companies that recognize the potential of the metaverse understand that any success is contingent upon a handful of important, albeit elusive, business fundamentals—execution, market fit, usefulness,…

Companies across America are trying to find ways to adjust to new market dynamics and competitive forces, especially in the rapidly evolving tech sector. The key to success? Hiring the right people: employees who commit to a larger vision and thrive in adversity, even when objectives suddenly change-qualities that many companies find in military veterans. The links he tween military service and science, technology, engineering, and math [STEM] occupations are strong. Veterans are more likely than civilian counterparts to work in STEM, particularly those without an associated bachelor's degree or any college degree at all. Veterans with a degree are more likely to have studied some field of computer science or organizational leaders hip. Add strong leadership qualities to those tech skills and it is easy to understand that this…

DESIGN IS THE STORY OF HUMAN intervention. Without an architect, a building is just a box. Without a UX designer, a website is just a string of code. In a year defined by lightningfast advancements in artificial intelligence, it can be hard to remember that it's humans—for better or worse—who ultimately shape the built world. Behind each of the winning projects featured in this year's Innovation by Design Awards is a team of people who challenged themselves to solve thorny problems. Their ingenuity has resulted in products, buildings, tools, and ideas that push their respective fields forward. Some honorees, such as Canva, Fast Company's Design Company of the Year, are diving headlong into artificial intelligence with new tools that show how AI can be a collaborator with humans—not a replacement…

CANVA'S SWIFT PIVOT to artificial intelligence caught even the technoscenti by surprise. Over the course of a few months in the second half of 2022, the graphic design platform integrated generative AI across all facets of its product line, from design, image, and text generation to photo, audio, and video editing. Of course, for the team at Canva, Fast Company's 2023 Design Company of the Year, the transformation had been in the works for years. “It's not like we turned it on overnight,” says Canva cofounder and chief product officer Cameron Adams. The process began about six years ago, he recalls, when his team deployed machine learning to make design recommendations based on customers’ past choices. Then, in February 2021, Canva bought Kaleido AI, the developer of a plug-in for…

MOST APARTMENT buildings are structured around long, bland corridors flanked by doors on either side. But a new building in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn offers a paradigm shift. Designed by architects SO-IL with real estate development firm Tankhouse, 450 Warren is comprised of 18 units (mostly two- and three-bedrooms plus three penthouses) that can be accessed through a series of sinuous, open-air walkways located in the building's hollowed core. “Double-loaded corridors are the most depressing invention in humankind,” says Florian Idenburg, who cofounded SO-IL with his partner, Jing Liu. “The value should not just be coming from the unit itself but from the quality of the journey from the street to your home and how that could be light-filled, joyous.” Residents enter 450 Warren via an atrium that features…

AS CLIMATE CHANGE INTENSIFIES, cities are becoming increasingly vulnerable to storms and floods. To protect cities from this inundation, Norwegian architecture studio Snøhetta has designed a concrete paver system called Flyt that allows water to permeate the concrete surface and be absorbed into the ground below. The system consists of hexagonal stones that are fitted to create gaps of up to 2.3 inches between pavers, allowing more ground to absorb water. Flyt can be used in all kinds of public spaces, with a smaller gapped version deployed in heavily trafficked areas and a larger gapped version in less trafficked spaces (or as wells around trees). “We settled for a fairly simple design,” says Marius Myking, director of product design at Snøhetta. Flyt was developed in collaboration with Norwegian concrete paver…

The current breakdown of C-suite demographics 39% The percentage of global job seekers who have chosen not to pursue an opportunity because of a perceived lack of inclusion at the prospective organization LAUNCHED last October, the analytics platform Dandi was designed to combat workplace bias by making companies’ diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs more measurable. The tool is easy to customize to focus on different data sets and has an intuitive interface, enabling management and HR to gain real-time insights into compensation and representation by gender, ethnicity, disability status, and other variables. Cofounder and chief product officer Viktor Persson says, “It's rare that one has the opportunity to work on something that has the potential to make a big impact on a lot of people, people that may not…

Christina Agapakis Creative director, Ginkgo Bioworks Vivianne Castillo Founder, HmntyCntrd Sara Chieffo VP, government affairs, League of Conservation Voters Natsai Audrey Chieza Founder and CEO. Faber Futures Ron Faris VP and GM. Nike Virtual Studios Lucy Greco Design evangelist. University of California, Berkeley Prem Krishnamurthy Director, Wkshps Gabi Michel Director, accessible accessories, Microsoft Silas Munro Founder, Polymode Georg Petschnigg SVP, product design, The New York Times Anna Polonsky Founder, Polonsky & Friends Mark Rolston Cofounder, Argodesign Michael Simcoe SVP, global design, General Motors Saskia van Gendt Head of sustainability, Rothy's Brad Wilson Copartner and CEO, Ace Hotel Group and Atelier Ace…

Jamal Watkins SVP OF STRATEGY AND ADVANCEMENT, NAACP “Remote work means the workforce can be expanded. But then there's a flip side. One of the top 14 things that impact Black life expectancy is closeness to people. You live longer if you are interacting with people.” Meredith Whittaker PRESIDENT, SIGNAL FOUNDATION “AI is—and I believe inextricably will be—replicating patterns of historical inequality and marginalization. And in many powerful ways, it will be obscuring accountability for those decisions.” In a stressful economic climate, business luminaries share how they are weathering the storm to come out stronger. ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY WITH NO END IN sight. An abrupt transition from growth to “efficiency.” Layoffs, geopolitical tensions, trade disputes. Oh, and the AI revolution, which has transformed how companies think about everything from productivity to…

BEFORE 401(k) OYSTER AFTER SAVING FOR RETIRE ment has never been the most exciting prospect and can be mystifying for even seasoned employees, let alone people just entering the workforce. Financial literacy plays a big role, but branding matters too. Despite its ubiquity, the 401(k)'s name is an alphanumeric hurdle to appreciating how these accounts can grow savings for retirement. Fast Company challenged strategic design firm Godfrey Dadich Partners to put a more appealing spin on the concept. The result: OYSTER (Optimize Your Savings to Enjoy Retirement), an acronym that lends itself to an app-based investment tool whose full name reminds people of its purpose. The metaphorical oyster, says Allie Fisher, partner and head of creative at GDP, evokes “gradual growth, asset protection, and eventual treasure” while also telling “a…

DR. GEETA GUPTA-FISKER CFO and Cofounder, Fisker Manhatt an Beach, CA Dr. Gupta-Fisker cofounded Fisker with her husband, Henrik, in 2016, to build ultrasustainable electric vehicles with jaw-dropping curb appeal. The debut Fisker Ocean reached its first customers in May, and the company recently announced plans for Pear, a compact electric vehicle designed for city drivers. MATTHEW SKARUPPA CFO, Duolingo Pitt sburgh For Duolingo, what began with a simple mission to teach languages for free has grown into one of the world's most popular learning apps. Since Skaruppa came aboard as CFO in 2020, Duolingo's monthly active users have grown by more than 80%—a success in any language. ARIBEL AGUIRRE-BECK CAO-CFO, Naturipe Farms Estero, FL In 2020, the longtime CFO of berry producer Naturipe Farms also took on the job…

FOR THE PAST SEVERAL DECADES, it's been wildly easy—and affordable—to fly from one European city to another. But across the continent, govern ments are pushing back by investing in rail travel as a low-carbon alternative. France, for example, is pouring $110 billion into its trains by 2040 and recently banned shorter domestic flights between cities where there is rail service. “A really large level of investment is required to improve the service and coverage” throughout Europe, says Gonzalo Cantabrana Fernández, sector lead for infrastructure and project finance for Europe and the Middle East at S&P Global. As governments tackle infrastructure challenges, state-run and private rail operators are acting as locomotives, adding overnight routes; at least eight will debut or be revived by the end of this year. One of the…

As the leading global event for consumer electronics and home appliances—not to mention the world's largest trade show—IFA (pronounced EE-fa) Berlin is constantly reimagining what such an exhibit can be. Traditionally held in Berlin during five days in September, IFA is adding innovative content and experiences along with a year-round engagement strategy of in-person activations and digital offerings. “Just being a trade show is not enough,” says Oliver Merlin, managing director of IFA Management GmbH. “If you talk only about a trade show, you're probably going to be dead within 5, 10 years.” Here's where Merlin sees IFA going next. IFA is relatively unknown here. Would equating it to the Consumer Electronics Show be accurate? From a beginner's approach, sure. But once you scratch the surface, there are several notable…

P. 51 A QUARTER OF A MILLION PEOPLE have gathered to hear Satya Nadella talkabout AI. It's just after 9 a.m. on a Tuesday in May, and Microsoft's CEO is kicking off the company's annual Build developer conference. Attendees have packed a gleaming new high-rise building at the Seattle Convention Center for his keynote, but they're far outnumbered by those streaming it from around the world. The turnout is no surprise. For months, generative AI software that can create text, images, and other content with humanlike flair has been devouring the tech industry's attention. And, unexpectedly, Microsoft is in the lead. In fact, Nadella has presided over so many generative AI product unveilings this year that he takes a moment on stage to acknowledge their frenetic pace. “It's not like…

IN THE AGE OF remote and hybrid work, Figma—which for eight years has been offering tools to help people in different locations work together simultaneously on a single design project—has become a go-to platform for collaborative visual design. Yet it's not only designers who need to share visuals. “You have Slack, you have Google Docs, you have these core communication tools, but you didn't really have a visual one,” says Noah Levin, Figma's VP of design. Figma has recently rolled out a variety of tools to enable collaboration among other types of workers who need to share visual ideas, such as managers, engineers, copywriters, and researchers. Along with its two-year-old whiteboarding platform, FigJam, it now has a presentation mode called Spotlight and a newly released “Dev Mode,” which helps designers…

SMALL MOUNTAINS dot the lush greenscape of a new central park in the eastern Chinese city of Quzhou, rising up from undulating fields of lawn like geologic anomalies. These human-made humps hold the varied sporting venues of Quzhou Sports Park, a new public space and events site in this city of 2 million. Designed by Beijing-based MAD Architects, these recreational spaces turn the hard edges of conventional buildings into soft slopes fit for picnics and sunbathing. The largest of these integrated venues is a stadium that is one of the most impressively designed buildings of the year, providing a mega-size structure for spectacle while simultaneously offering wide-open land to the public. Inside, the stadium is built to hold professional soccer games and concerts. The seating is sunken like a crater,…

LESS THAN 1% OF USED CLOTHING gets repurposed into new garments, so last year the North Face tweaked some of its most popular styles—such as the fuzzy Osito jacket, made from 100% recycled polyester—to make disassembly and recycling as easy as possible. The strategies include avoiding mixed materials, since current recycling systems can't effectively separate the fibers, and making elements like zippers simple to remove. An elastic cinch cord, commonly used on jacket hoods, can't easily be recycled, so the designers replaced it with a nonelastic version. Now, when consumers drop off these worn-out clothes in the company's take-back bins at stores, the garments will be cleaned, repaired, and resold, or disassembled for recycling to create new clothing. Ultimately, the company wants all of its products to become recyclable. “Circularity…

IT'S NOT EASY FOR anyone to apply mascara without clumps, or achieve a perfectly blended blush. For people who are visually impaired, this can be nearly impossible. Estée Lauder, the 75-year-old beauty conglomerate, saw the need for a tool that could help visually impaired customers apply makeup by themselves. In January 2023, the company launched a mobile app, the Voice-Enabled Makeup Assistant, that uses augmented reality and artificial intelligence to analyze makeup on a user's face, identifying whether the lipstick or foundation is uneven, or if there's a smudge that needs to be corrected. Voice guidance offers detailed instructions on how to make adjustments. As the user goes about their day, they can return to the app to touch up their makeup on the go. Lamia Drew, Estée Lauder's global…

TASK CHAIRS ARE SURPRISINGLY complex products, employing mechanical springs and plates to counterbalance hundreds of pounds of weight so that it feels like you're just floating in front of your desk. The problem is that most task chairs look the part, “hiding” these mechanics in a boxy protrusion under the seat, along with esoteric knobs and levers that ruin the aesthetic of furniture. “I wanted to demystify the complexities of using one of these objects, to create an object that didn't intimidate in a way a lot of these chairs do,” says Marc Newson, the Australian industrial designer who spent five years developing the Newson Task Chair with Knoll. “I think they strive to bamboozle.” Newson was able to shrink the bulky mechanics into a svelte, 2-inch system that disappears…

DESIGN COMPANY OF THE YEAR Mill Mill Industries GENERAL EXCELLENCE Defy Light Field Lab G7 continuous glucose monitoring system Dexcom Limberlost Place Moriyama Teshima Architects Timberline XL Traeger Tome Tome ACCESSIBLE DESIGN DisabilityForward Housing The Kelsey Microsoft Adaptive Accessories Microsoft Presley's Place, an inclusive sensory room Pittsburgh International Airport APPS AND GAMES The Arkham Asylum Files: Panic in Gotham City Animal Repair Shop Disney+ Disney Experience Camps ExperienceCraft SketchUp for iPad SketchUp ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Deepcell platform Deepcell The Good Face Formulator Good Face Project H2know Conservation Labs Magic Write Canva RecycleOS Everest Labs Voice-Enabled Makeup Assistant Estée Lauder Companies AUTOMOTIVE EV heated seat belt ZF Volvo EX90 Volvo Cars BIODESIGN BioHome3D University of Maine, Advanced Structures and Composites Center Shellmet TBWA\Hakuhodo BRANDING 7Up global rebrand PepsiCo Grounded in Their Roots,…

A-F Jean Accius President and CEO, CHC: Creating Healthier Communities Asheesh Advani CEO, JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide Jasmina Aganovic CEO, Arcaea Sarah Ahmed Cofounder and CEO, DL1961 Will Ahmed Founder and CEO, Whoop Sameer Ahuja President, GameChanger Sandeep Akkaraju Cofounder and CEO, Exo Cristiano Amon President and CEO, Qualcomm L'Rai Arthur-Mensah Project director, Local Projects Lior Arussy CEO, Otentu Donnel Baird CEO, BlocPower Richard Baker Governor, executive chairman, and CEO, Hudson's Bay Company Svanika Balasubramanian CEO, rePurpose Global Daniella Ballou-Aares CEO, Leadership Now Project Catherine BalsamSchwaber Founder and CEO, Kindra Maryam Banikarim Founder, MaryamB; cofounder, NYCNext Jon Banner EVP and global chief impact officer, McDonald's Michael Basch General partner and COO, Atento Capital Gail Becker Founder, Caulipower Aimee Bell VP and editorial director, Gallery Books Group, Simon & Schuster Marc…