Every company wanted to be Apple. Then reality set in.

In 2005, the future of American business was reflected in the spotless tile behind a toilet bowl. Procter & Gamble had released the Mr. Clean Magic Reach, a sleek tool with a detachable head for scrubbing the darkest recesses of a bathroom. Developed in just 18 months, it represented a strategic move to elevate design throughout P&G, an effort that then CEO A.G. Lafley had spearheaded with an almost religious fervor. “Remember that one of the disciples had to put his hand in the bloody wounds to believe,” he told a reporter at the time, comparing the design skeptics within various divisions of the company to an incredulous apostle. “We have some businesses that are doubting Thomases.” His conviction paid off. P&G’s sales doubled and profits quadrupled between 2000 and 2009, aided by the steady release of new, design-forward products.

Read Full Story

It’s 2022, but thermostats are still living in the 1990s. They are so cryptic that you need a master’s in Egyptology to understand them.

A few days ago, I almost tore my digital thermostat off the wall because I couldn’t understand its demonic user interface. I had no manual for it, and I couldn’t find it on the internet. So, boiling with Joe Pesci fury, I couldn’t stop fantasizing about ways to retaliate against the sadistic monster who designed this horror.

Read Full Story

The fireproof version of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is designed to raise awareness about the increase of book banning in the U.S.

Books burn, but not this one.

Read Full Story

In a 45-minute conversation at Fast Company’s MIC Summit, McDonald’s global CMO Morgan Flatley outlined a confident future for the McPlant and teased more Beyond Meat products to come.

The McPlant is the most important product that McDonald’s has launched in recent history, but thus far, the company has remained tight-lipped about its plant-based burger developed in conjunction with Beyond Meat. On sale now in parts of Europe and test markets in the Bay Area and Texas, we’ve never heard how it was created, how it’s selling, and how big a role McDonald’s imagines this product will play in the future of its global menu.

Read Full Story

Gardening got many of us through the pandemic. Here’s why a dose of nature could do you good—and not just in times of crisis.

As lockdowns went into effect in the spring of 2020 to slow the spread of the coronavirus, reports emerged of a global gardening boom, with plants, flowers, vegetables and herbs sprouting in backyards and on balconies around the world.

Read Full Story

Nine entities, including some that are themselves major environmental polluters, join forces in a nonprofit that addresses the UN’s sustainability goals.

A consortium of some of the world’s most prominent design-led companies and institutions is joining forces to combat the climate crisis.

Read Full Story

Humanscale’s Path task chair isn’t just made of recycled materials—it’s also manufactured in the United States, cutting down on the carbon emissions of shipping components around the world.

Last year, the furniture company MillerKnoll debuted an eco-friendly makeover of its iconic Aeron task chair, incorporating over two pounds of recycled ocean plastic inside. Today, the office furniture brand Humanscale raises the bar in a big way, as it reveals its new Path task chair.

Read Full Story

In his new series, photographer Tom Hegen paints a captivating portrait of what the world would look like from above if it were powered by renewable energy.

Solar panels have long been criticized for being an eyesore. But what if you could see them from another angle? Say, 10,000 feet high?

Read Full Story

After mobilizing his nonprofit to help Ukrainian refugees, the World Central Kitchen founder is also planning meals for the International Space Station.

“There will always be somebody ready to do whatever it takes to feed their fellow citizens,” says Spanish chef José Andrés. That’s been his mission since 2010, when he launched his nonprofit organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) to cook hot meals for victims of the Haitian earthquake. He later brought the organization to storm-ravaged Houston and Puerto Rico. Over the past couple of years, WCK also served more than 40 million meals to people whose lives and livelihoods were affected by the pandemic. 

Read Full Story

Computer scientists and archeologists are working together to solve this ancient puzzle.

When we sit down to solve a jigsaw puzzle, there’s always one thing we take for granted: the picture on the box. Without that point of reference, we’d be pulling our hair out, trying and failing to rebuild a jumbled pile of miscellaneous pieces.

Read Full Story