Madness Behind Our Method

We asked 800 experts to name respected authorities, proponents, and trendsetters in design-people who have made a lasting impact or who promise to shape the future. We could have compiled a dozen I.D. Forties from the suggestions that poured in and still had enough names left over to throw a really good party, but tradition demands only one list. Even if it hurts.

Features

The I.D. Forty - Design's most influential people

Best Companies - Enterprises that push innovation

Living Legends - Idols who refuse to rest on their laurels

Power Couples - More than the sum of their partnerships

Design Divas - Outrageous antics/unmistakable flair

Departments

/letters
Tandem responses to a bicycle critique. Multiple views of our MCS story.

/note
Why another list? A better question may be, why do editors feel so defensive about them?
By Julie Lasky

/expo
La Scala roars back into action. Nike hits the Highlands. Sex and the settee.

/q+a
MIT engineer Amy Smith on solving problems for the developing world and winning a MacArthur.
By Ted Smalley Bowen

/rant
Cosmetic surgery has taken over primetime. Welcome to the new design for the masses.
By Rick Poynor

/market
Quirky CD packaging raises revenue for indie labels.
By Steve Dollar

/n+n
Curating the essence of London's 100% Design show
By David Sokol

/crit
Products: Nokia's Fashion Collection
Reviewed By Denny Lee Furniture: Ilse Crawford's 36-24-36
Reviewed by Liz Brown
Exhibition: "Glamour: Fashion, Industrial Design, Architecture" at SFMoMA
Reviewed by Steven Skov Holt
Book: The Push Pin Graphic
Reviewed by Roy R. Behrens

/flashback
Industrial Design, June 1964
The Designing Woman
Written by Edward Carpenter
Annotated by Michelle Berryman