88 FORTUNE APRIL 2020closely as possible—with some sensible modern tweaks—ID polled educators,
influencers, freelance designers, and corporate design teams on the creations
they consider truly great. After more than a year of planning, surveying, and
consolidation, we present to you the iconic designs that rose to the top—the
highest-ranked 50 in the pages that follow, and 50 more online.
Just as in 1959, respondents were asked to name up to 10 examples of what
they considered the best-designed products of the “modern era”—though this
time we asked them to provide a reason for the nomination. Our respondents
came back with more than 300 different products. But there was a clear
convergence around the top 25, which were ranked by the number of nomina-
tions they received. For the rest of the list, where there was less consensus, the
researchers at ID used language analysis of the submissions to rank products
based on five criteria: how adaptable and expandable the product is; its impact
on society or the environment; its ease of use; its commercial success; and
whether it redefined its category.
The results show a clear shift in design philosophy over the past six de-
cades. “Design has graduated from ‘value-adding,’ ” says Weil. “Now it’s value-
driving, unlocking and making accessible the value in new technology.” Sixty
years ago, the word design was almost synonymous with the aesthetics of the
finished product. Today the emphasis is on how elegantly the product or service
performs its specific purpose or function. Perhaps the clearest example of this
evolution is a new category that appears on our updated list: Internet services.
Google Search, ranked No. 3, is a great design not because of visual adornment,
but because it eschews all unnecessary elements to do its job—organizing vast
troves of information—near perfectly.
In his 1970 book One Hundred Great Product Designs, published only 11
years after compiling his original list, Doblin was already aware of where design
was going next. “Process must become more important than product,” he wrote.
“In the future, pride of ownership ... will give way to human values—education,
intelligence, contributions to society, creativity.” While optimistic, and even in
2020 not fully realized, elements of his prediction can be seen in the updated
list. In 1959, 14 automobiles made it into the top 100. Our new ranking in-
cludes just four—and Uber, an entire system of transportation rather than a
single vehicle, ranks higher than all of them.
With regards to No. 1 on our list, Apple’s iPhone, respondents did not speak
so much to its physical design—as handsome as its various iterations have
been—but to the way in which the device has transformed human communica-
tion and nearly every aspect of how we live.
“Not only an instant way to be constantly connected,” said Kathleen Branden-
burg of design consultancy IA Collaborative, of the device, “but a flexible, ever-
evolving design that becomes whatever each user wants it to be.”
While more than one-third of the ranking comprises designs from the past
15 years, our respondents acknowledged what one might call timeless creations.
Six designs—marked by a star—are so iconic that they made both the 1959
list and today’s version. A handful of creators also appear on both editions,
including Ray and Charles Eames, Alvar Aalto, and Eero Saarinen, whose
furniture and home accessory designs are a shortcut for achieving mid-century
cool; typeface designer Paul Renner, whose Futura font was used by Vogue,
the Apollo program, and streetwear brand Supreme; and Ferdinand Porsche,
whose car designs were both democratic, as is the case with the Volkswagen
Beetle, and cutting-edge, as with the Porsche 911.
Our hope is that this list inspires you to think about the ways you encounter
design every day. It’s a reminder that great design is more than window dress-
ing—it’s about making life easier, simpler, better. And that’s beautiful.A WELL-DESIGNED
WORL D
OUR VIEW OF WHERE
GREAT DESIGN IS CREATED
HAS BECOME MORE GLOBAL
IN THE PAST 60 YEARSTHE GREATEST DESIGNS OF MODERN TIMESLIST BY GEOGRAPHY20191959AFRICA......................... 1
EAST ASIA.................... .12
EUROPE...................... .16
N. AMERICA.................. .57
S. AMERICA..................... 1
SCANDINAVIA................. 13EUROPE...................... .21
N. AMERICA.................. .72
S. AMERICA..................... 1
SCANDINAVIA.................. 6DSA.W.04.20.XMIT.indd 88 FINAL 3/10/20 6:41 PM