Mon, 04/04/2011 | Co.Design: business + innovation + design

April 04 2011

Infographic of the Day

Infographic of the Day: 15 Facts About America’s Income Inequality

You might not know it, with all the progress we've made as a society in the past 100 years (our first black president, for instance), but America is still an incredibly unequal place. The gaps between classes, sexes, and races are--in many ways--actually getting worse, and the gap between the rich and the poor is larger than at any time in the last 75 years.

This graphic illustrates just a few of the quantifiable ways that our society manifests these various inequalities.

Don Draper Meets Alvar Aalto, In Retro-Chic Photos [Slideshow]

Don Draper Meets Alvar Aalto, In Retro-Chic Photos [Slideshow]

We don't know about you, but we've been suffering from the boob-tube equivalent of delirium tremens ever since Mad Men went off the air. Thank god for Ben Sandler.

Artek Pushes Minimalist Lighting to the Limit

There's minimalism, and then there's minimalism. "White," the latest collection of lighting solutions from Finnish company Artek, is squarely in the second category. Created by Artek's design director Ville Kokkonen, these lamps are so stripped-down they'd make even an iPod look baroque in comparison.

Milan Preview: Kartell’s New Disappearing Furniture

With the 2011 Milan Furniture Fair just weeks away, our inboxes are filling up with breathless press releases on groundbreaking chairs! Revolutionary couches! Mind-bending dish racks! So far, though, everything's been pretty... meh.

One glowing exception: Tokujin Yoshioka's new Invisibles Light series for Kartell, which looks like a furniture set sprung from the hands of Houdini.

The National Mall: The World’s First Location Aware Music Album

Nothing against FourSquare or Color, but at this point in our smartphone-powered lives, the phrase "location aware" usually makes me want to run screaming.

Clever Mobile Carts Remake a Chic Boutique In a Jiffy

A good shopkeeper knows that to lure customers month after month, he has to freshen not just his stock, but the look of his space, too. That doesn't come easy (or cheap). One pert little boutique in Berlin has a whip-smart solution: product armature that's designed to move.

Did The “Uncanny Valley” Kill Disney’s CGI Company?

About a year ago, Walt Disney Studios chairman Rich Ross did something noble, true and just -- not something that Hollywood executives do very often. He closed a production company called ImageMovers Digital, which, under the sinister vision of Robert Zemeckis, had specialized in using motion-capture technology to create family-friendly animated fare foist freakish, zombie-infested abominations like The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol on moviegoers.

Infographic of the Day

Infographic of the Day: Infographic: Compare Today With Every Day That Came Before

Innovation by Design

The Amazing Judges For Our 2013 Innovation By Design Awards

From the Editor

Thanks for stopping by Fast Company’s Co.Design. If you’ve been a reader for some time, you’ll notice that we’ve just unveiled a brand-new redesign. You can read about the thought process behind it here. Our content, of course, will be the same: Our focus is on highlighting the world’s best examples of design and innovation, working in concert.

We started this site with a few simple premises in mind. First, design is a window onto the world at large, and the culture we live in.

Continued