How design took shape in 2021
Our top stories of the year, as picked by our readers and editors
WDCD Blog
A home for inspiring ideas and fresh conversations about the power of design. Keep scrolling to see our latest stories exploring themes like climate action, social justice and health & wellbeing. Like these stories? Sign-up for our bi-weekly newsletter to receive the latest in your inbox.
Bricks glazed with iron and steel
StoneCycling & Studio Mixtura bring out six new waste-based glazes
Never Waste A Good Crisis
New book by WDCD presents 31 brilliant ideas for a circular future
Aireal is a library of carbon negative materials
New database explores foams, fibers and plastics that capture CO2
Four Trends Shaping Circular Design Today
Less plastic, more people power + other big ideas from the No Waste Challenge
Kiji Arita revives forgotten ceramics in Japan
Sander Wassink & Yoriko Ishizawa discuss their latest collaboration
Gjenge bricks are cheap, colourful & stronger than concrete
Meet the inventor making building blocks out of Nairobi’s plastic waste
Harvesting clean energy, using rotten veg
Innovative new material could turn entire buildings into vertical solar farms
Buy Nothing on Black Friday
And other ways to curb consumption this holiday season
A Whole World Beyond Plastic
Dave Hakkens' latest series is all about biodegradable materials
Do we dare imagine a city without waste?
An animated call to action featuring designer Bruce Mau
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A SUSTAINABLE DESIGNER TODAY?
De-tangling the web the creative industry spins.
Have your doughnut and eat it too
Digesting Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics
What design does for the plastic problem
Fossil fuel industry investments set to rise plastics production by 40% in next decade
‘We can create a vision of how we can transform the world’
WDCD Live São Paulo speaker Babette Porcelijn wants to curb our hidden impact on the planet
African design collection for IKEA
African designers to collaborate with IKEA's in-house team during upcoming Design Indaba conference
No modular phone from Google
Google ends Project Ara while modular phone was close to finish
A look inside WeTransfer’s headquarters
Design Week visited WDCD-partner WeTransfer that is on the brink of expansion
A marriage between Dutch design and Rwandan craftsmanship
Dutch-African fashion label Afriek works on the basis mutual respect and equality
‘My Africa Is’ tells the real story
Documentary series follows African change-makers
A global marketplace for local jewelry makers
Soko turns the mobile phone into a tool for trade for local artisans
The lab that turns waste into business
Rotterdam steps into the blue economy with 'BlueCity010'
As the year went by
The original Phonebloks models, a working prototype of a modular phone, will be presented at the Project Ara Developers Conference
Data visualization as a tool for analysis
Navigation guide for Wikipedia