Gallery: 27 of the Most Inspiring Designs From 2014
CLEAR FLIGHT SOLUTIONS01robirds11
__[Robotic Birds](http://stag4.wired.com/2014/08/realistic-robo-hawks-designed-to-fly-around-and-terrorize-real-birds/)__ Nico Nijenhuis is building lifelike robo-birds to scare their real-life counterparts away from places like landfills and airports. The trick: Making the autonomous robots move in life-like patterns. So far, these 21st century scarecrows have reduced bird visits to one landfill by 75 percent.
Flic02flic1
__[Flic](http://stag4.wired.com/2014/11/real-world-button-controlling-favorite-apps/)__ In a world where flat, glassy screens rule, it can be hard to remember how awesomely effective an old-school button can be. Flic is a quarter-sized programmable button controls your favorite apps with a push of a finger. It’s a dead simple mode of interaction and more useful than you might think.
MAP03virgin trays
__[Redesigned Virgin Meal Tray](http://stag4.wired.com/2014/06/these-ingenious-new-meal-trays-will-save-virgin-millions-a-year/)__ MAP overhauled Virgin's in-flight eating trays, making them lighter and more compact. It seems like a simple fix, but the little change adds up to millions of dollars saved for Virgin in the coming years.
Lytro04Lytro-Illum-12
__[Lytro Illum](http://stag4.wired.com/2014/04/the-clever-thinking-behind-lytros-gorgeous-new-camera-design/)__ When Lytro launched the How do you introduce new technology to consumers without scaring them away? Lytro decided to merge the old with the new. The light field camera harkens back to more traditional digital cameras, while still being perfectly modern. Attention to ergonomic detail makes it comfortable to work with, even though light field photography requires a totally new shooting stance.
Priesmangood05priestman-goode-10
__[An Airplane With More Bin Space](http://stag4.wired.com/2014/07/an-ingenious-plane-design-that-makes-room-for-your-carry-ons/)__ Too often, your overhead bin has already been claimed by the time you get to your seat. Priestmangood designed a new plane that makes room for one rollerboard carry-on per passenger by changing the module that houses the fasten seatbelt sign, call button and reading light. Instead of one monolithic unit, individual units are installed at each seat. The result: 40 percent more bin space.
Kevin Slavin0620daystranger2
__[20 Day Stranger](http://stag4.wired.com/2014/06/an-anti-whisper-app-designed-to-make-strangers-into-bffs/)__ This poetic little app from MIT is the antithesis to the TMI overload of Facebook.The gist: You and a stranger anonymously share details of your lives ranging from your activities to your wake-up time. The vagueness allows users to construct a narrative about someone they’ll likely never meet. It’s a lovely reminder that we are not, in fact, the center of the universe.
Durr07durr1
__[Durr](http://stag4.wired.com/2014/01/a-vibrating-watch-that-messes-with-your-perception-of-time/)__ When we first wrote about the Durr watch, we described it as a metronome for your day-to-day life. The little disc, which buzzes in five minute intervals, isn’t practical, but it is clever rethinking of the way we perceive time. The best gadgets aren’t always simply useful—they’re the ones that make you view the world differently.
Leeo08night light
__[Leeo Smart Alert Nightlight](http://stag4.wired.com/2014/10/fire-safety-nightlight-smart-home/)__ The Leeo Smart Alert Nightlight is a simple gadget: It won’t vacuum your floor, or start your coffee pot when you wake up in the morning. It’s just a $99 nightlight that lets you know if your house is burning down when you’re not around. Which is to say, it’s a pretty reasonable take on what a connected gadget should be.
Skylar Tibbits09tibbits-07
__[Skylar Tibbits](http://stag4.wired.com/2014/11/skylar-tibbits/ )__ If you want to see the future of material science, visit Skylar Tibbits’ Self-Assembly lab at MIT. The designer is researching how to make programmable materials---think wood and metals that shift shape on command. It’s a revolutionary way to consider how we might make things in the future, or rather, how they might make themselves. As Tibbets puts it: “Computing isn’t- in computers anymore; computing is everything.”
Urban CDC10chicago sensors
__[Chicago’s Array of Things](http://stag4.wired.com/2014/10/chicagos-new-smart-street-corners-will-act-like-fitbit-city/ )__ As sensors get smaller and smarter, urban dwellers are going to reap the benefit of living in smarter, more responsive cities. Chicago’s Array of Things initiative is a good example of what we’ll likely be seeing more of in the future: Cities gathering ambient data and making it totally open source. What exactly is possible once you know your city’s heartbeat?
Pentagram11OfficeUS-publication-covers
__[Pentagram, Office US](http://stag4.wired.com/2014/06/how-to-design-a-killer-logo-with-just-arial-and-times-new-roman/ )__ Pentagram’s visual identity system for the US pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale is a little badass. Natasha Jen and her team swore off fancy bespoke typefaces, instead choosing system fonts Times New Roman and Arial to anchor the identity. Sure, it was a pragmatic choice, but it was partly an irreverent wink at the eye-rollingly tasteful and precise world of typeface design.
Kano12kano
__[Kano](http://stag4.wired.com/2013/12/for-99-you-can-make-your-own-computer/ )__ Kano isn’t the first hardware kit to peddle the promise of teaching kids to code, but damn if it isn’t the most beautiful. The kit, designed by MAP studio, makes sense of complex concepts like programming languages and constructing hardware. But Kano’s real benefit isn’t just about building skills—it’s about instilling a sense of curiosity in children about the technology they’re constantly surrounded by.
Squarespace13squarespace
__[The New Squarespace](http://stag4.wired.com/2014/10/new-squarespace-ux-dream-eliminates-backend-entirely/)__ In its quest to cater to as many users as possible, Squarespace introduced a killer new UX feature this year: an editing interface that essentially deletes the back end normally found in content management systems. Publishers and small business owners alike are surely grateful to be done with the trial-and-error process it used to take to build a simple website.
Grand Army14grandarmy-uspsretail-14
__[USPS Rebranding](http://stag4.wired.com/2014/08/the-bold-rebranding-of-the-usps-that-could-have-been/)__ Nobody likes the post office. Bad wayfinding is partly to blame, so when design studio Grand Army took on the job of redesigning packaging and signage, they took inspiration from Massimo Vignelli’s designs for the New York City subway. They built a consistent menu that can help post offices reorganize their space with minimal costs.
