Margaret Andersen
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(She/Her)
As seen in:
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Covers:
Arts & Entertainment, Technology, Design, Accessibility, Feminism, Sex Tech
Designer/journalist hybrid✨👽✌️ covering design, tech, & accessibility ♿️
@hellotouchbot co-creator
Articles by Margaret Andersen
Este elegante sistema de punto de venta está diseñado para competir con Stripe
Durante mucho tiempo, los terminales de pago se han considerado hardware básico: dispositivos funcionales y poco memorables, diseñados más para la gestión administrativa que para la experiencia del cliente. Zeller desafió esta idea con Terminal 2, el primer terminal de punto de venta todo en uno diseñado localmente en Australia, proyecto que le valió el premio al Mejor Diseño en Asia Pacífico de Innovation by Design.
Estas sillas de ruedas pediátricas cuestan una fracción del precio gracias a la impresión 3D
FDurante décadas, el acceso a sillas de ruedas pediátricas y otros dispositivos de movilidad se ha visto limitado por los altos costos, las barreras de los seguros y la necesidad de una fabricación especializada.
These pediatric wheelchairs are a fraction of the cost thanks to 3D printing
For decades, pediatric mobility device use has been constrained by high costs, insurance barriers, and the need for specialized manufacturing. Now, New Orleans nonprofit MakeGood, the winner of the 2026 Innovation by Design award in accessible design, is using 3D printing to expand access to devices for children with conditions that make independent movement difficult.
The best accessible design of 2026
The accessible design category of Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards honors projects that put accessibility front and center. This year’s winner, Make Good’s Toddler Mobility Trainer is an open-source, fully 3D printed toddler mobility trainer. See all of the honorees below.
Brazil’s Northeast region gets a brand to match its vibrancy
Brazil’s Northeast region has long been defined in tourism marketing by familiar imagery of beaches and sunshine, despite encompassing nine states with distinct histories, cultures, and artistic traditions. Design Bridge and Partners set out to change that by creating Nordeste, a flexible destination brand that gives the region a unified identity without sacrificing the individuality of its constituent states.
This sleek POS system is designed to take on Stripe
Payment terminals have long been treated as commodity hardware: functional, forgettable devices designed more for back-office utility than customer experience. Zeller challenged that assumption with Terminal 2, Australia’s first locally designed all-in-one point-of-sale terminal, earning the project Innovation by Design’s Best Design in Asia Pacific award.
Yoto designed the cutest way to get kids off screens
As algorithms and endless feeds increasingly shape children’s technology, the Yoto Mini—the winner of the 2026 Innovation by Design award in Best Design Europe, Middle East, and Africa—is a portable audio player that gives children the freedom to explore stories and music without the distractions of a screen or AI-driven recommendations. The foundation of Yoto’s design is the device’s use of physical cards.
These pediatric wheelchairs are a fraction of the cost thanks to 3D printing
14 hours ago We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. I've tried some cool-looking filaments during my five years going down the 3D printing rabbit hole, and it's not just about multicolor projects anymore. Forget black and white; users can now buy filaments that look like marble, wood, and …
Accessibility is more than a design problem
Last month, Apple marked Global Accessibility Awareness Day with a sweeping round of accessibility updates and announcements, including a new eye-controlled wheelchair interface for Vision Pro and the global launch of Los Angeles-based designer Bailey Hikawa’s adaptive MagSafe Grip & Stand for iPhone. Together, the announcements span nearly the entire spectrum of assistive technology, from a $3,500 spatial computing headset to a silicone phone grip.
Accessibility is more than a design problem
Last month, Apple marked Global Accessibility Awareness Day with a sweeping round of accessibility updates and announcements, including a new eye-controlled wheelchair interface for Vision Pro and the global launch of Los Angeles-based designer Bailey Hikawa’s adaptive MagSafe Grip & Stand for iPhone. Together, the announcements span nearly the entire spectrum of assistive technology, from a $3,500 spatial computing headset to a silicone phone grip.
The best accessible design of 2025
Listen to this ArticleMore info The accessible design category of Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards honors projects that put accessibility front and center. This year’s winner, VML’s Sound Sites, is an accessibility initiative that enhances the listening experience for visually impaired people by replacing generic descriptions with sensory-driven audio. See all of the honorees below.
Tennessee turned its tourism site into a masterclass on accessibility
Most brands approach web accessibility through a lens of compliance and risk, but VML’s work for the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development reimagines it as a form of storytelling. Sound Sites, the winner of the 2025 Innovation by Design Award in accessibility, transforms standard alt text into rich, lyrical narratives, crafted in collaboration with blind users and local songwriters.
Innovation by Design 2025: The Art Rate Monitor measures your reaction to art
The Art Rate Monitor reimagines how people connect with art by measuring how they respond to it physiologically. Developed by Toronto-based creative agency Zulu Alpha Kilo for the Art Gallery of Ontario, the monitor uses wristbands to track each visitor’s heart rate, movement, and location as they explore more than 480,000 square feet of gallery space. It’s the winner of the experience design category in the 2025 Innovation by Design Awards.
Sex toy makers are just weathering the storm
Sextech has always operated without the safety nets most industries take for granted, and because of this, entrepreneurs in the space have become experts at navigating structural barriers. Whether in the face of ad bans, payment processor restrictions, social taboos, regulatory gray areas, or even economic downturns, sexual wellness brands have continued to innovate and expand the market, which was estimated at $42.6 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $82 billion by 2030.
Visible Voices ressignifica a deficiência como fonte de criatividade | Fast Company Brasil
As deficiências costumam ser vistas como algo que precisamos "acomodar", e não como algo a ser celebrado. Mas a nova plataforma digital Visible Voices pretende mudar essa ideia. A plataforma mistura um pouco de revista, galeria de arte e loja online com curadoria. No todo, ela busca reposicionar a deficiência como uma fonte de cultura, criatividade e estilo, com a ideia de que acessibilidade e estética não precisam estar em lados opostos.
discapacidad transformada en creatividad
La discapacidad casi siempre se presenta como algo que hay que maquillar en lugar de celebrar. Visible Voices, una nueva plataforma digital que se lanza con motivo del Día Mundial de la Concienciación sobre la Accesibilidad de 2025, desafía esta mentalidad con un enfoque lleno de creatividad. La plataforma es en parte revista, en parte galería y en parte tienda online curada.
Iceland built 1,756 wheelchair ramps in the past 4 years. Why can’t other countries do that?
Iceland built 1,756 wheelchair ramps in the past 4 years. Why can’t other countries do that? March 31, 2025 After making his mark in Silicon Valley, Icelandic designer and tech mogul Haraldur “Halli” Thorleifsson is now solving a far more analog problem: the inaccessibility of local storefronts. As a wheelchair user, Thorleifsson knows firsthand how exclusion can be built into a city.
This gorgeous digital platform reframes disability as a source of culture and creativity
Disability is often framed as something to accommodate instead of celebrate. But Visible Voices, a new digital platform launching today on Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2025, is challenging that mindset. The platform is part magazine, part gallery, and part curated e-shop. As a whole, it’s repositioning disability as a source of culture, creativity, and style, fueled by the belief that accessibility and aesthetics should not be at odds.
¿Por qué otros países no construyen rampas como Islandia?
Después de dejar su huella en Silicon Valley, el diseñador y magnate tecnológico islandés Haraldur “Halli” Thorleifsson ahora está resolviendo un problema mucho más analógico: la inaccesibilidad de las tiendas locales. Como usuario de silla de ruedas, Thorleifsson conoce de primera mano cómo la exclusión puede ser el tema principal en una ciudad. “Si no ves a nadie en silla de ruedas”, dice, “no es porque no existan, sino porque no tienen adónde ir”.
Iceland built 1,756 wheelchair ramps in the past 4 years. Why can’t other countries do that?
After making his mark in Silicon Valley, Icelandic designer and tech mogul Haraldur “Halli” Thorleifsson is now solving a far more analog problem: the inaccessibility of local storefronts. As a wheelchair user, Thorleifsson knows firsthand how exclusion can be built into a city.
Sociology: The Essentials Margaret Andersen
Summary Sociology: The Essentials teaches students the basic concepts, theories, and insights of the sociological perspective. With each new edition come different challenges: new topics of study; new generations of students with different learning styles; increasing diversity among those who will read this book; and new formats for delivering course content to students.
Jabra’s obsession with design led to its new line of hearing aids
Jabra’s obsession with design led to its new line of hearing aids August 08, 2024 The audio company is looking to bridge the gap between O.T.C and prescription hearing aids. BY Margaret Andersen There’s a tweet from a few years ago that’s always stuck with me that reads: “According to most health insurance companies, teeth are luxury bones that I must pay more to continue enjoying.
Jabra’s obsession with design led to its new line of hearing aids
There’s a tweet from a few years ago that’s always stuck with me that reads: “According to most health insurance companies, teeth are luxury bones that I must pay more to continue enjoying. It perfectly sums up the absurdity of the U.S. healthcare system in how it really isn’t designed to address the well-being of the whole person, but rather categorizes individual body parts as either essential or non-essential when determining what medical services you can receive.
Jabra's obsession with design led to its new line of hearing aids
There’s a tweet from a few years ago that’s always stuck with me that reads: “According to most health insurance companies, teeth are luxury bones that I must pay more to continue enjoying. It perfectly sums up the absurdity of the U.S. healthcare system in how it really isn’t designed to address the well-being of the whole person, but rather categorizes individual body parts as either essential or non-essential when determining what medical services you can receive.
Innovation by Design 2024: Whispp turns your whisper into speech
Dutch AI startup Whispp has quietly positioned itself as the leader in real-time assistive voice technology with an app that converts whispers into voiced speech for phone calls. Designed to make communication easier for users who stutter or live with vocal disabilities, Whispp was founded in 2018, just before the current AI wave, and remains one of the only companies in the assistive tech space to utilize audio-to-audio-based AI for phone calls and voice messages.
How Readymag is making web design easy for everyone
Since its launch in 2013, browser-based website builder Readymag has been embraced by independent designers and in-house teams alike. As the winner of Fast Company’s 2024 Innovation by Design Awards in established excellence, the brand continues to focus on serving the creative community by pairing no-code web design tools with a rich selection of typographic and animation options.
Web Design Trends Taking Over Our Screens in 2024 From Wix Studio
On: 15 Jan 2024 By: Margaret Andersen Category: Trends Length: 11 min read It feels like just about everything ramped up or broke down in 2023. Online trends accelerated, the economy began its rebound, AI took over, Twitter became X (and more chaotic), and brands still needed to break through all that noise.
Sony’s new Access controller for PS5 is almost (but not quite) a breakthrough design
Sony’s new Access controller for PS5 is almost (but not quite) a breakthrough design By Margaret Andersen December 04, 2023 Sony PlayStation’s highly anticipated Access controller is finally available for purchase this week (starting Dec. 6). The adaptive gaming controller, formerly known as Project Leonardo, made a splash when it debuted at CES back in January, after nearly five years in development.
The best accessible-tech products from 2023
By Margaret Andersen5 minute Read Every year, the news cycle inevitably picks up a story about the latest tech innovation promising an accessibility solution through its design. And while that latest product might be big on style, it often also comes with a hefty price tag, putting the technology out of reach for the majority of its intended users.
The best accessible-tech products from 2023
Every year, the news cycle inevitably picks up a story about the latest tech innovation promising an accessibility solution through its design. And while that latest product might be big on style, it often also comes with a hefty price tag, putting the technology out of reach for the majority of its intended users.
The best AI image generators to create AI art
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Sony’s new Access controller for PS5 is almost (but not quite) a breakthrough design Original
Sony PlayStation’s highly anticipated Access controller is finally available for purchase this week (starting Dec. 6). The adaptive gaming controller, formerly known as Project Leonardo, made a splash when it debuted at CES back in January, after nearly five years in development.
DTC brands are giving the pantry a high-design makeover, and it's payi
We’re living in over-branded times. Maybe you’ve noticed it: the fancy olive oil, the prestige beans, the tinned fish (so much tinned fish!). Recent years have seen a packaging renaissance, where even the most mundane of products now sport labels designed to grab—and keep—consumers’ attention. [Photo: Graza] Nowhere is that more apparent than in your pantry.
The booming menopause economy has its very own aesthetic
The booming menopause economy has its very own aesthetic By Margaret Andersen First there was millennial minimalism. Then came Gen Z maximalism. Anytime there’s a clearly defined “new market,” an aesthetic ultimately follows. But what about life’s later stages? Historically, trendy branding has been a young person’s game, but in recent years, there’s been a surge in companies marketing to women entering menopause.
The best designs by students in 2023
The Student category of Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards honors the best projects designed by students. This year’s winner, the Hug, by Natalie Schaake from the Savannah College of Art and Design, is a chair designed to relieve stress, even during assembly. Read more about the winner here, and see all the honorees below.
The best accessible design of 2023
The Accessible Design category of Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards honors projects that put accessibility front and center. This year’s winner, JanSport’s Adaptive Collection, is a series of backpacks and crossbody bags designed for people with limited dexterity. Read more about the winner here, and see all the honorees below.
How JanSport designed better bags for people with limited dexterity
Backpack maker JanSport is demonstrating how heritage brands can successfully bring accessible design mainstream. In January, following a three-year collaboration with Disability:IN, a global nonprofit focused on increasing inclusivity for the disabled community, JanSport launched its Adaptive Collection: a backpack and a crossbody bag that come in two colors (black and powder pink), along with a tie-dye pattern.
This new platform enables companies to measure their DEI performance
Launched last October, the analytics platform Dandi was designed to combat workplace bias by making companies’ diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs more measurable. The tool is easy to customize to focus on different data sets and has an intuitive interface, enabling management and HR to gain real-time insights into compensation and representation by gender, ethnicity, disability status, and other variables.
Menopause's massive market is creating a new design aesthetic
By Margaret Andersen5 minute Read First there was millennial minimalism. Then came Gen Z maximalism. Anytime there’s a clearly defined “new market,” an aesthetic ultimately follows. But what about life’s later stages? Historically, trendy branding has been a young person’s game, but in recent years, there’s been a surge in companies marketing to women entering menopause.
Kia’s strange rebrand is part of a long and varied logo history
By Margaret Andersen 3 minute Read Historically, Kia has been a visually quiet brand. It doesn’t typically generate media attention for its design and marketing choices, unless, of course, it was for those now iconic hamster commercials for the Kia Soul that ran ceaselessly in the late 2000s.
There’s no such thing as being ‘too creative’ for business
The job landscape and our relationship to work have both dramatically shifted in the past few years, with the pandemic triggering widespread layoffs, but also increasing remote work options. And as many companies are reversing their hybrid work policies, more people are responding by trading in traditional 9 to 5 positions for the flexibility of freelance life.
The queen of the teen skincare scene builds brand worlds, not identities
Worldbuilding is a process that’s typically used in science-fiction and fantasy. But in the two-dimensional, flat color world of direct-to-consumer marketing? Not so much. That’s changing with a new generation of DTC beauty brands that are adopting a holistic design approach that builds niche, immersive brand worlds across their websites, social channels, and packaging.
There’s no such thing as being ‘too creative’ for business
By Margaret Andersen7 minute Read The job landscape and our relationship to work have both dramatically shifted in the past few years, with the pandemic triggering widespread layoffs, but also increasing remote work options. And as many companies are reversing their hybrid work policies, more people are responding by trading in traditional 9 to 5 positions for the flexibility of freelance life.
How 90's design nostalgia (and TikTok) are bringing cutout collages online
{CATEGORY} {date} Illustrations by {name} {excerpt} A sprint is when a company or team dedicates a certain amount of time (around 2-4 weeks) to work on a specific project at full speed. {0} Min read The analog feel of hand-assembled and photocopied 'zines are being revived in the current ‘90s and Y2K aesthetic reboot. (Thanks, TikTok.) Stay informed on all things design. I've read Editor X's Privacy Policy and agree to receive the Shaping Design newsletter for design stories and inspiration.
How 90's design nostalgia (and TikTok) are bringing cutout collages online
There’s a new trend taking over TikTok, and it’s not a dance challenge or a NyQuil marinated chicken recipe (if you know you know). It’s the “collage aesthetic,” in which users create looping videos of cutout images layered together with music and simple animations.
Level designers build virtual worlds. What does it take to be one?
I’m not a gamer by any means. Sure I’ve played video games before, but most of my experience begins and ends with classics like The Legend of Zelda when it was still on Nintendo 64. For me, playing an open-world game like Zelda was never about final boss battles; I was just there for the vibes—wandering around Hyrule Field, buying supplies at the Potion Shop, unlocking doors to hidden side quests, or advancing deeper into the game’s primary narrative.
2022 AIGA Medalist: Louise Sandhaus
Even before she studied design formally, Sandhaus had always been surrounded by it. Born in 1955 near Boston, MA to parents who were both creative professionals, Sandhaus grew up in the kind of design-filled home that had a printmaking workshop—which doubled as a ping pong table—in its basement.
Everyone is copying Netflix's UI. But Hulu might be the next big innovator
I was recently watching Succession and hit rewind to rewatch some particularly venomous corporate banter. Instead, the interface refreshed. Which led me to come up with some salty comments of my own. I’m not the only one. People have been complaining about streaming interface design for years. Take HBO Max; despite its catalog of prestige dramas, it’s gained quite a reputation for its terrible UI. Streaming platforms can’t get by on content alone.
Can AI actually replace digital designers?
If you’ve spent any time on design Twitter lately, you’ll have likely come across a flurry of surreal images in your feed with tags like "#dallemini", "#dalle2", or "#midjourney". While those hashtags might sound like a reference to NASA aircraft or Activision Blizzard’s latest game release, they’re actually referencing the latest tools in the rapidly evolving world of AI art, where anyone can generate realistic images from a written text description.
Designers are luring tourists to new hotspots. Here's how
Now boarding: design advice from agencies behind the web presences of destinations like California, Tasmania, and Iceland. 5 min read Stay informed on all things design. I've read Editor X's Privacy Policy and agree to receive the Shaping Design newsletter for design stories and inspiration. ViewEditor X's Privacy Policy. Thanks for submitting! Shaping Design is created on Editor X, the advanced web design platform for professionals. Create your next project on Editor X.
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