Fast Co.: Fifty Most Influential Designers in America

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Somehow, I’m included among ‘the fifty most influential designers in America.’ It’s flattering as hell, but the fact that so many of the designers I respect and even idolize are missing from this roundup reminds me that these things are hardly definitive. Still, I’m honored.

Fast Co. 50 Most Influential Designers in America

Thankfully, the ‘list’ avoids the trap of trying to apply an artificial ranking to a very subjective and unquantifiable data set, and opts for a graphic that offers more context. See it at full size here.

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13 Comments

  1. I honestly don’t mean this in a bad way and I love your blog, but what else have you done to deserve such an award? The NYT is a well designed site, but some other news sites are just as well designed. I just don’t understand, what do you think KV?

  2. Anthony: That’s more than a fair question. While I think I’ve done a lot to advance the design profession in my own ways, I’m humbled to be on this list. However, before I completely undercut myself with apparently false modesty, I’d better recuse myself from the answer. Fast Co. assembled this list, and they’re the ones who can explain best.

  3. I’m curious about your thoughts on why the “information” category is relatively unpopulated. Perhaps I misunderstand what it represents, but one would think the Tufte-ian realm would be hopping with today’s overwhelming focus on new and heterogeneous “content channels” and the concurrent drive to communicate information in ever-smaller nuggets.

  4. …..add my congratulations and admiration…….well done. your name wouldn’t be there without some reasons, no matter how subjective it may all be in the end. don’t look back, but don’t tarry too long either. keep up the great work and the accolades will accumulate.

  5. KV: That makes sense, I’m sure you deserve it. Do you have some database with your work? I would love to see the projects you have worked on, all I know of is NYT, The Onion, and your book.
    The design of Subtraction is actually my favorite, when are you going to break down and sell it as a theme 🙂

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