Top 5 Design Ideas of 2017

1. Interchangeable heels

It’s not often you see real innovation in fashion. A German company Mime et Moi created shoes for women which come with five heel options. Easily interchangeable, the designs are versatile and allow women to heave a sigh of relief across the world.

2. Wearable breast pump

It appears 2017 was a good year for women when it came to design and innovation. The Willow wearable breast pump is sleek and sans tubes and awkward contraptions, so mothers no longer have to hide in the bathroom or interrupt their daily routine.

3. Virtual lipstick testing

If you have ever mentally cringed at trying out a tester lipstick at a store wondering what horrid bug you may catch (an actual possibility), then Apple’s augmented reality tool has solved your problem by showing you exactly which shade will look good on you.

4. Labelling Photoshopped pictures

And yes, this is design. All commercial photos which have been retouched now need to be labelled, says a new French law to combat unrealistic portrayals of beauty in the fashion industry. I am pretty sure many designers in the advertising business will be happy not to spend hours retouching photographs.

5. Fearless Girl

A Wall Street firm State Street Global Advisors asked sculptor Kristen Visbal to design a piece that drew attention to the lack of women in the finance industry. The Fearless Girl did that. What may have been intended as clever advertising, created a conversation that still hasn’t died out.

Rashna Abdi is Chief Creative Officer, IAL Saatchi & Saatchi and can be reached on Twitter @rsabdi