This month's I.D. magazine takes a curated, contemplative look at the best design (consumer products, graphics, packaging, environments, furniture, equipment, concepts and interactive) from the past year, and showcases some really interesting and progressive ideas and designs. After pondering the question "Is it really necessary?" when considering the over 400 entries in the category, the judges picked Yves Béhar's Leaf LED lamp (featured here and here on TreeHugger) gets the nod for "Best of Category" in the Consumer Products category (page 66) and Nike's Considered shoes earn a Design Distinction (page 76) for again proving that "Green doesn't have to be ugly," as juror Paul Priestman noted. An Honorable Mentioned was awarded to the H-Racer, the world's smallest fuel cell vehicle; (page 80) if only its steering was radio-controllable, the jury wished.

Allen Berger's book, Drosscape: Wasting Land in Urban America (page 106) was the jury's favorite tome (receiving a Design Distinction in the Graphics category) about environmental issues, not just for its content, but its complex, smart, readable graphic presentation. Our pals at WorldChanging earned an Honorable Mention for the WorldChanging Book (page 111); Good Magazine (page 116) and the book version of An Inconvenient Truth(page 116) followed suit with their own Honorable Mentions as well.

We could go on and on, mentioning the Loblolly House's accolades or Humanscale's distinction (not that they don't deserve it), but we'll sum up with this instead: this issue is full of the best examples of what can happen when design and sustainability come together. The results can look beautiful, outperform other conventional products, solve real problems, and make the world a greener, healthier, happier place, and that's what great design is supposed to do. I.D. magazine

Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:

• Considering Nike Considered. Something is Better than Nothing
• The Shop of (Design) Delight Pops Up
• Runners World Chases Down the Green
• Sun, Nike, Starbucks and More Meet for Climate Action

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