Our lady of fantastic re-emergence, Alice Rawsthorn, has compiled a great feature in her regular column at the International Herald Tribune, Design in 2006: A Year of Innovation and Utility. It's just as it sounds, a year in review of the design world. But unlike a list based "This was cool, and so was this, and this..." she takes us through the whole year and tries to highlight what went down and what to look forward to in the future:

Whatever's on your own checklist, there are lots of exciting design projects to look forward to in 2007. Take Apple's long-rumored iPhone; and the Great Journeys series of Penguin paperbacks designed by David Pearson. Or Microsoft's Multimouse, which will enable more children in poorly resourced schools to use the same computer, and Spore, the ambitious game devised by Will Wright as his follow-up to The Sims. And next summer the XO- 1 laptop will be shipped to schools throughout the developing world, albeit with a price tag closer to $150, than $100, for the first year or so.