Omnidisciplinary design legend and Rhode Island School of Design president John Maeda seems to be everywhere these days—and that's a good thing. Our latest Maeda sighting? In Samsung's "special advertising feature" tucked inside the year-end issue of Time magazine. Samsung devotes a page each to Q&A with Maeda and industrial designer Robert Brunner, and things really get interesting when Maeda is asked, in the name of "simple, effective design," if there is an everyday object he admires. Indeed, there is.

To me, the all-time greatest design object is the grid that divides the utensils in your silverware drawer. It's so humble I'm not even sure there is a name for it. But the minute you see it, you know exactly which job it is meant to do. Bravo!