Even if you've never heard his name, chances are you've come across one of Yves Behar’s extraordinary designs. Maybe you've jammed on some tunes using the sleek-looking wireless speaker Jambox. That's one of Behar's designs which, by the way, was just nominated for 2012’s Designs of the Year Product Award. Or maybe you've take a spin on his “local bike”, designed says Behar, for a “new generation” of bicycle riders, who want to transport their kids and groceries near home. If not you must have seen photographs of children using the iconic green $100 XO laptop. The One Laptop per Child XO (OLPC) Laptop was founded by MIT Media Lab’s Nicholas Negroponte, who worked with Behar, and his San Francisco design firm Fuseproject to make a low-cost laptop specifically for children in developing countries. More than 2.4 million children in 25 countries received the XO Laptop. And now after six years of collaboration with Negroponte, Behar designed the next generation XO-3, the gorgeous laptop in tablet form.

Behar has taken design to a whole new level by devoting a good part of his business to the non-profit world. He says, "Design must tap into the giving element of our profession. It must be deeply in-tune with the needs to create a sustainable future, deeply connected with emotional needs, and deeply self-expressive.”

After dozens of profit-making ventures, Yves and his team devote 10 to 30% of their work every year, and countless hours of their own time, to pro- bono projects like the OLPC laptop. “There is no reason why design can’t be attainable. Great design is something that everyone can have,” says Behar. And after the success of the XO Laptop and tablet, Behar and Fuseproject collaborated with the Mexican Government to design low-cost eyeglasses for children. The “See Better to Learn Better” program provides poor children with free eye exams, and adorable, brightly-colored (and unbreakable) specs, delivered right to their schools. Hundreds of thousands of children are sporting these specs. The kids even get to pick their own frame and color combinations!!

Tune into The Next List on CNN 2 p.m. ET on Sunday to see the full 30-minute profile of design hero Yves Behar.

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Editor's Note: Daniel Kidd and BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) recently installed a 10-foot tall glowing heart sculpture ("BIG❤NYC") in the middle of Times Square for Valentine's Day. The sculpture is made up of 400 transparent, LED lit, acrylic tubes and is controlled by a heart-shaped sensor nearby. And the sculpture simply works like this: the more people that touch the sensor, the brighter and faster the heart will beat.

To learn more about BIG check out The Next List's profile of Bjarke Ingels.

Below is The Next List's exclusive interview with Daniel Kidd, "BIG❤NYC" project leader, about the installation: 

How did the idea come about?

From the beginning we wanted to do something with light, something that would feel at home in Times Square. The idea evolved from something that makes light to something that uses light from its surroundings. The images on the screens of times square are all made of individual pixels and we had an opportunity to rethink the pixel as a strip of light up to ten feet tall to form the pulsing heart. The heart reflects what Times Square is made of: people and light – the more people, the stronger the light. FULL POST

By Joshua Belsky, CNN

(CNN) - I'm not one to ever quote the J. Geils Band, but this time of year it's difficult for me, when considering Valentine's Day, not to hear the title track from their 1980 album Love Stinks (yeah yeah) in my head.

Before you classify me as one of those jaded anti-V-day celebrators let me assure you I am not – but I do believe that this time of year, love stinks (yeah yeah). 

I don't blame Cupid for the offending aroma, I blame most Valentine's Day perfume sales - or at least I used to until I met Christopher Brosius, founder of CB I Hate Perfume in Brooklyn, New York.

Christopher Brosius was our second agent-of-change profiled on CNN's The Next List and his being a self-taught perfumer (he talks about the good and bad of that in the video above) in an industry where people are rarely, if ever, self-taught was just part of the reason he made the list. FULL POST

Editors note: CNN's "The Next List" recently profiled the founder of MAKE magazine and the Maker Faire, Dale Dougherty. The show airs on Sundays at 2 p.m. ET.

MAKE magazine's mission - shockingly enough - is to encourage people to make things. The art of making isn't just an act, however, argues Dale Dougherty, who started the publication. It's an outlook on life.

Here's a chance to try quirky "maker" project for yourself.

The goal: squishy circuits. Watch the above video from “The Next List,” in which host Dr. Sanjay Gupta gets a lesson on the basics of electricity with the help of some Playdough, a battery and lights. It’s a great way to teach kids the basics of electricity, says Dougherty. And whether your 2 or 92, admit it, you'll have to admit: we all love playing with Playdough.

Click here to get the full recipe from MAKE magazine.

Join Dale (@dalepd) on Twitter for a live Q&A after the show on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET. Use hashtag #MakeCNN to join.

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Editor’s note: Dale Dougherty is the publisher and founder of MAKE magazine and the creator of Maker Faire. Tune in to CNN's The Next List at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday to see a 30-minute profile of Dale Dougherty.

By Dale Dougherty, Special to CNN

(CNN) - Joey Hudy, a young "maker" from Phoenix went to the White House this week to show off his project, the "Extreme Marshmallow Cannon." When President Obama saw it, he told Joey: "Let's try it." Joey set up the air cannon, which uses a bicycle pump to build up air pressure, and put a marshmallow down the barrel. When he pressed the trigger, a single marshmallow was shot out across the room to the delight of everyone, but especially the president.

I was proud of Joey's accomplishment and the journey that brought him to White House. That journey began at home, where he developed a love of making things. In fact, Joey found that he could do things at home - and do them well - even though he was struggling at school. Joey has Asperger’s Syndrome but I really wouldn't know that unless his parents told me. Joey first came to Maker Faire – an event for "makers," or people who make things with their hands – last year in the Bay Area and he brought the Extreme Marshmallow Cannon with him. His mother, Julie, told us that not only was the experience rewarding for Joey - he got to meet Adam Savage of Discovery Channel’s “Mythbusters” - but Joey made the connection between the work he was doing at home and what he saw makers doing. He knew that he was a maker and that he told his Mom that he "must be smart." FULL POST

Editors note: Maker Faire is a spectacular merging of artists, tinkerers, builders and folks with big ideas who converge in one place to show off all the great things they’ve made. It’s part science fair, part “Burning Man.”  14-year-old Ben Hylak writes about his transformative experience at Maker Faire after battling a life-threatening illness.

By Ben Hylak, Special to CNN

(CNN) - I’ve always loved computers. When I was 6 or so, I realized that instead of making all my Christmas thank you cards with crayons, I could do a mail merge – my mom says I’ve been hooked ever since.

At about 8 I started to rip apart old computers in our basement for fun, and the challenge was to put everything back together and make it work better than before.

I spent the summer after 5th grade working on an old Tangerine iMac laptop I bought from ebay. At first, my dad said he thought it was pointless to dissect a perfectly good computer. My mom convinced dad it was an education, and I could be doing a lot worse things with my time. I remember that Tangerine iMac like it was yesterday. It taught me tons. In my research on the ins and outs of that computer, I learned about the MAKE Movement. FULL POST

Dale Dougherty has a simple idea: all of us are makers. We’re born makers. We don’t just live - we make.

Dale believes that America used to be a nation of makers. People were proud to tinker in their garages and basements and pass on the tradition of “making” to future generations. These days, Dale thinks we’ve strayed to far from that way of life, and have focused more on being consumers.

Dale says, it’s time to get back to making. It doesn’t matter what it is: cheese, wine, sculptures, robots, rockets, 3D printers - even electric muffins! As simple or as bizarre as a person wants to get, Dale believes everyone should be passionate about making something. So Dale decided over a decade ago to create a grassroots festival called Maker Faire. There’s one every year in the Bay Area, NYC, and all over the world. There’s one in Africa. Tens of thousands of people attend, showing off all of the spectacular things they’ve made. Things like a basketball bikini, art sculptures made from car parts and wooden catapults, large and small. Simply, makers are enthusiasts, amateurs and hobbyists.

Dale also created MAKE magazine. The magazines are jam-packed with ideas and exact plans for making things. One issue might be dedicated to making robots, or rockets. Anyone with an interest can pick up a magazine and get right to work.

Dale is passionate about making a new generation of makers. He just received a DARPA grant. His task: to bring the philosophy of making to high schools around the country with what he calls Maker Spaces. He believes the concept of students sitting quietly at a desk reading is archaic and the best way for kids to learn is to engage, to act and to make. Dale hopes to one day have these maker spaces in high schools across the country.

Simply put, Dale’s mission is to make more makers. He says you don’t have to be a genius to make things. You just have to follow your natural curiosity - and begin.

Tune into CNN 2 P.M. E.T. February 12th to see the full 30-minute profile of Dale Dougherty.

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It’s Super Bowl time and that of course means one thing…amazing ads! It's part of the reason we all sit glued to the television even if the game isn't that exciting. And at an estimated $3.5 million for thirty seconds of 2012 Super Bowl airtime it’s really no wonder why ad agencies and production companies up their game while making commercials for the big game. We say bring it! Bring your ads!! And that sentiment reminded us of recent Next Lister Jake Shimabukuro, virtuoso ukulele player whose newest hit single is entitled "Bring Your Adz." In this case “adz” doesn’t refer to advertisements but a Hawaiian tool used for cutting. Here’s how Jake explains it:

"An adz is a small ancient Hawaiian tool used that resembles a small axe.  In rock & roll, players usually refer to their guitars as their axe. ‘I remember hearing people say, “bring your axe to the gig. ” I guess “bring your adz” is the ukulele version of the expression."

Whether it is an expression or not, we know it rocks. And seriously who else could do it? Let’s hope the same can be said for the Super Bowl…and the ads.

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Ubaldo Vitali doesn't neatly fit into our current crop of 'Next Listers' who are on the cutting edge of technology. He doesn't program robots or create interactive art. In fact the machinery and techniques he employs are centuries old.

Vitali is a master artisan – an alchemist. In layman terms, a silversmith. And his artistic output is split into two categories: uniquely contemporary creations and conservational restoration.

Vitali was born in Rome, Italy in 1944. He's part of a family of goldsmiths, reaching back four generations. While studying sculpture at an Italian college, he fell in love with an American girl and followed her back to New Jersey. Since then he hasn't left New Jersey and set up his workshop in the small town of Maplewood. Though an ocean away from his family, he's managed to create unparalleled works that have been recognized by American conservationists.

"He represents a moment in American craft history that's past, and yet he represents a standard that I hope just yet won't evaporate," said Ulysses Dietz, the Newark Museum Curator of Decorative Arts.

The pieces Vitali creates are breathtakingly beautiful, each containing a consciousness of the old world wrapped within contemporary modernist designs.

In 2011, Vitali received a phone call from the MacArthur Genius Grant committee with news that he was being honored with their top award. A prestigious honor in which the recipient receives $500,000 with no strings attached to continue their work.

"The committee who chooses the MacArthur Grant [recipients] look for people who are doing innovative research or looking at things in a new way, and pushing the field forward," said Janet Zapata, a former Tiffany & Co. archivist. "To me Ubaldo is one of the foremost silversmiths in this country, if not in the world."

The Next List is proud to present our profile of this kind soul and wonderful craftsman – Ubaldo Vitali.

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It’s easy to see that Bjarke Ingels is creative and passionate about architecture. His designs are amazing and his ideas are breath taking.

Ingels is a “Next Lister” because his vision and his approach to design are changing the way we think about the world as it is.

To Ingels, buildings are more than just monuments. They are part of an ever evolving landscape. Each one is a unique challenge with problems to solve but also an opportunity to add value or beauty to lives of the people who will live in them or work in them every day.

He tackles the challenge with intelligence, intensity, humor and heart. Bjarke Ingels has big ideas about the future of architecture and isn’t afraid to pursue them. But he’s an agent of change because he is challenging us to re-think what architecture can do for society and re-imagine the world as it could be...a little bit more like our dreams.

Take a look at our profile of Bjarke Ingels, another great agent of change.

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