The Design Open Mic was once again a wonderful success at the recent conference, Design Like You Give a Damn: LIVE! Forty projects were presented in quick succession to keep attendees inspired all day about projects happening all around the world. People flew in from as far as Japan, Syria, Africa, and Latin America to spread the word about their current humanitarian design efforts.

Presentations were given back-to-back in just seven minutes each, similar to Pecha Kucha format, and all were focused on this year's theme: "Innovative, community-centered design that is both inspiring and buildable." As presentations went throughout the whole day on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - there was never a dull moment. People were able to go back and forth between panel discussions, workshops, our delicious snacks - and of course, the Design Open Mic. Great speakers presented on such a wide range of topics throughout the day that there was always something to pique your interest.

Peter Exley, founder of ArchitectureIsFun, served as the Design Open Mic judge. After listening to all forty diverse projects, five particularly stood out. Despite the fact that only these five are being specifically recognized with prizes, many others were very impressive and are worth looking at as they are full of new ideas about how to go about humanitarian design at a huge range of scales. As Exley said, "It was so inspiring to witness the group's energy and wisdom." Check out any of the presentations you missed on Worldchanging. They all deserve a look as each presentation represents a wealth of knowledge on how we can all get involved in helping our communities around the world.

At the end of the day, the following winners were announced and presented with prizes from our event sponsors. See who they are below. If you still want more, check out the schedule for the Design Open Mic presentations that happen every week at Architecture for Humanity's headquarters in San Francisco, California.