To Our Readers

When we began our 18-month series called Innovators, in which we’re profiling 100 people with bold ideas, we felt a bit as if we were buying shares in them. Having called attention to these budding revolutionaries, we wanted them to prosper and to have an impact. Now, just past the halfway point in the series, we’re happier than a lot of investors these days.

Where are they now? Rob Malda, founder of the news website Slashdot (profiled in September), has fostered hot Internet newcomers by giving away valuable code for free. David Neeleman’s jetBlue airline (January) just celebrated its first birthday, took delivery of its 11th new Airbus 320 and prompted U.S. regulators to coin the term jetBlue effect, which occurs when the upstart enters a market and fares plunge. And the edgy Catalan chef Ferran Adria (November) got his own cooking show on Spanish TV. Of course, some of our rebels have had problems. Joseph Park, founder of the defiantly free U.S. delivery service Kozmo (September), had to impose a $2 fee on small orders to make ends meet. And Steve Stanford’s Icebox.com (September), which had the Web’s coolest cartoons, closed after running out of cash.

The Innovators series forges ahead this week with a chapter on healers, who range from France’s Jean-Pierre Barral, an osteopath with a technique he calls visceral manipulation, to yoga expert Patricia Walden. The section boasts a crisp new look created by our sister act of Marti and MaryAnne Golon. Art director Marti finds inspiration in the animated typography of movie-title sequences and websites. “Using different fonts, with varying weights and colors, I can make your eye bounce around the printed page.” Picture editor MaryAnne aims to match the style of the photography to the spirit of the subject: bold and graphic for portraying designers, ethereal for spiritual leaders. “When it’s done very well,” she says, “the process is invisible.” The Golons have lots of wizardry planned for our next eight installments, which will showcase such talents as athletes, musicians and thinkers. For an even richer version of each chapter, check out time.com/Innovators.