ICFF 2010
Arriving with rather low expectations due to all the talk of depressed economies cranking out depressing designs, I was happy to find that not everything at this year’s ICFF was a frankenstein of last year’s show. For starters, this piece was all over the fair as well as the off-site shows and is part of the latest collection from furniture company Council, a company out of SF that won me over last year with their stunning Periodic Table. This year’s room divider still maintains the sort of Designer’s D.I.Y. feel that permeated the show.
Big themes were definitely eco-conscious materials and subtle pared down design. Taking material design to the next level was this “wooden fabric” lamp titled Miss Maple, featured in the Design Deutschland exhibit and made by german designer Elisa Strozyk.
Not all young designers are as experimental with traditional materials. For many, the emphasis on environment has led to a reexamination of the less eco-impacting past. Studio Dunn, winner of this year’s Editor’s Choice award for new designer, is going traditional not only with materials and design, but with manufacturing methods as well. All of the designs are manufactured in the good ol’ US of A by artisans in their native state of Rhode Island (this local pride also informs the name of each piece). Studio Dunn’s design sense references the hand-crafted nature of mid-century modern classics like Haywood Wakefield while also tapping into contemporary collective desires to be equal parts environmentally and aesthetically conscious.
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Scattered about and hidden in the nooks of the all the furniture booths were a couple of really exciting product and jewelry finds from some promising up and commers. Starting with the smallest – jewelry from designer Hao Shi was selling at the designboom mart like hot cakes. Shi’s designs consist of tiny, fantastical creatures made from an opaque white resin.
Hao Shi’s booth was too crowded to take photos. Fortunately I just couldn’t leave without my very own Rabbit X Ring pictured here next to the beautiful package it came in. I have since received many compliments from all sorts of crowds including design snobs and random children on subways. It doesn’t get much better than that!
Everyone’s favorite from Brooklyn Designs, FRAMEicariums was also selling at designboom mart. For those who haven’t already seen them, these are real live ant farms in frames! Absolute genius!
And last but not least, for all of you out there with an irrational fear of numbers, Qlocktwo has found a solution- a typographic matrix that spells out the time in a way we can all understand. If only there was a version for my phone, I just might start being on time to things.
