I braved the heat yesterday to go and check out Renegade Craft Fair – it was sweltering, but because it was in McCarren park this year instead of in the pool, it was so much more bearable…But, enough of my complaining…I thought that RCF was pretty decent this year. I was going to post all of my finds in this one post, but rather than make you scroll forever, I’ll split it all up over the next few days.
Embroidery was definitely a predominate theme this year, and one of my favorites was Chez Sucre Chez, who had a nice range of work on display. Also – check out the little denture soaps. Funny!
Also always a pleasure – Something’s Hiding in Here, who always put so much thought into their presentation. They just came out with a new chalkboard calendar, which I think is genius!
The Pop Time watch by Lacoste brings together the staid analog and the mod plastic bracelet very nicely. The little crocodile is a nice spot of fun on the watch face.
And that crocodile is ready for some action. Lacoste is one of the first partners in the Save Your Logo campaign. The goal is for companies and schools to engage in wildlife preservation through the support of the animals and plants that are their mascots. Maybe we’ll be part of it soon too!
Love this super awesome Polite Umbrella by Joo Youn Paek – you can pull a chord at the handle of the umbrella to shrink it when walking past other people. You can even control which side shrinks – check out the video on Paek’s website for a demonstration.
Last week I finally had the chance to check out the 400 Years Later — Cite Goes Dutch exhibition properly – it was a mad house at the opening up a few weeks back. It’s up until June 14th, at Cite’s 131 Greene Street location. Totally worth swinging by, if you’re in NYC. The show features 23 Dutch designers and one photographer, and the various pieces all gel very nicely together, with the wry humor of Dutch design on full display…From the brief:
“1609: The Dutch Discover New York 2009: New Yorkers Discover Dutch Design
The exhibit presents everything from furniture and tabletop objects to jewelry by 23 emerging Dutch designers and manufacturers and 1 photographer. Curated by Studio Jan Habraken and Alissia Melka-Teichroew in collaboration with Wabnitz Editions Ltd and Josée Lepage, the work draws an outline of contemporary design coming out of, and shaped by, the unique climate of the densely populated Netherlands, whose designers grow up below sea level and under heavy gray skies.”
One of our readers that I had the pleasure to meet at the NSS last week was Amy Tischer – a recent industrial design graduate from Philadelphia University. She sent over her amazing Urban Nature tea-light holders, which were inspired by natural elements and patterns found in urban environments. Amy designed the tea-light holders in her sophomore year as a project for Foster’s Urban Homewares. The tea-lights are made from extruded steel tubes, 3d laser cut, and powder coated. See more of Amy’s work here.
Perhaps a sharp contrast to my previous post, this little table by Johnny Swing consists of square jars and a wire Eames-like base. As an object, it’s beautiful, I only wish the jar lids or the jar glass were a different color, like orange or a mix of bright colors. Either way, it’s still a very fun table.
Another nice booth at ICFF was the Test Collective. The wire standing light fixture and the laser engraved boards were cool to see. The lamps were especially interesting to me because they were so minimal compared to the rest of the lighting at the show. I like how the conical form implies the movement of light from the bare lamp.
Anna and I had the privilege to have dinner with Jean of notcot and Jen and Leo of Hero Design Lab, who are all old friends from grad school. Jen and Leo recently launched HERO 365, a line of smart, durable tools for living. The first two pieces are a rain collector and a drying rack. The rain collector is my favorite and it would look great outside a modern home or rooftop terrace garden. In my mind, a garden is always a wild place, and a fun rain collector makes perfect sense.
PS – Please forgive us if posting a bit spotty over the next week or two…we’re in the middle of finishing up preparations for the NSS and are feeling a bit overwhelmed!
Rickshaw is a recently launched SF-based bag company supporting high-quality, human-powered design. I checked out some of the videos behind the bags and found the video explaining the Zero Messenger really interesting. The bag is cut and sewn from only four rectangles of fabric with nothing going out to the landfill. All the pieces make it into the bag (including a few scraps), resulting in no manufacturing material waste. Plus the bags look great: clean, simple and functional. Check out the video below for the info.
We created a handy-dandy submissions form. Please submit your latest and greatest projects to us this way - it's much more effective than sending us an email. We look forward to seeing what you are cooking up!
sub- projects
// the working proof
// brevity
// sub-studio
// custom wedding suites
// follow the leader
Follow the Leader is an ongoing collaboration. We began with six drawing 'seeds' and asked our friends and community to complete the seeds, in whatever way they imagined. See all of the Follow the Leader collaborations here.
