Hatch: The Design Public® Blog » Becky’s Blog from Design Week

3 P.M. – Still at ICFF

Becky — Sun, 15 May 2005 09:30:24 +0000

At this point, Sina and Drew are gabbing with designers so much that Matt and I get into a debate about what is the new bent ply. Felt? Concrete? Resin? Bent Bamboo? This leads to a quick summary of our ICFF experience:

Felt is the new Suede
Unbent Bamboo is the New Bent Ply (by the way, itâ€™s great to see a material that spreads and takes over more quickly than kudzu being used so beautifully).
Modern Kids are the New Design Connoisseurs. Some of the new modern baby and kid stuff is so phenomenal that I was wishing I was still in a crib.
Flat Pak Homes are the New Double-wides. Blu Dot founder Charlie Lazor’s flat-pack house is amazing. As an added bonus they were giving out free Starburst Fruit Chews, so I kept going back.
Lime Green is the New Orange
Alliums are the New Lucky Bamboo
Concrete is the New Granite
Carpet Tiles are the New Linoleum
Rubber and Astroturf are the New Wallpaper
but, Wallpaper is Cool Again.
Design Public is the new Edge*Modern

Also, cool architect specs are over the tipping point. They will soon be as hip as trucker hats, as in not hip at all.

1 P.M – Jacob Javitz Center

Becky — Sun, 15 May 2005 07:44:51 +0000

Drew, Sina, Matt and I trudged the 15 blocks from the DOWNTOWN show to ICFF at the Javitz Center. Javitz is MASSIVE! Right off the bat I got to meet Lotta Jansdotter, Anglea Adams and Madeline Rogers and Paula Buzzard (Mibo), all designers I have admired for a long time. I was completely in awe and tongue-tied. Paula thought I was a fictitious character, as she claimed she emailed me from a newsletter and I never wrote back. This made me mad at Drew, because I never got the email.

If you ever email me and do not hear back, itâ€™s all his fault.

By the way, we will no longer be carrying Angela Adams products, as she assaulted Design Public co-founder Drew in her booth in the middle of everything. He was humiliated. Just kidding, he was asking for it. Seriously, she was a good sport to pose for an action shot! She also has a very cool laid back DJ kind of voice – check out our interview with her.

OK, way too many people out there now have â€œarchitect glasses,â€ yours truly included. I decided that the backlash from this will be that everyone will soon be wearing eyewear modeled after the horrid lenses in Napolean Dynamite.

10:00 a.m. – Chelsea, NYC

Becky — Sun, 15 May 2005 04:30:09 +0000

DOWNTOWN is a great alternative design show – the space this year is like the NYC spaces you see in movies, the kind I could never afford. It is a photography studio with garage doors, great windows and light and high ceilings.

It was so exciting to see the newest designs. I was especially excited about Farm 21â€™s tables and lighting, Mud dinnerware and of course our booth. We got our new designers some great exposure! Everyone was flipping over Derek Chen’s fabric trays, vase, and Anthony Marshakâ€™s Becca Stools.

I then yawned through a panel discussion that was supposed to be about how designers can get their designs to market but wound up being about sustainability and how Europeans are better at public transportation than Americans. Duh. I think everyone needs more espresso and Krispy Kremes!

4:59 a.m. – Atlanta

Becky — Sat, 14 May 2005 23:29:23 +0000

I rise out of bed at 4:59 a.m. to a raging thunderstorm and a downpour and immediately decide to splurge for the garage parking at Hartsfield Jackson Airport. I am only half conscious, and the next thing I know, I am in Chelsea at the DOWNTOWN Design Show, and I am exhausted.

Luckily, the place is stocked with dozens of boxes of Krispy Kremes and has an espresso machine. Also, there are a few warm beers scattered here and there – this gives me a clue as to why Drew isnâ€™t even showered yet – the rest of the team had a little too much fun at the Design Public Launch Party the night before.