Six Emerging Designers Debut in Accent on Design
White Plains, NY — Six new design companies, reflecting a range of design aesthetics from around the world, have been invited to participate in “A+: The Young Designers’ Platform” showcase within Accent on Design® at the winter 2010 New York International Gift Fair® (NYIGF®).
“Our search for fresh and unique design perspectives extends beyond geographical boundaries,” said Dorothy Belshaw, NYIGF director and GLM senior vice president. “We’re delighted to introduce designers from Canada, South Korea, Turkey and the United States to the gift and home industry this winter.”
A+ Participant Profiles
Sangwoo Nam, Appree Co.
Sangwoo Nam is a young designer from Seoul, South Korea whose functional home accessories include the “Leaf-it” self-stick memo notes in the color and shapes of tree leaves, and Waterdrop Magnetic, round translucent magnets of various sizes which function as magnets while providing an indirect link to nature.
Jung Woo Lee, ekdesign
Jung Woo Lee, principal product and graphic designer at ekdesign in Seoul, South Korea, strives to incorporate expressive design into a variety of functional office products, including cardboard file folders and USB media players. www.ekdesign.co.kr
James Minola and Chelsea Green, Grain
James Minola and Chelsea Green, designers from Bainbridge Island, WA, embrace a mission to unite sustainability and business through design. Grain is a design collaborative which creates and produces home and personal accessories, including the “Ty” recyclable shower curtain, made of ethically-produced, high density polyethylene (HDPE). The new “D.I.Y.” edition comes with an attached permanent marker to draw custom designs on the curtain. Minola and Green, both recipients of several design awards, met while pursuing industrial design degrees at the Rhode Island School of Design. www.graindesign.com
Marie-Pier Guilmain and Maud Beauchamp, Loyal Luxe
Marie-Pier Guilmain and Maud Beauchamp are pet accessory designers based in Mont-St-Hilaire, Canada, whose products are designed and manufactured entirely in Quebec. Their showcase work is the “chalet for cats,” a cardboard house for cats or other small domestic pets. Its innovative yet humorous design is inspired by Canadian-style chalets. Both Guilmain and Beauchamp received industrial design degrees from Montreal University. www.loyalluxe.com
Jiyeon Ahn and Jieun Kim, Luca 12:00
This female design duo from Seoul, South Korea, creates playful lighting and other home accessories, in which everyday objects become meaningful in a new context. One of their newest designs is “Soap, a portable light,” through which a unique light lamp – in the shape and color of a bar of soap – is controlled through touch. By rubbing the lamp in the same manner as a bar of soap, users can adjust the luminous intensity, and the soap’s holder acts as a charger. www.luca12.com
Munire Kirmaci, munire kirmaci
Munire Kirmaci is an industrial, product and spatial designer based in Brooklyn, NY, who designs home accessories as well as interior spaces. Her signature piece is “Salt and Pepper in One,” a stainless steel container which stores and dispenses both salt and pepper in one piece. Kirmaci received a Bachelor of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, and a Masters of Industrial Design from the Pratt Institute. www.munirek.com
A+ showcases emerging talents alongside some 200 established contemporary design resources exhibiting in Accent on Design. This type of participation offers young designers and new companies an affordable opportunity to expose their concepts, prototypes and finished products to the wholesale marketplace. The program, which was launched in 2008, accepts applications from nascent designers, including students, recent graduates, or new companies in business for one year or less. Participants are selected on the basis of design concept, creativity and originality.
The A+ exhibit is curated by the American Design Club (AmDC). Founded in 2008, AmDC is a professional community of American designers whose goal is to heighten awareness for emerging designers and provide exhibition opportunities.
“A+: The Young Designers’ Platform” at Accent on Design runs Sunday, January 31, through Thursday, February 4, 2010, at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Fair hours are 9:00am-6:00pm daily, except for Thursday, when the Fair closes at 12:00 Noon.
NYIGF is the nation’s premier gift, home and lifestyle marketplace, with 2,700 exhibiting companies featuring an extraordinary breadth and depth of design-driven home fashion products and complementary giftware. Some 31,000 attendees from all 50 states and 85 countries around the world are expected. For information and registration, visit www.nyigf.com.
