American industrial designers Ray and Charles Eames fundamentally believed that good design should be available to everybody. It’s ironic, therefore, that today – in part due to institutional bodies, galleries, collectors and capitalism – their work has been elevated far beyond the reach of the common person. Design that was supposed to be accessible has become a symbol of taste,...
In 1775 Crane paper was used to print the first money for the American colonies, and by 1801 the company was the primary paper producer for local and regional banks. Later that century, equipped with an arsenal of innovative techniques from Europe, Crane won a contract with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and became the supplier for the US...
Fashion designer Marc Jacobs heads his own eponymous fashion brand, as well as diffusion lines The Marc Jacobs and Heaven by Marc Jacobs. He was also creative director at Louis Vuitton from 1997 to 2014, where he created the company’s first ready-to-wear clothing line. In his own words, Jacobs’ work is ‘a little preppy, a little grungy, a little couture’, and this...
Piedmont is a small city in California named after the European region in the shadow of the Alps (from the Italian piemonte, meaning ‘foothill’). Surrounded on all sides by Oakland, the neighbourhood has a population of roughly 10,000 people and an active charity scene. This includes the Piedmont Arts Fund, a nonprofit group that promotes and supports visual and performing...
The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is an international architectural practice operating within the traditional boundaries of architecture and urbanism. It was founded in 1975 in Rotterdam by architects Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis and alongside Madelon Vriesendorp and Zoe Zenghelis. OMA now has seven offices. This year saw the launch of OMA New York’s self-published monograph, designed by Studio Lin, that takes a look...
Shy Bird is a all-day café, rotisserie and bar in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its core mission is to elevate chicken, and the experience of eating chicken into the realms of the exceptional through gastronomic know-how, a beautiful interior and a visual identity designed by American studio Perky Bros. Drawing their inspiration from the red junglefowl, the “original chicken” and descendant of the domestic chicken, and...
In the Brooklyn neighbourhood of Greenpoint sits Vessel Floats, a new flotation and deprivation therapy spa that draws on the continuing interest in concepts such as mindful living and wellness. Through considered interior design and visual identity, the latter developed by New York-based studio Order, Vessel Floats intends to further develop and bring to modernity an experience that has been around...
The MoMA logotype, set in Franklin Gothic No. 2 and designed by Ivan Chermayeff, is an icon, and has been part of the New York urban landscape and international museum graphic vernacular since its creation in 1964. With evolving communicative needs and channels, the MoMA logotype was made a central graphic device as part of a new visual identity launched in...
Exploratorium is a “public learning laboratory” and San Francisco based museum that enables visitors to question and make sense of the world around them through hands-on exhibits that touch upon science, art and human perception. Its summer 2019 exhibition, Self, Made, continues in the spirit of exploration but turns this inward, tackling the theme of human identity. It did this...
Atlantic Theater Company was founded in 1985 by playwright David Mamet and actor William H. Macy and, since then, has established itself as an influential Off-Broadway theatre group. It is also known for having a bold and original voice, producing groundbreaking new works by both emerging and established playwrights. This bold and original voice was central to the design of the theatre’s...
The Golden Hour is an outdoor seasonal restaurant located in New York’s The High Line Hotel. It is a place to experience the softening of sunlight with unobstructed views of the Chelsea skyline. The restaurant intends to draw to mind the casual elegance of a coastal soirée rather than the rushing of pre-dinner drinks. The restaurant space is described as being...
Kaiyo, formerly Furnishare, is an online platform for the reselling and buying of used furniture, currently available in New York City and New Jersey, but with the intention to expand this internationally. Kaiyo picks up, inspects, cleans, photographs and uploads furniture to its online catalogue, easing the difficulties of selling secondhand online. It is part of a growing up-cycling movement,...