Design Within Reach's Design Competition: M+D+F 2009

click thumbnails for larger pics

Last Thursday, the Design Within Reach North Avenue Studio was the home to an exhibition, competition and party. The annual Modern+Design+Function event was in full swing all evening as designers, artists and anyone who loves good design came out to see the best of the Midwest, 2009. I was honored to be asked to be a judge for the competition and was so pleased to see the items that the panel and I chose during the jury process all together in one place, looking fantastic...

Marilyn and Peter Frank (artists, F2 Studio), Wesley Kimler (artist), James Cesario (of Fritz Hansen) and I met several weeks ago to review all of the submissions on paper and our top 15 choices were invited to be part of the exhibition. Seeing the selected pieces in person and getting to meet the creative minds behind them made for an inspirational evening.

I snapped a bunch of photos, so without further ado, the 15 M+D+F featured designs for 2009 (and the top winners, chosen that evening)-

Top row, left to right:
1. The Winner - Best in Show AND Green Design: Dabbot Modular lighting made from post consumer polypropylene by Steven Haulenbeek
2. A busy party
3. Fan Favorite - Kafu: Coffee table made from formaldehyde free maple plywood and wool felt by Kristina Patrovic/Adam Erwin
4. Guests voting for fan favorite
5. Honorable Mention: Undefined: Table/dresser made from walnut, walnut veneered plywood, aspen and aluminum by Brock Brockington

Second row, left to right:
6. Frank & Edmund - porcelain and glass objects by Natalie Pfister & Michael Riha/Hand and Hand
7. Stumpy - end table/stool by Sherry Diaz/Sadsoup
8. Echo - coffee table with woven plastic lacing by Diana Lu/Slate Design
9. Luna - table lamp by Chris Ferguson
10. Lighting Appliance - lamp from birch and fabric by The Office for Lost Objects

Third row, left to right:
11. Tube Light - bend conduit lamp by Caroline Linder/Lisa Smith
12. Bed - from ash, maple and plywood by Philip de los Reyes
13. 45 - chair by The Office for Lost Objects
14. Coil - table lamp by Craighton Berman
15. Canvas Lounge Chair - by John Dutton

Fourth row, left to right:
16. Pixel - table made of bamboo by Brian Peters/Design Lab Workshop
17. Lo-Do - dresser from steel, aluminum and walnut by Damien Velasquez
18. Brock Brockington and his Honorable Mention, Undefined
19. Kristina Parovic and her Fan Favorite, Kafu
20. Steven Haulenbeek and his Best in Show/Best Green Design, Dabbot Modular

Images: Janel Laban

Was this contest open to the public? Would have been fun to compete.

posted by Comicgeek on May 4th 2009 at 8:39pm
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I may be taking off on a tangent but just wanted to say that I'm totally hooked to AT and love it here!

My two cents: You guys need to come up with a better way to put captions to pictures. Probably, add the caption to the picture before uploading it. With the existing system, it's a little cumbersome going down and forth to find captions that correspond to the pics.

It's just a suggestion. If it's feasible for you guys at AT, it would be nice for readers like me.

posted by D or me on May 5th 2009 at 5:27am
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Thanks for the great and inspring photos of local design - some real talent there and unique creations.

I also agree with D or me's comments about the photos. AT used to put a caption directly under the photo and then changed to this new method, which is much less reader friendly. Please switch back. Thanks.

posted by rdlrkl on May 5th 2009 at 3:39pm
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I agree with D or me regarding the picture captions.

posted by baileyb on May 5th 2009 at 7:28pm
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