Brooklyn struggles to find its feet. Roving reporter and hard core design sponge, Grace Bonney, reports back from Saturday's Firstop Design Festival in Williamsburg. And the prize goes to.... almost no one.
Dissappointed in her homies, and crediting last summer's Living Spaces with stealing the thunder, Grace skewers and pillories the "lackluster display" and overdependence on "porcelain mockups of 'throwaway' consumer products [that] were everywhere."
On the bright side, she says:
the emergence of felt as a key element in design schools is starting to spread to brooklyn and i'm pleased to say this trend has endless possibilities and a wide range of creative implications. not jut felt but recycled fabrics, paper products and eco-friendly design materials seemed to be just below the surface....
Read her whole article and see her picks at Design*Sponge. (Thanks, Grace!) MGR
For me the highlight was Van Hoek Woodworking, which had a beautifully restored motor home one could relax in while watching a video of the restoration, set to "Ring of Fire." Runner-up was Coeur Noir Letterpress (http://www.coeurnoir.com) --it's heartening to see folks so excited about what they do. But in the bigger-than-a-sheet-of-paper-but-smaller-than-a-motor-home category, I didn't see much beyond the already-admired offerings at Future Perfect and Modern Living Supplies.