i’m in love. with a wallpaper company. i thought i’d seen the best of the best in wallpaper but thanks to corbett at variegated i’ve discovered a fantastic new designer, karen combs of nama rococo. after studying and traveling all over the world, karen came back to work and live in north adams, massachusetts. inspired by a chinese scroll painting she saw at the metropolitan karen learned wallpaper design from the best in the business and in 2004, she rolled out her first line of wallpaper. since then karen has been creating stunning, truly unique wallpaper designs from her studio in western massachusetts. after so many over the top, super-graphic designs that seem to have saturated the wallcovering market lately, it was lovely to see something slightly different with a geometric, but handmade feel to it. it’s as if a really creative person with a great sense of color and line broke into your home and painted a gorgeous mural all over the wall. and if i had the money, i’d pay karen to come “paint” her beautiful murals all over my home. karen’s work is just to beautiful and too unique not to be checked out, so click here and see for yourself. lovely, lovely work, karen! [thanks corbett!]

[ac and i are hopping a plane to chicago. be back monday. have a great weekend!]

today i was lucky enough to steal a few minutes of lisa wong jackson’s time- the designer behind good on paper design and pixel and floyd cards. lisa had all sorts of interesting comments on being a self-taught designer, dealing with demanding brides and having her own wedding in martha stewart’s wedding magazine. so [click here] to to listen to the good on paper podcast. lisa manages to run a successful business and still hold down a day job so i think she has an interesting perspective on the design industy- so, enjoy the show! [the photo above of lisa at her gorgeous wedding was taken by photographer lisa lefkowitz. she does really lovely work as well]

[the newsletter will launch on monday. so sorry for the delay. my coder had a crisis so we're a bit delayed. but we will be done in time to send out all the extra newsletter goodies on monday, promise!]

ac and i are off to chicago today for the idsa conference. i’ll be speaking bright and early on saturday morning so we have to run and hop a plane. i’ll be gone on friday but will try to squeak a few good garden finds in on sunday. so, enjoy your weekend and if you’re in chicago, be sure to come to the d*s meetup on saturday! [note: the location changed, so if you're coming make sure you come to the motel bar, not the tasting room!] see you monday!

well, i grabbed myself a copy of blueprint yesterday and i thought it might be fun to see what those of you who’ve read it think. my 2 minute snap opinion? i worry it’s trying to be too many things at once: martha stewart magazine, real simple, lucky and domino all rolled into one. it hits the high points of all 4 mags, but lacks the depth of each publication. i guess i didn’t realize it was trying to be an all around “lifestyle” mag instead of something a bit more home centric, but my first impression was “i’ll give it one more issue but probably not much more if it doesn’t grab me”. there were gorgeous shoe spreads mixed in with makeup stories and it just felt a little spread thin for my taste. i guess i’ve gotten spoiled and like my mags to be a bit more focused than that. what i’d love to see more of though is the classic martha project feature: how to reno a cabinet, how to redo your window garden, those sorts of things. there are a few of those and i think that’s a fun direction in which to move, but so far, i was a little underwhelmed. i’d say it’s a B, B- but probably only because i expected a big old A+. but hey, that’s just my 2 cents. you guys? (i’ll be out after 3 so all comments after that will appear when i get to chicago and get back in front of the laptop). click here for more info on blueprint.

i spent the better part of the last two days sifting through the beautiful photographs entered in the d*s/BKLYN DESIGNS photo contest. you guys are some serious shots! it was incredibly difficult to narrow these down (i looked through at least 400 photos) but here are the top three winners. thanks so much to everyone who entered- your photographs were beautiful and much appreciated. here’s to our winners and everyone who took the time to enter! so, without further adieu:

first place goes to: stephanie goralnick! stephanie’s beautiful nighttime shot of greenpoint blew me away. not to mention it was hard not to choose second and third place from her other photos. she’s quite the photog. great work, stephanie! click here to see what you’ll be winning!

second place goes to: robert guskind! robert’s artful shot of the cherry bomb tattoo parlor in brooklyn was a work in bold colors and contrasts. i love the way the yello, green and red work with eachother. great work, robert! click here to see what you’ll be winning!

third place goes to: jenene chesbrough! jenene’s somber “float on” photo was her homage winter in brooklyn and immediately took me back to cold days spent running between destinations and wondering if spring would ever come. great work, jenene! click here to see what you’ll be winning!

a big big thanks to all our sponsors and BKLYN DESIGNS. be sure to check out what’s new in my favorite borough’s design scene by heading to the show on may 12-14 in dumbo brooklyn. thanks again to everyone who entered!

dalex design’s danny alexander is already a design star in his own right, having won numerous design awards and exhibited at brooklyn’s the future perfect and salon del mobile last year. i’ve mentioned danny before, but i wanted to make sure i added him- he was as sweet as he is talented. click here for more info on danny.

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swiss-german design student chrissy angliker was one of the clear standouts- her work is creative, thoughtful and all about breaking design down to its most basic components. her badass fishing rod (a contraption that looks like brass knuckles) simplifies fishing down to its basic elements: lures, string and something to hold the string with. chrissy’s arrow chair was another great example of being inspired by a simple form (the arrow) and expanding it to create a 3d design. her work is really impressive and you can find more info on her right here (she’s having a solo show this friday. email here for more details). [i'll have more photos from her asap, we had a tech glitch]

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samira gagne was another standout in the group. i wrote about her floral trays after she showed at last year’s icff and was happy to see some of her other work- some lovely modern jewelry and a few great conceptual pieces like a clever book jacket that reminds subway goers that you’re not interested in chit chat or donating change. i think samira’s got a lot of potential for commercial success and i’m really excited to see what happens with her work. she won a major competition with umbra and it think it bodes well for a long and healthy career as a designer. click here for more info on samira.

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designer annie lenon was another design student well on her way to success. having worked with hivemind design for several years, the influence of their clean modern aesthetic was evident in her work in the best way possible. annie’s work was thought provoking, well executed and showed a keen attention to detail that’s often missing from student work (i love her rocking chair and test tube vases). i chatted with annie about her ideas for post-grad work and i hope she continues to pursue her own designs in addition to any work for other companies because she’s got a great eye and a clear point of view that definitely has a place in the design world. for more info contact annie right here.

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i was nuts about sergio silva. he came highly suggested by all his classmates as the “conceptual” design star. sergio’s work looks like it came straight out of the future perfect, and i mean that in a good way. his playful lightbulb lamps and alternative light switches were a fun design experiment, but his chess set designed for a noguchi competition really caught my eye. with a different cut out hole corresponding to each pieces’s position in the game, sergio’s chess set was elegant, modern and clever. i’d buy it in a heartbeat. for more info on sergio’s work you can email him right here. you’re sure to see him in the design magazines any day now.

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designer kiel mead (pronounced kyle, not keel) is already a design celeb in his own right and is stocked at some of the hottest spots in brooklyn. his rings have been a smash hit and he’s already in talks with a major design institution to stock his forget me knot rings. but kiel’s real love is furniture design- having studied with the gang at scrapile and bettencourt wood, kiel has a keen eye for good, solid furniture and his line of stacking chairs is a great start. we’re sure to see kiel all over the place if he isn’t already. click here for more info on kiel.

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last but not least was designer michelle ladin, who was a total sweetheart and showed me around the show. she’s developing some great ideas of her own as well- one of which being a super practical vase made of rubber that can fold down to hold either tall or short stemmed arrangements. a very practical idea when you’re faced with storing vases of many different sizes. michelle also designed a great bench as part of a gallery project that has a top that folds over to provide either extra seating or a space to write on. she’s certainly got a business savvy head on her shoulders so michelle will undoubtedly go far in the industry. click here to contact michelle. [thanks for showing me around, michelle!]

overall the show was a huge success and i’m looking forward to seeing final projects in person next week. i’ll be sure to update with more photos and detailed shots next thursday. so, enjoy and give these guys a hand for their great work and bright, bright futures. [just a reminder, material on this site, including these works, is protected by a creative commons license so keep in mind that student work is not for copying and these guys are pretty wise to their rights are artists. so, hopefully this goes without saying- student work is not for copying.]

i peeked in on pratt’s industrial design student preview monday night and came home feeling extremely inspired and overwhelmingly optimistic about the future of design. for me, pratt has always been one of the meccas for design. churning out some of the great designers of this generation, pratt is always a great place to catch a glimpse into the future of product and furniture design. last night six designers in particular stood out to me, so [click here] for the full review- their work is really great and definitely worth checking out.

brooklyn is constantly churning out great designers and i wanted to highlight another furniture designer making waves in the scene. small factory design’s curt meissner graduated from pratt with an ID degree and now designs custom furniture for clients from his brooklyn studio. these latest pieces, the pandabox collection, are made almost entirely of eco-friendly materials. curt used bamboo plywood, eco-intelligent© fabric (produced in a no-waste closed loop manufacturing process), re-purposed padding made of shredded denim (blue jeans), doors made of a plastic similar to bakelite that uses recycled paper, uncoated aluminum legs and shelves, and of course, a natural wax finish. he also designed the pieces to be readily disassembled with a nod to future recycling and re-use. these pieces above and below (the little twin cub and the big twin cub) are perfect for storing all of your audio visual needs, or providing some extra storage and seating where you need it. as part of a collaboration with brooklyn’s swigg design, small factory produced these pieces with designer stephanie wenzel and combined curt’s clean industrial look with stephanie’s playful modern textiles. you can find more information on small factory design right here and stephanie’s swigg designs right here. enjoy! [thanks, curt!]

you can never have enough fun graphically inspired tableware. this “in the mix” series from rios clementi hale studios (not neutral) is available in a number of styles starting at $12. click here for more info.

wanted to throw in a few extra hidden art pieces that were of note: a great everyday mug, cups on a slant, a fancied up egg cup, some gorgeous nubby pillows and some fun coasters decorated with photos of vintage plates. click here for the full shabang from hidden art. [again, intl shipping charge applies]