Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » 2008 gift fair: mini tour

sometimes sickness gets the best of you and your plans for the weekend fall wayside. this weekend i planned on covering the gift fair both days but after dragging myself over to javits and walking two aisles my nyquil haze won over and i had to drag my sorry self home. to anyone who bumped into me at the show- i apologize if i was totally loopy. i was completely wrong about being well enough to walk through the show all weekend. so sadly i only made it to a dozen or so booths. the good news is that i bumped into the AT crew and they’ll be covering the rest so if you’re looking for gift show coverage, fear not. what did i see? well, in my brief visit (admittedly not even touching the piers) i saw lots of animals, bright colors and yep, more patterns (the pattern part i loved). for me, nothing too strikingly different than last year other than a continued and increased interest in green goods, which was great. i wish i’d had more energy to walk the full show so hopefully these photos will help until everyone else gets their photos up. this spring i’ll make sure i get plenty of vitamin c before icff and the rest of the may shows. there are a dozen or more photos after the fold so click here to read the full post or just click “read more” below. [image above: glass vessels by john pomp]

[image above: pillows by alena hennessy. you can see a sneak peek of alena’s home right here]

[image above: puffy frames and accessories by working class studio at scad (hi joe!) ]

[image above: plates by jason miller for areaware]

[image above: my favorite cups of the show from simrin]

[image above: flat-pak animal tables by ibride]

[image above: porcelain hands by jonathan adler]

[image above: swoon- a small sofa covered in hable construction fabric at the hable booth. i love those girls!]

[image above: lighting, mirror and pillows by jonathan adler]

[image above: new marine life melamine plates from thomas paul]

[image above: matte stephens placemat for modern twist]

[image above: matte stephens twist box for modern twist]

[image above: bath accessories by jonathan adler]

[image above: pillows by jonathan adler]

[image above: embroidered pillows by jonathan adler]

[image above: menagerie figures in a new glaze by jonathan adler]

[image above: new lighting from jonathan adler]

[image above: squirrel menagerie figure and bud vases from jonathan adler]

openhouse will be doing a week long story about the show. Highlighting the handmade for the most part, which was quite nice, and focusing on some great designers we found that we haven’t seen or heard from on any of the blogs. The first installment of 5 will be posted this afternoon after 2pm (est) for anyone interested. enjoy! oh, and it was nice meeting you at the fair, Grace. We didn’t think you looked the least bit loopy :o)
www.openhouse-richmond.com

Grace,

I find Jason Miller’s plates, cups, saucers, and serving pots as fascinating as I find Jonathon Adler’s porcelain dull and unimaginative. Miller is taking a fresh look at commercial aesthetics and standards. They are witty and intellectual. Adler is, if you are familiar with the last 50 yeas of design, merely riding the coattails of people who DID do something of interest decades ago. I hope consumers will do their homework, and support the real artists.

Ronn Ives, owner
FUTURES Antiques

i agree with ronn’s sentiment. now that i’m more familiar with design and design history (thanks to blogs like this), i find jonathan adler less appealing. those hands are too similar to the vintage glove forms that made the rounds of all the blogs last year.

hi grace!
i just returned from a weekend at the gift fair as well- so exhausting! i wondered where you were since last year at the stationery show I saw you multiple times. I found the new studio pier to be pretty exciting as well as some of the British textiles and handmades. One thing I did take note of was that there is so much room for more!! I would love to see some of my fellow SCAD designer friends there in the next few years. That would be a treat.
xoxo
haylie

Swoon indeed — that sofa is gorgeous! Did you see the Marimekko covered sofa in the new Anthro catalog?

http://anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&id=76206

Feel better, Grace!

Hi Grace, One of my favorite vases from the show was very similar to the shape of the vases you have photographed here, except Chive had it with recycled glass. V rustic and fresh. They also had some great “pods” — I don’t know what you would call them. Hopefully someone has pictures of them from the show.

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