i couldn’t resist this shot- we covered bart’s furniture from studio cochineal last week but his facial hair was seriously the talk of everyone i ran into.

i always have a big design crush on thomas paul. this time it was for creating a booth decoration (not for resale, sniff sniff) that was one of my favorites- his custom bikini chair cover was a fun way to introduce a line of textiles that are coming out soon. he’s also launching a line of prints (second photo) due out soon…

if i had to name a top three favorite booths of the show, mey and boaz kahn’s would be one of them. based in israel, my and boaz exhibited at the designboom mart and showed these incredible ‘fragile’ accessories that are designed to be broken. it’s a fairly simple idea, but such a fun one to have as the central concept of a design. rather than worrying about breaking something and losing function, these objects must be broken in order to be functional. the top piece is a salt and pepper shaker that’s filled at either end and then snapped in half so you can pour the salt + pepper out. the second piece is a necklace that, when broken, will lay flat like a proper necklace. i could have sat at this booth, braking things, all day.

amuneal manufacturing thought of a really creative way to showcase their manufacturing and construction skills- they designed this 3-d model inspired by a scene from nature. all of the birds cast such incredible shadows around the space when lit from above. i wish i was able to capture the feel of this booth more accurately but it was such a welcoming space.

i loved this over-sized lamp from johnny swing. if i had a space large enough and modern enough for this (and the bank account to match) it would definitely be on my wish list.

judy ross always has a beautiful collection to debut at icff: this year she introduced beautiful embroidered aalto stool covers and a lovely series of textile room dividers.

my poorly organized bag-o-press kits is failing me right now and i can’t find the information on this soft stool- but it was part of the italian section and i’ll do my best to track down the name asap. i just thought the colors were fantastic- for the most part there was a lot of color at the show and the italians always know how to do color well.

new soft, sculptural pieces from canada’s molo design. their booths always have such an other-worldly quality to them- it felt like stepping into the clouds.

kristina was surprised that i liked these pieces, but i was totally into john beck steel’s lighting. i have a soft spot for those antique filament bulbs so that combined with the mesh-wire on the outside had me from hello. i’d love to have a long line of them over a home bar or dining room. they cast the perfect mood-y light.

wallpaper design studio madison & grow was a big hit among most of the fair-goers i talked to- and rightfully so. designer teresa grow is an architectural color consultant and her expertise was instantly recognizable- the colors were very strongly matched and really stood out from a far. sadly the lighting was a little low in the booth so my shots don’t do them justic. you can click here for more on their work.

i loved the legs on this table from moooi- they had an almost comic-like feel to them but when paired with everything else at the booth they came across as super modern and cool.

new wallpaper and textile designs from timorous beasties.

surtex was a really interesting show this year- both for the type of work shown and the difficulty i had getting some of the designers to hand me as little as a business card. the nature of the show is a bit trickier than icff and the stationery show- most of these designers are trying to find licensing deals so they’re not looking to deal with press of any type- let alone someone coming up from a website. luckily most of the booths i was interested in were ok with me taking pictures or a catalog so i’ll be sharing a few of my favorites today and tomorrow. also, a quick thank you to everyone who came out for our panel discussion at surtex on sunday!

dadabank is a los angeles design studio run by artist david palmer- david is also a fine artist who shows his work at the william turner gallery in santa monica. i loved david’s surtex debut- his booth was full of bold patterns, lots of birds and my favorite color of the moment- a deep orange/red. david’s site seems to be down for the moment but you can see more of his work right here as soon as the site is loading again. (the bird image above is david’s as well).

we talked about the lovely samantha hahn last week as part of the pre-show coverage but i wanted to show a few more clips from her booth in the river pavilion. bursting with pattern and color- samantha’s work was definitely one of the highlights of the show for me. i also loved the little notebook paper pad she created for people who stopped by to sign- her ‘knockout’ girl print is one of my favorites.

waddy armstrong was another surtex standout for me- born in san antonio, waddy graduated from SCAD in 99′ and has gone on to produce a beautiful series of paintings that he showed at surtex. you can click here for more information on waddy.

stay tuned for more surtex coverage tomorrow…

man, it’s tough to break down icff into only a few parts! even though the show wasn’t quite what i was hoping for this year, i still came home with around 600 photos i’m trying to edit down into manageable posts. so today i’m cutting things into 2 or 3 parts, with a little bit of surtex thrown in as well.

[image above: new wallcoverings from tracy kendall uk]

these adorable little “bettylou” wine glass lights were from designer mark mckenna.

new designs from k studio home: i loved all the textile detailing and the new colors (that orange is lovely in person) made entirely from vegetable dies.

i know i sort of fell into a hipster williamsburg trap with these but after 80 billion rows of icff i thought these zlda necklaces were hysterical.

new designs from areaware: chunky wooden animal toys, edgy teddy bears and a super cool bike that folds down into practically nothing and keeps you clean with its rubber chain. no grimy metal chains for areaware. and if you’re wondering whether the bike really works well- kristina challenged them to a demo and i’ll have to say- it looked both easy and fun to ride.

these patterned tables (ladybugs!) are from michael iannone. upon further inspection i realized the pattern was actually made up of hundred of tiny dowels inserted into the surface (the floor model was actually made by michael’s loving wife). i’m not sure how long that would take (i’m guessing an eternity) but the results were well worth it.

these stools and the wooden console above are all from smc furnishings. i loved the contrasting colors and patterned they created just by using different woods. and those little metal swivel stools are sooo calling my name.

new lighting from tay lighting: the first piece above is actually laser-cut cotton- it was lightweight and cast the most beautiful shadows below.

in an effort to not totally crash the site with huge images, i’m going to break down my icff coverage into a few parts over 2-3 days. for me, this year’s show was all about four things: looking for interesting texture, color, pattern and new talent. overall, the show left me wanting for most of those categories but there were definitely a few stand-out booths (and old-favorites) that didn’t disappoint. so today i’m going to start with a selection of my favorites. also, if you’ll allow me a quick geek-out moment, i had to share that my first day at icff started by seeing joshua jackson and diane kruger at the niche modern booth. i was trying to listen to everyone in the booth talk, but as a former pacey-mega fan it was pretty tough to drown out the “do-doo doo doo doo” of the dawson’s creek theme song in my head. anyway, it was a pretty fun way to kick off icff. so, back to design…

for me, the most memorable booth of the entire icff belonged to welsh silversmith miranda meilleur. in addition to producing some of the most incredible metalwork, she also happened to be one of the friendliest people we spoke to at the fair. miranda’s work really speaks for itself but if i could describe my happiness after leaving her booth it would be best explained as a loud squeal- it was such a delight to see such incredible work and craftsmanship in person. miranda is definitely someone we’ll be see a lot of in the future.

i’m continuing with the UK artists because they were the strongest grouping at the show for me. their focus on hand-painted wallpaper and the use of embroidery in textiles really blew me away. one of my favorite artists in the section was kevin dean, whose hand-painted wallpapers made me want to create a hand-painted english garden in my home. kevin showed a lot of different work in his booth (including designs for marble and ceramic surfaces) but these papers were my absolute favorite.

i’d be remiss to mention hand-made wallpapers and not continue with british designer claire coles, who i’ve been a fan of since her previous showing at icff. this year claire showed some incredible new designs made on top of vintage papers and silk textiles- all with hand embroidering and bits of vintage fabric. claire also had some gorgeous ceramics on display…

we mentioned british designers miss print last week in the pre-show coverage but i had to add some more photos of their incredible booth. i love the way they framed each print like a tiny work of art. i could have set up camp and lived happily in their booth for weeks.

just a quick shot of the lovely jocelyn warner- whose new rug designs were even lovelier in person.

a beautiful mirrored chandelier, sconce and clock from claire requa- despite looking like heavy mirror, they’re actually light as a feather and come flat-packed.

this lighting from fionna gall really has to be seen in person to be full appreciated. fiona uses bits of glass and wire to create her handmade, sculptural ‘emerald faerie‘ line of lighting. i could have lied under her chandelier all afternoon- the shadows it cast underneath for simply stunning.

a quick, bright shot of texture courtesy of anne kyyro quinn.

fun and whimsical- pot and knife hooks from thelermont hupton design.

do you remember the part of sex and the city where carrie goes up to a shoe in a display window and says, “hello, lover“? well, that was me in front of these tables. i think kristina thought i was crazy but i seriously wanted to drag one of these out with me. something about those thick, dark chunks of wood contrasted with the bright white powder-coated steel bases just got me. oh to have an extra grand (or 2 or 3) to drop on one of these tables.

last, but definitely not least, is brooklyn designer lindsey adelman’s incredible lighting booth. we mentioned her latest lighting last week but i was blown away by the DIY decorating in her booth. from far away you could see the glimmer of gold from the bottom half of her section and upon further inspection i discovered it was actually thousands of tiny gold stickers. my mind started racing with the possibilities- it would be so fun to do an entire mural of these in a sun room where the light could create a shimmering effect. but beautiful golden stickers aside, lindsey’s work was lovely as always- as were the drawings of her lights on the back wall of the booth.

a quick icff preview and then it’s on to the 2008 d*s scholarship finalists! until then, here’s a preview of a beautiful new chandelier niche modern will be launching at tomorrow’s icff (booth #1844)

last but not least- the final installment of our bklyn designs 2008 coverage. you can see part 1 right here and part 2 right here.

the pieces above and below are from john, marcel and max at produce design. i was positively giddy about their sturdy wood and metal pot rack. if i had room (and stronger walls) i would be saving up for that pronto. produce design also introduced a gorgeous picnic table with gold-colored metal on the sides that would be perfect for any modern outdoor lunch. click here for more information on produce design.

the lotta jansdotter booth is always a fun one- i bought those little teacups behind lotta’s head and had to drag myself away before i bought half of the other goodies she had on display. the new bags and pencil cases were particularly hard to resist. click here for more information (and to shop) on lotta jansdotter.

new pendant lighting from donna brady at re-surface design…

noah prince’s wooden lighting at the phosphoria booth was a really, really lovely. the wooden lamp bases and shades really gave each piece an incredible warmth.

new cement and wood furniture from eric weil at oso industries.

porcelain ceramics from lois aronow…

colorful pillows from tina at laidback home…

beautiful jewelry from lauren wolf- her cute shoes were too sweet not to photograph against the patterned floor.

seating from brooklyn’s ecosytems design…

miniature and full-sized furniture from designer takeshi miyakawa.

speaking of natalie wright’s wallpaper designs- here is her latest piece (above) with flavor paper, along with a sneak peek of the other gorgeous wallpaper designs flavor paper will be debuting at icff this weekend. if you’re at the show drop by booth #1739, or stay tuned next week for our coverage of every row at every show. [thanks, jon!]