Young designers to show at NY gift show

press release
WHITE PLAINS, NY, July 9, 2010... Eight new designers – based in Canada, South Korea, England, New York City, Detroit and Murfreesboro, TN, and with a wide range of design backgrounds – have been accepted for “A+: The Young Designers’ Platform” at the summer 2010 edition of Accent on Design®. These emerging designers will introduce an exciting mix of housewares, furniture, jewelry and lighting as part of Accent on Design, one of ten carefully categorized divisions of the New York International Gift Fair® (NYIGF®), August 15-19, at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

“These designers prove that new and innovative design can be applied to even the most utilitarian objects, such as compost bins and power strips,” said Dorothy Belshaw, NYIGF director and GLM senior vice president. “Several of these designers also have incorporated eco-friendly materials and production practices into their products, which is a promising indication of the future of design.”

A+ Participant Profiles
Salvatore Fuccillo and Jennifer MacEwan of Fuccillo Design Inc.
Fuccillo Design is a multi-disciplinary design studio and consultancy producing innovative products as well as furniture, packaging and interior environments. Upon graduating from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design in 2009, Fuccillo and MacEwan founded their multi-disciplinary studio in Vancouver, Canada. In less than a year, they have developed, produced and brought their first product to market. Bin, a collection container for organic scraps, combines sophisticated design with sustainable living. Bin will be distributed across the U.S. and Canada in September 2010. http://fuccillodesign.com

Charlotte Hosten of Charlotte Hosten
Charlotte Hosten is a jewelry and accessories designer raised in Belgium, now based in Montréal, Canada. A self-taught designer, she instinctively learned to create jewelry at the age of 15. Her distinctive fabric necklaces have evolved into luxurious sculptures, made of one-of-a-kind antique jewelry pieces, or with the treasures her clients bring her for her custom pieces. Hosten incorporates earth-friendly production practices, including reusing trimming waste and recycling vintage beads, brooches and necklaces into new pieces. www.charlottehosten.com

Soonmo Kang of 0.1vision
Sangwoo Nam is a young designer from Seoul, South Korea, who has earned distinctions in design shows in the United States, Germany and Japan. Nam’s designs for utilitarian electronic devices, such as power strips and toggle switches, have garnered the IF concept design award in 2009 and the Incheon International Design Award in 2009. Kang also was selected as an IDEA design award finalist in 2009, and was one of the “Most Buzzed” Designers” of 2010 by Yanko Design.

Hila Rawet Karni of Hila Rawet Karni
A granddaughter of a woodworker and a daughter of an industrial designer, Hila Rawet Karni has been inspired by art and design since early childhood. Her industrial jewelry collections express the connections between industrial design and jewelry design, achieved with the use of manufacturing tools, raw materials and contemporary industrial technologies. Karni, an independent designer based in London, has studied at HIT in Israel, Politechnico in Milan and at Droog Design in Rotterdam. www.hilarawet.com

Andy Kem of Kem3D
Andy Kem, a designer from Detroit, MI, uses his educational and professional background in automotive design to inform his designs for furniture, lighting, functional art and sculpture with wood, man-made wood products and the occasional found object. He has expanded his award-winning Breakplane furniture series into lighting with fixtures capitalizing on the inherent “give” and tension of wood by creating interlocking pieces machined from sheet material, but assembled into curved and bent forms. www.kem3d.com

Efecem Kutuk of Efecem Kutuk
Efecem Kutuk is a New York-based multi-disciplinary designer specializing in furniture, lighting, commercial products and interiors. Formerly an architect and design manager for an American modern furniture wholesaler and a degree-holder from both Bilkent University in Ankara and Milan’s elite Scuola Politechnica di Design, Kutuk is now an independent, award-winning designer of furniture, retail and residential interiors and hotel projects. His new tabletop product line includes the modern Telesco bowl, PalateP plates and Whale salad tongs. www.efecemkutuk.com

Andie Olive of BioDidactic Designs
Andie Olive is the owner of BioDidactic Designs, as well as a principal designer at Interesting Particulars, a small innovative design collective engaged in the creation of beautiful oddities, functional illusions and products which engage the user’s imagination. A line of personal and home accessories based in bio-mimicry, Olive’s BioDidactic Designs are informed by her love of biology and natural geometry. Her newest product is a wood honey drizzler. Coincidentally, Olive also has recently become a bee-keeper at her residence in Brooklyn, NY. www.interestingparticulars.bigcartel.com

John Truex and Jason Connelly of Borough Furnace
Borough Furnace is the family business of cousins Jason Connelly and John Truex. The two-person studio and foundry in Murfreesboro, TN, makes cast iron cookware with careful dedication to handmade, heirloom quality craftsmanship. Their shared pursuit of the micro-industrial craft tradition combines Truex’s passion for sculpture and industrial design with Connelly’s vision of a culturally and environmentally-responsible manufacturing model. http://boroughfurnace.com

A+ applicants are reviewed and selected by the Accent on Design Selection Committee, and the exhibit is curated by the American Design Club (AmDC). Founded in 2008, AmDC is a professional community of American designers whose goal is to heighten awareness for emerging designers and provide exhibition opportunities.

“A+: The Young Designers’ Platform” at Accent on Design runs Sunday, August 15, through Thursday, August 19, 2010, at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.