All posts tagged: New York City

Dream of Songs Jewelry by Minna Kao

Dream of Songs is a Brooklyn-based jewelry brand that produces ethereal, modern, 3D-printed jewelry pieces in Brooklyn and Long Island City, New York. Minna Kao, the 41-year-old founder and creator of Dream of Songs, has been a fan of designing jewelry since she was a little girl, when she sold a collection of plastic bracelets to her elementary school classmates in her hometown of Houston. After graduating from the University of Texas, Kao went to Paris for a six month apprenticeship under designers Diane Pernet and Alan Faye. After some more time studying in New York City and soaking up the Japanese sensibility of Wabi Sabi in Tokyo, Kao opened MinnaK, a bridal and evening wear company in 2006. In 2013, she fell in love with 3D design and launched Dream of Songs two years later. We recently asked Minna a few questions about herself and her design process.   DT: Are you still designing bridal pieces or are you a full-time jewelry designer now? MK: I’m not designing bridal pieces anymore, I’m a full-time jewelry designer now. DT: Do you work with a partner …

Book Signing at Brooklyn Designs!

On Friday May 6th at 7:30 I will be signing copies of my new book on erotic product design, Objects of Desire, at Brooklyn Designs at the Brooklyn Expo Center in Greenpoint! We are excited to support Brooklyn design and the designers featured in our book who are based in the borough, including HEFF, Wonderpuss Octopus, and Dame Products. Brooklyn Designs is part of NYCxDESIGN, a world-class design festival which takes place May 3-17 throughout New York City. The three-day event kicks off on Friday at 10:00 am with “Kickstarter Office Hours” to present your ideas to the Director of Design and Technology Outreach at Kickstarter, and wraps up Sunday at 5:00 pm with a Maker’s Lab to teach designers how to promote themselves. In between are installations, pop-ups, seminars, and other fun events. I will be participating in the Opening Night Party from 7-9 pm, hosted by The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Metropolis, and Benjamin Moore, and sponsored by Broadway Stages. There will be food, drinks, music, and a cornhole tournament featuring one-of-a-kind boards from …

Designythings & Architect’s Toy Box Become The Latest Media Sponsors of Be Original Americas

Earlier this month Designythings and Architect’s Toy Box became the latest media sponsors of Be Original Americas. The blogs join several other leading architectural and design publications and websites who support original design, including The Architect’s Newspaper, Core77, Contract Magazine, and Wallpaper*, as well as founding media partners Design Milk, Dwell, Interior Design, and Metropolis. As a journalist who appreciates the moral outrage and economic sting of having work appropriated elsewhere without payment or permission, I wholly support an organization committed to educating and informing the public about the importance of original design. One of the reasons I founded my blogs was to give back to the industry and the people it serves, a goal I share with Be Original Americas. It is also my goal to only publish original design on these sites, and I encourage my readers to notify me right away if they see anything that seems to be a blatant copy of something already on the market. In fact, at least twice I have been notified that work I was told was original was in fact knock-offs of other pieces already on the market and I …

Valentine’s Day Treats from Chocolate Bar

As you might have heard, its Valentine’s Day on Saturday, so here are a few gratuitous images of the incredibly designed treats from Chocolate Bar, a chocolate shop with stores in the West Village in New York City and Manasquan, New Jersey. No matter what your plans are for Saturday, it’s always a good excuse to indulge in a little chocolate, if only with your eyes. Enjoy! All images courtesy of Chocolate Bar.  

Showroom Tour: Spin Ceramics, NYC

Last week I got a tour of the New York City showroom for Spin Ceramics, the Chinese tabletop brand that has built up a cult following around the world since its founding in 2002. Opened since June at 13 Crosby Street, the shop is Spin Ceramics’ first store outside of Asia. The brand works with a collective of eight independent designers to create modern, quirky pieces that are all stamped with the designers individual “chop” identification mark. Based in the Spin’s Shanghai design studio, the designers come up with concepts for plates, chopstick rests, cups, bowls, and other pieces through methods including drawing, digital modeling, throwing on a pottery wheel, or hand molding clay. Although the pieces are all handmade, Managing Partner Clay Cunningham says that the company produces about 250,000 items a year. Prices range from $25 for a napkin ring to $3200 for a large vase. Cunningham, a former banker, fell in love with the products while living in Asia and believes the company will continue to gain fans now that it has …