The wait is over: The City of New York recently announced the first annual full-fledged New York design celebration from May 10–21, 2013. NYCxDesign (pronounced New York by Design) will be a citywide festival spanning the five boroughs and all disciplines of design (including industrial, furniture, fashion, graphic, film etc). NYCxDesign could very well become the biggest celebration of design in the world.
The NYCxDesign Steering Committee is comprised of a stacked line-up, boasting some of the most notable members of the NYC design community—not only designers and media (including our own Allan Chochinov), but also curators, educators, entrepreneurs, retailers and more. With planning committee spanning so many diverse fields—NYC Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson and MoMA's Paola Antonelli, to name just a few—the inaugaral NYCxDesign has massive support from all corners of the design community.
Every May for the past 24 years, designers, students and design enthusiasts flock to the Javitz Center in NYC for the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. While ICFF serves as the must-see mecca for new ideas and conversations about the state of furniture and industrial design, it is high time for NYC to go ahead and brand an all-inclusive design festival. In addition to many of the yearly exhibitors and shows in past NY Design Weeks, a host of new venues and designers will be added to the roster in the 12-day event.
Great citywide support: check. Awesome exhibitions, shows and events from all corners of the globe and design field: check. But how does one go about creating a brand identity for an event that encompasses one of the largest and most diverse design communities in the world? The Steering Committee for the 2013 NYCxDesign looked to Base Design to brand a design tribe that is 40,000+ strong. According to lead Willy Wong:
Speaker Quinn and the NYCxDESIGN Steering Committee understood that the celebration's identity needed to showcase individual designers, firms, schools and institutions, embrace the diversity of their practices across disciplines and throughout the City. Base Design's emphasis on the 'X' nailed the brief beautifully. They created an open system with an inclusive symbol that stands for location, expression, identification, examination, experimentation, intersection, iteration, variation, amplification and excellence.
The partnership with Base Design is a match made in design heaven even among numbers notable designers that reside in NYC. With several potential approaches to how to commission a project of this scale, the Base Design hits the mark. Additionally, Base Design donated the majority of their time to design the identity from the ground up—which, as any designer knows, is a major contribution of time and effort.
[Base Design] understood the design landscape, had roots in New York City yet could bring a global perspective to the conversation, and was available and willing to execute the program given extremely tight deadlines and resource constraints. Base Design agreed to donate a large portion of their time and effort to the project.
No doubt an event of this magnitude could be a game-changer, both creatively and economically, for the many design practices in NYC. With both a new brand identity, overflowing event calendar and serious buzz from the design community it seems that NYCxDesign may grow to become the largest and most comprehensive showcase of design... ever.
Design Week veterans need not fear for the independent design events in May that coincide with ICFF, as NYCxDesign looks to partner with them for mutual support and a better overall experience for exhibitors and visitors.
For further information about the NYCxDesign events from May 10–21, check out their website or official NYC Information Centers across the five boroughs.
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