by Stephen Gossett | Oct 14, 2020 | Design
One of the jobs of a good designer is to fight cliché—and few spaces carry as much preconceived baggage as a cannabis dispensary. Nina Grondin, cofounder of Chicago-based hospitality design firm Curioso, knows this firsthand. Her studio sidestepped the hazy,... 
by Stephen Gossett | Oct 7, 2020 | Design
Lighting, electronics, kitchenware, the iconic Thinking Man’s Chair, even a German tram—Jasper Morrison has designed in just about every category over his illustrious, three-decade-plus career. It might seem counterintuitive to label a designer who has notably... 
by Stephen Gossett | Feb 5, 2020 | Design
I first encountered Tatiana Bilbao’s work in person in 2015, when she exhibited her now much-acclaimed flexible prototype for social housing at the Chicago Architecture Biennial. The house can be built for as little as $8,000, but its modular design guarantees true... 
by Stephen Gossett | May 22, 2019 | News
Milan’s famed Salone del Mobile fair can feel slightly overwhelming (300,000-plus attended and more than 2,000 exhibitors were on hand in 2019), but it remains a master class in design, showing how strong leadership and a bone-deep belief in collaboration and... 
by Stephen Gossett | May 14, 2019 | Design, Photography
In globe-hopping work for clients like Monocle and Air France, award-winning, London-based photographer Polly Tootal skillfully connects person to place, combining transportive landscapes with sympathetic portraits—sometimes within the same frame. But in much of her... 
by Stephen Gossett | May 14, 2019 | Design
It’s safe to say that Perry Shall is a T-shirt guy. There are the T-shirts he sells at his online shop, which sport the illustrator and graphic designer’s custom prints. Then there’s his personal collection, a whopping assemblage that now numbers in excess of... 
by Stephen Gossett | Apr 30, 2019 | News
Like the shark that must keep swimming forward or die, design fairs need to grow and progress in order to keep their place on the crowded international calendar. WantedDesign, then, is a big fish and one that keeps moving ahead. The two-pronged fair—which returns for... 
by Stephen Gossett | Apr 23, 2019 | Design
The store and office of emerging Ukrainian design duo FILD, in the Shevchenko neighborhood of Kiev, is easy enough to spy, thanks to its distinctive color scheme: ash grey brick around a bright yellow front door. Inside, among the clean lines and open spaces: more ash... 
by Stephen Gossett | Apr 11, 2019 | Design
As founder of Church of Sanctus, fashion designer Lucinda Sinclair lives the gospel of goth couture, slow fashion, and ethical design. Sanctus, which Lucinda founded in London in 2012, painstakingly handcrafts all their designs—all of which are cut from vegan-friendly... 
by Stephen Gossett | Apr 9, 2019 | Design
Few artists have shaped the visual language of contemporary underground punk and hardcore as much as Alexander Heir. His designs have featured on album covers on vanguard DIY labels like Static Shock and Toxic State Records (where he’s also released his own... 
by Stephen Gossett | Apr 4, 2019 | Design
In corresponding with Yasuhide Yokoi and looking over his wide-ranging designs, you can’t help but let your inner techno-utopian swell a bit. He’s a 3D-printer evangelist who’s used his digital wares to develop everything from office accessories to... 
by Stephen Gossett | Mar 28, 2019 | Design
It’s probably safe to say that D.S. & Durga is the only perfume house that sports a fragrance inspired by the rituals of proto-Mississippian culture circa 1200. But if that scans as novelty, it’s quickly apparent in speaking with cofounders Kavi and... 