As you—designers and the people who love them—prepare to sit down (in all manner of interesting chairs) to Thanksgiving dinner, during which you'll again struggle to explain to family and friends exactly what it is that you do, we got to thinking what we're thankful for this year. All it took was a look through some recent posts to remind us. Below, a very non-exhaustive list:
All those design awards. You know we can't get enough awards news, and thankfully, the competitions seem to be multiplying: National awards for which we predict the winner a year in advance. Good design awards on a bad website. Big fancy prizes. Spark awards. Wallpaper awards. Just plain ugly awards. And yeah, we kind of figured that a "counter-terrorism design competition" probably wouldn't turn out well.
The new and improved Interview magazine. We'll admit that we were scared and a little angry when sharp-eyed culture maven Ingrid Sischy packed up and left the conversation-enamored magazine founded by Andy Warhol. But since the new team (led by editorial directors Glenn O'Brien and Fabien Baron) hit its stride with the shimmery September issue fronted by a feline-masked Kate Moss (coverline: "It's New, Pussycat!"), our faith has been more than restored. We can't wait to see what the gang has planned for next year, when Interview turns the big 4-0.
Karl Lagerfeld. He designs. He photographs. He dreams big. He has a charming bookshop in the 7e arondissement. He twitters. Last we heard, he had designed Euro coins featuring the sun-baked countenance of Mme. Chanel herself. And so this Thanksgiving, we're dabbing on his new Kapsule fragrance and giving our Steiff teddy bear teddy bear version of the Kaiser the place at the table he so richly deserves.
H&M and Target. For their continued faith in the power of design, whether to sell cereal, teapots, or polka-dotted jersey separates designed by Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons. Next up: "masstige" collections by dueling Londoners Alexander McQueen (Target) and Matthew Williamson (H&M) set to debut in 2009.
Penelope Green of The New York Times. For giving UnBeige our big NYT break this fall in her piece about shopping with design blogs. As if that weren't enough, she recently penned this stellar in-depth look at Julian Schnabel's Palazzo Chupi that we suggest you read aloud at the dinner table this evening.
Poor Pinocchio. Although you've shuffled off this mortal coil (with the help of artist Maurizio Cattelan) and into the Guggenheim's fountain, we're eternally grateful for your having equated in our childhood minds dishonesty, the slow transformation into a donkey, and ending up, fully conscious, in the belly of a whale. No strings attached, indeed.
And last, but certainly not least, Steve Delahoyde. One of the few people in the world who can consistently deliver design-related news coated in funny at six in the morning. That crumb-topped apple pie you spotted cooling on the counter this morning? We fibbed; we're not really sending it to the Pentagram offices. It's for you!
We could go on forever, but we've got to go construct plastic covers for the Frank Gehry Wiggle chairs that encircle our dining table here at UnBeige HQ. Cranberry sauce is a real nightmare to get out of corrugated cardboard. Happy Thanksgiving!
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