Media Contacts:

Stephanie Báez (NYCEDC/NYCxDESIGN) (212-312-3523/sbaez@edc.nyc)

Fernanda Zapata Vakil (Rado) (fernanda@gigantem.com)

NYCEDC PREVIEWS NYCxDESIGN 2018

Annual citywide celebration of design runs from May 11-23, 2018

Nearly 350,000 attendees and designers from across the globe participated in NYCxDESIGN
2017 events

NEW YORK (January 12, 2018) – New York City Economic Development Corporation
(NYCEDC) today previewed programming that will be part of NYCxDESIGN 2018, New York
City’s annual celebration of design. The sixth edition of the program will include hundreds of
events throughout the five boroughs from May 11-23, 2018.

The citywide celebration of design unites culture, education, and entertainment with a wide array
of programming, including exhibitions, installations, trade shows, talks, open studios, and more.

“New York City is home to some of the most innovative and talented designers in the world, and
we know this industry holds tremendous potential for good-paying jobs and economic
opportunities for New Yorkers of all backgrounds,” said NYCEDC President and CEO James
Patchett. “NYCEDC will always be an enthusiastic supporter of NYC’s design community, and
we look forward to this year’s NYCxDESIGN.”

NYCxDESIGN 2018 programming highlights were unveiled today during a press conference at
the Brooklyn Museum. Hosted at venues throughout New York City, NYCxDESIGN 2018 will
include events such as exhibitions, installations, discussion forums, trade shows and open studios
that focus on a wide range of disciplines such as architecture, technology, graphic design,
fashion, interior design, product design and more.

NYCxDESIGN programming is informed by a Steering Committee comprised of many leaders

in New York City’s design community, representing a broad swath of design related programs,
events, organizations, and both academic and cultural institutions. Key NYCxDESIGN events
include ICFF, WantedDesign, Brooklyn Designs, NYCxDESIGN Awards, Design Pavilion,
Design Districts (SoHo Design District, Tribeca Design District, NoMad Design District and
East Midtown Partnership), American Design Club, the New York Design Center, graduate
shows from the City’s leading design schools, museum exhibitions and more.

1
For 2018, NYCxDESIGN is pleased to have Swiss watchmaker, Rado, return as the Official
Watch Sponsor of NYCxDESIGN. As part of its participation, Rado will host the third stateside
edition of the Rado Star Prize together with WantedDesign. This year’s theme will focus on the
concept of “Design Inspired by Nature”- a theme that hopes to explore the influence nature can
have on design. The call for entries for the competition opened on January 11, 2018 on the Rado
Star Prize website (www.rado.com/radostarprize-us), and closes on March 9, 2018.

Below are programming highlights for this year’s NYCxDESIGN to date:

 (NEW) Brooklyn Designs at Brooklyn Museum - Brooklyn Designs is moving to

Brooklyn Museum from May 12-13 for the 15th edition of Brooklyn’s pioneering design
event. Applications are now being accepted from emerging designers and established
brands throughout the borough across a range of categories including furniture, lighting,
accessories, technology, and design & architectural services, which will be reviewed by a
distinguished panel of experts in the design field. Accepted participants will be notified in
early March.

 (NEW) Times Square Alliance (TSA) - This year the Times Square Alliance will
proudly launch and feature inaugural prototypes from a new program to commission
designs for public space from New York City designers. For NYCxDESIGN 2018, the
Alliance will present its first prototypes in this program from designers Brad Ascalon, Joe
Doucet, Louis Lim, Doug Fanning, and Hive Public Space. This commissioning
program inaugurates Times Square as a lab for new solutions to enhance public spaces
and as a venue to present New York’s design talent and community.

 (NEW) Red Hook Design Events - Red Hook will have the spotlight on May 19th and
20th where visitors will be invited to a neighborhood walk, open studios, and an
exhibition, coinciding with WantedDesign Brooklyn at Industry City. Studios will
feature makers of large and small furniture, glass, textile, and ceramic, both bespoke and
retail. The neighborhood walk will include retail and restaurant events. Supersmith, a
talent-infused shared neighborhood workspace with a retail shop for local and non-local
designs, will be participating along with Pioneer Works, an admission-free cultural center
dedicated to experimentation, education and production across disciplines, will feature
local Red Hook design work.

 (NEW) Brookfield Place - Brookfield Place and artist Carlos Rolón will put a spotlight
on the worldwide trend of bicycle riding as a serious and sustainable means of
transportation that is re-shaping cities. The exhibition will explore the exquisite mix of
engineering and craftsmanship, ranging from cutting-edge designs to populist
expressions, that moves us forward on calibrated wheels.

 (NEW) Domino Park – A panel event and an exclusive tour of the new Domino Park at
the Domino Sugar Factory site will be held this May. The event will include a discussion
about the unique landscape and urban design of the public waterfront space. Additional
details forthcoming.

 (NEW) GenSpace – This year GenSpace will host a workshop on biomaterials to

highlight designing with living organisms by growing structures and materials from

2
 living cells—including mycelia and bacteria. The event also includes a panel on the
intersection of biology and design. Event details forthcoming.

 (NEW) Ultraviolet Cocktail: A TEALEAVES x Pantone Color of the Year Cocktail

- Join TEALEAVES for a refreshing cocktail inspired by the new Pantone Color of the
Year, Ultraviolet, and TEALEAVES x Pantone #PaletteForYourPalate Collaboration.
Using tea as their muse, and with glass as their canvas, the mixologist will create a work
of art using Tea + Color + Mood.

 NYCxDESIGN Awards – The third annual NYCxDESIGN Awards, organized in

partnership with Interior Design magazine and ICFF, will take place on May 21. Winners
will be determined over a weeklong deliberation by a panel of NY design luminaries.
Submissions will open on February 1 at www.NYCxDESIGNAwards.com.

 Frog Design - Frog Design will host their second annual design competition on May
23rd. New York's creative community - including furniture and fashion designers,
architects, woodworkers, and illustrators - comes together to benefit homeless youth.

 Design Trust for Public Space – On May 17th, join the Design Trust for a conversation
and tour to discover El-Space, a design experiment to create a more hospitable pedestrian
experience, greater environmental resiliency, and enhanced lighting. The event will take
place next to Industry City, below the Gowanus Expressway at 36th Street and 3rd
Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. This effort is a major City initiative as part of the
OneNYC Plan. NYC Department of Transportation and Design Trust for Public Space
are building pilots throughout the city to improve lighting, pedestrian circulation,
vehicular operations, infrastructure sustainability and environmental management.

 DESIGN PAVILION TM in Times Square - DESIGN PAVILION features an

NYCxDESIGN information kiosk, dedicated dance and performance space, interactive
and engaging design driven installations, performances, talks, and retail. This year’s 2018
theme is “From This Day Forward,” and the nine-day event has expanded across five
plazas from 42nd to 47th Streets. It’s free, open to the public daily from May 12- 20th,
and expects to attract more than 3 million local and international visitors. This year’s
PAVILION also includes a special collaboration with Nasdaq to create and display live
and visually engaging imagery and content on Nasdaq’s dramatic seven-story, cylindrical
video tower and will broadcast design themed interviews and stories across Nasdaq’s
social media channels to more than 2 million followers throughout the run of DESIGN
PAVILION.

o DESIGN TALKS NYCTM (May 14-18) - In conjunction with DESIGN

PAVILION, DESIGN TALKS NYC (TM) will present a program of insightful,
design thought-leaders, who will discuss the role and impact of design in the
enhancement and improvement of our future. DESIGN TALKS NYC will take
place from May 14th-18th in Times Square venues to be announced.

o DESIGN MARKET NYCTM - Established for the first time last year, the
DESIGN MARKET NYC is a pop-up retail market in Times Square that offers

3
 visitors from around the world a once a year only curated, design shopping
experience.

 Schools - At this year's NYCxDESIGN, the design schools are out in full force. Many of
the NYC-based schools will be holding events throughout the 2-week celebration.
Programming includes:

o Parsons School of Design - The Parsons Festival is an annual series of art and
design events taking place at the end of the academic year, in which cutting-edge
student work is presented to the Parsons community and the public.

o Pratt Institute - Pratt Shows is a series of curated year-end shows that offers the
public an exciting opportunity to experience the work of Pratt Institute’s
graduating class featuring work from the Schools of Design, Architecture, and
Art. The work includes fine art installations, film screenings, readings, and trade
shows illustrating Pratt’s collaborative, interdisciplinary approach.

o School of Visual Arts (SVA) – SVA’s “Radical Times,” showcases graduate

students pursuing an MFA in Product Design who will explore speculative pasts
and futures to produce seventeen product proposals for the present day—each a 3-
dimensional manifestation of their year-long thesis, and each attempting to
reconcile their points of view with their imagined, preferred states. SVA will also
present an interactive exhibition at WantedDesign Manhattan May 19-22.
Machine is a multi-stage experience design that explores various simple
manufacturing and fabrication processes and invites visitors to engage these
processes themselves. Visitors can manipulate simple materials in any sequence
within Machine and go away with both a unique artifact of their own design and a
greater sense of their creative agency.

o Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) – FIT is hosting the Graduating Student

Exhibition which will feature juried, award-winning, and thesis projects from 17
majors including Accessories and Communication Design, Computer Animation
and Interactive Media, Fashion, Graphic, Interior, Jewelry, Packaging and Toy
Design.

o The Cooper Union - Opening May 22, the annual Cooper Union End of Year
Show transforms the classrooms and studios of The Cooper Union into galleries
showcasing work from the Architecture, Art, and Engineering Schools.

 ICFF - The 30th edition of ICFF will unveil several major new features including:
o VIA:"NO TASTE FOR BAD TASTE", showcasing the very best new innovation
in French furniture design, with Philippe Stark, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Matali
Crasset, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, and more.

o The Handmade in Germany World Tour presents 180 German galleries of

beautiful art objects.

4
 o Collective Concept @ ICFF - With Collective Design fair's move to March in
2018, it is launching Collective Concept @ ICFF to provide a platform for
independent designers during NYCxDESIGN. A curated selection of designers
have been invited to share what they consider "inspirational" or "alternative"
thinking with the audience and longtime friends and colleagues at ICFF.

o And, the new Metropolis CEU Credited Conference, where attendees can earn
credits for professional licenses and certificates.

 AIANY – The AIA New York Center for Architecture will preview Archtober Building
of the Day tours across the five boroughs from May 14 - 18. At the Center for
Architecture, exhibitions on view include Social Housing – New European Projects, 2018
AIANY Design Awards, and New Practices New York 2018.

 WantedDesign - With its marquee events during NYCxDESIGN in May, WantedDesign

is a platform dedicated to promoting design and fostering the international creative
community at large throughout the year. This year’s highlights include:

o WantedDesign Manhattan - New programs such as Look Book, a

program dedicated to North Americans independent design studios, the
unveiling of the Rado Star Prize US for the third year in a row, a series of
talks presented with Design Milk + Modenus, the awaited 4th American
Design Honors awarding Brooklyn based designer Oliver Haslegrave and
his new collection called Homework, the Launch Pad program and a
selection of exhibits coming from all over the world to launch their
products on the US market.

o WantedDesign Brooklyn: This event is evolving to become IC Design

Festival by WantedDesign. At Industry City WantedDesign will host the
third edition of Oui Design, a special installation in partnership with the
Cultural Services of the French Embassy; a larger presence of Design
Schools through exhibitions and the Design School workshop gathering
seven schools this year for the first time; and a Career Day-Job fair
organized with AIGA NY Chapter and Coroflot.

 Museums - Multiple prestigious cultural institutions such as Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian

Design Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Arts and Design, the
Brooklyn Museum and the Museum at FIT will be participating in this year’s celebration
to cross-promote their special exhibitions, activities, and program offerings.

o Brooklyn Museum - On May 18, the Brooklyn Museum will host its Dance
Party: Night of 1,000 Bowies.

o Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum – Color Exhibition - Debuting

during NYCxDESIGN, this exhibition explores how color has captivated artists,
designers, scientists and philosophers for centuries. Featuring over 170 historic
and contemporary works from the permanent collection and Smithsonian Design

5
 Library, the exhibition explores how color is an important tool for designers of
virtually all disciplines.

o Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) - Tarsila do Amaral and Being: New

Photography 2018 will be on view at MoMA.

o Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) - Derrick Adams: Sanctuary and La

Frontera: Encounters Along the Border at MAD.

o Museum at FIT - A graduating student exhibition will be on view at the Museum

at FIT.

 Design Districts - This year’s NYCxDESIGN includes a growing number of design

districts.

o East Midtown Partnership – On May 15, the Partnership will host a retail night
and popup at Tramway Plaza. The Partnership includes the A&D and D&D
Buildings, and additional home decor and decorative arts retail locations and
showrooms on East 58th, East 59th, and East 60th Streets.

o Tribeca Design District - Taking place on May 17, the event will host
showrooms that include Colony, David Weeks Studio, and Stillfried Wien.

o SoHo Design District - On May 19, the SoHo Design District will host several
NYCxDESIGN event hosts and attendees in their participating showrooms.

o NoMad Design District - Details forthcoming.

 Architect’s Newspaper’s TECH+ Expo and Forum – This year’s TECH+ expo and
forum are taking place on May 22, 2018. TECH+ is where leaders in these industries
come together to network, discuss new ideas and techniques, and gauge where the future
of the AEC industries will be and how we get there. The event will present the latest in
smart building systems/IoT, advanced materials, networked sensors, and innovative
products that help designers create the spaces of the future.

 Retail:

o The American Design Club/Canal Street Market- This year in the markets flex
space, The American Design Club will be hosting a themed event. In keeping
with the club’s tradition, this event will be open to designers/makers/creatives to
submit a concept for consideration. 30-50 pieces will be selected for presentation.
This event will be in conjunction with the Tribeca Design District.

o Howard Street is planning another block party for 2018 after the tremendous
success of their event last year. With retailers and designers like Tom Dixon and
Michele Varian, you know it is going to be a destination.

6
 o MoMA Design Store – The MoMA Design Store will present "La French Tech"
a selection of innovative, connected objects from the best start-ups from France,
and only available exclusively during NYCxDESIGN.

o Madison Avenue Business Improvement District - To capture the essence of

NYCxDESIGN on Madison Avenue with its 29 blocks of landmark buildings
between 57th and 86th Streets, and flagship contemporary modernization, the BID
be conducting architectural tours during that time frame. Details forthcoming.

 Design+ City – A blog hosted on NYCxDESIGN’s website that celebrates the City’s
commitment to design through a selection of stories and programs that feature design
projects and key players that improve our urban quality of life. This space is particularly
interested in focusing on the impact visual communication design plays in public space,
civic architecture and citizens’ lives. Design+ City’s goal is to educate the general public
about the value of design and the role designers play in shaping the future of our cities.

Key Statistics on NYC’s Design Industry

2017 NYCxDESIGN hosted nearly 350,000 visitors from across the country and around the
world, including over 110,000 new visitors. Attendees supported hundreds of events throughout
the five boroughs, such as the DESIGN PAVILION in Times Square and the second annual
NYCxDESIGN Awards, contributing more than $54 million to New York City’s gross city
product. Nearly 600 full-time and 2,040 part-time employees were hired to support more than
400 NYCxDESIGN events.

New York City is home to over 7,756 design establishments and 52,500 practicing designers,
making it one of the largest design hubs in the country and the world. On average, those
employed in the design sector earned $103,750 a year, which indicates substantial opportunities
for income mobility. New York City is also home to ten prominent design and architecture
schools and graduates twice as many design and architecture students than any other city in the
US.

Event Submissions

Design-related organizers are encouraged to submit event proposals to the NYCxDESIGN

website (www.NYCxDESIGN.com) for inclusion in this year’s program prior to the kickoff in
May. To be included in the Metropolis printed guide, events must be submitted for consideration
no later than March 15, 2018.

Missed 2017 NYCxDESIGN?

If you missed last year’s celebration, check out this video for 2017 highlights. Please be sure to
visit www.NYCxDESIGN.com for more information, updated event information and to learn
how you can be part of the action.

###

7
About NYCEDC
New York City Economic Development Corporation is the City's primary vehicle for promoting
economic growth in each of the five boroughs. NYCEDC's mission is to stimulate growth
through expansion and redevelopment programs that encourage investment, generate prosperity
and strengthen the City's competitive position. NYCEDC serves as an advocate to the business
community by building relationships with companies that allow them to take advantage of New
York City's many opportunities. Find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or visit our blog to
learn more about NYCEDC projects and initiatives.

About NYCxDESIGN
NYCxDESIGN, New York City’s annual celebration of design, attracts hundreds of thousands of
attendees and designers from across the globe. Taking place each May—next occurring May 11–
23, 2018—the event celebrates a world of design and showcases over a dozen design disciplines
through exhibitions, installations, trade shows, panels, product launches, open studios, and more.
And, like design itself, NYCxDESIGN is everywhere, with events taking place across the city’s
five boroughs. Brought to life by New York City Economic Development Corporation
(NYCEDC) in conjunction with a steering committee of leading members of New York City’s
design community, NYCxDESIGN highlights the unique creative, cultural, educational, and
economic opportunities in New York City.

About Rado
Rado is a globally recognized brand, famous for innovative design and its use of revolutionary
materials to create some of the world’s most durable watches. Ever since its beginnings in
Lengnau, Switzerland, Rado has had a pioneering spirit, with the brand philosophy “if we can
imagine it, we can make it” still holding true today.

About Rado Star Prize

The Rado Star Prize is an established competition that has run in countries around the world,
supporting young, unestablished designers and giving them a platform to present their work. Far
from focusing on just one field of design, Rado aims to attract projects and ideas from numerous
design disciplines in order to create projects that can benefit the lives of individuals or
communities both now and in the future.