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Your favorite designer’s favorite designers: 21 of Brooklyn’s top firms and people

We asked our favorite Brooklyn designers who their favorite designers were. Here's what they said.

Emilie Baltz's LICKESTRA. (Image from Emiliebaltz.com)

Technical.ly’s Editorial Calendar explores a different topic each month. The April 2017 topic is design. These stories explore people and firms making new, inventive and beautiful things in each of our five markets. This month’s Editorial Calendar in Brooklyn is underwritten by Small Planet. The stories were not reviewed by Small Planet before publication. Learn more about our advertising options here.

When we named our 10 Brooklyn design firms you should know last month, we asked each of them who their favorite designers (other than themselves) working in the borough are.

In a testament to the depth and breadth of the Brooklyn design world, only one firm made both our list and the designers’ list, Dumbo’s Work & Co. And not only that, not one of the designer’s faves overlapped with anyone else’s.

What follows are our favorite designers’ favorite designers, broken down by speciality (roughly, most of them do more than one thing) and with a description of themselves. We didn’t include who named who, because we thought it would be better this way.

Some of the designers are far out, like Emilie Baltz, who designs food and scent experiences, and some are more mainstream, like Everything Type Company, which has done work for The Fader magazine and the Brooklyn Historical Society, but they all have the respect of their peers. Here they are, with a short description pulled from their websites.

Product

Andrew Maruska, Desgin Gin

Steph Mantis

  • “Born and raised on pizza in Biddeford, Maine, Steph Mantis is a designer, educator, and creative consultant. Her work focuses on creating products that add a sense of play and humor to everyday objects.”

Juniper Design

  • “Juniper is a fully integrated design studio and manufacturing shop focused on producing proprietary products and custom contract solutions.”
Careful assembly of Juniper's intricate THIN Chandelier with Tom Simon and Nate Garner.

Careful assembly of Juniper’s intricate THIN Chandelier with Tom Simon and Nate Garner. (Image from Juniper Design)

Digital Product

Felipe Memoria, cofounder of Work & Co

  • “Lead designer of acclaimed products for Virgin America, TED, CNN, HBO GO and the new Oi. Winner of 30+ industry awards including two Cannes Lions.”

Andrew Herzog, Carly Ayres, Pedro Sanches and Nicky Tesla of HAWRAF

  • “HAWRAF is a new design studio. They create work that deals with communication, interaction, and creative accessibility.”

Everything Type Company

  • “Everything Type Company (ETC) is a NYC-based graphic design studio founded by Kyle Blue and Geoff Halber. We specialize in branding, art direction, publications, signage, and interactive design and development for clients spanning culture and commerce.”
From Work & Co.'s Virgin America case study.

From Work & Co’s Virgin America case study. (Courtesy image)

Graphic

Andrew Sloat, creative director of BAM

  • “My visual approach is informed by my graduate work, which explored the relationship between the two-dimensionality of print design and the three-dimensionality of theater.”
An-My Lê: Small Wars, published 2005. Design by Andrew Sloat.

An-My Lê: Small Wars, published 2005. (Design by Andrew Sloat)

Fashion

Matt ParrottiTony Shirtmakers

  • “One of one made to measure shirtings, constructed with fine tailoring & handprinted textiles.”

Risen from the Thread

  • “Risen From The Thread surfaced after years of working in theater, fashion, film and art as a costume/production designer. As new technologies began to emerge, the push to create a link between the digital world and the body became a new passion.”
"As part of the celebration of Tiffany's 175th Gala honoring the timeless Zeigfeld collection featured in Baz Lurhmannn's version of The Great Gatsby, I designed period influenced costumes and ornamentation to enhance nostalgic mood of the party scene." -Risen from the Thread.

Risen from the Thread: “As part of the celebration of Tiffany’s 175th Gala honoring the timeless Zeigfeld collection featured in Baz Lurhmannn’s version of The Great Gatsby, I designed period influenced costumes and ornamentation to enhance nostalgic mood of the party scene.” (Courtesy photo)

Furniture

IN.SEK

  • “IN.SEK is a Brooklyn based company, run by Ashira Israel that designs and creates products, furniture, lighting, sculpture and architectural installations.”

Yoav Menachem

  • “Yoav A. Menachem is a Brooklyn-based designer and photographer. A graduate of New York’s Parsons School of Design, he has worked with leading brands such as Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer in creating new iconic timepiece concepts, Italian luxury retailer Loro Piana in expanding the brand’s gift variety, and interior design firm Toni Chi & Associates in New York City, designing custom features for high-end lifestyles and hospitality experiences.”

Uhuru

  • “Uhuru is a multi-disciplinary design firm based in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Founded in 2004, Uhuru began as a high-end custom furniture design and build company with a focus on timeless, sustainable design.”

François Chambard

  • “UM Project designs furniture and unusual goods. Integrating concept, design and manufacturing, the work transcends the qualities of both the handmade and the mass-produced.”

Louis Lim

  • “Louis Lim’s sculptures and designs explore ideas of function, utility and play. Conventionally, design addresses utility while sculpture explores emotion and form.”
"As a three phase project, Uhuru partnered with Vice Media’s architects to provide its creative visionaries with a vibrant and diverse workspace by creating a comprehensive interiors package to reflect the company’s bespoke, eclectic nature."

“As a three phase project, Uhuru partnered with Vice Media’s architects to provide its creative visionaries with a vibrant and diverse workspace by creating a comprehensive interiors package to reflect the company’s bespoke, eclectic nature.” (Image from Uhuru)

Creative

Harry Gassel

  • “Harry Gassel is a New York based art and design director focused on editorial, branding and creative strategy. He is a founding editor and creative director of Talk Magazine and was formerly art director at The FADER.”
Issue 2 of Talk Magazine.

Issue 2 of Talk Magazine. (Image from Harry Gassel’s website)

Art/Media/Game/Food

Hypersonic

  • “Hypersonic is a New York City based design studio. We blend art, design, technology, engineering, and architecture to create ground breaking sculptures, machines, and interactive experiences.”

Jonathan Bobrow, Move 38

  • “I am an artist, designer, programmer, math lover, and constantly curious individual. I recently started a company called Move38, where I am Co-Founder and CEO, but consider myself a designer, artist, technologist, and activist.”

Eric Forman

  • “Eric Forman is a Brooklyn-based artist working with interactive installations and responsive sculpture. His work is open-ended and exploratory, crossing boundaries between fine art, design, performance, architecture, and science.”

Jason Krugman

  • “Jason Krugman designs new types of media to efficiently arrange light and electricity in 3-dimensions. While the bulk of Krugman’s practice is focused on bespoke illuminated sculpture, he has created several unique systems, some of which are now being developed into commercial lighting products.”

Emilie Baltz

  • “I am a technologist, artist & experience designer with a focus on food and sensory storytelling. I create playful and unconventional work that moves people to discover new worlds one lick, suck, bite, sniff and gulp at a time.”

The Plant-In City Collective

  • “The Plant-in City collective was started by Huy Bui, Carlos J. Gómez de Llarena and Jon Schramm – all architects by formation with a range of experiences and ideas that inform the project.”

 

Series: Brooklyn
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