conie chiock & PotatoRooster

I am very happy to have Conie Chiock join us (grad pratt ID 06) with her new website PotatoRooster - super! and news about a new degree in mechanical engineering!
Conie moved back to Texas after graduating and is working as an art teacher with children at Katy-Visual-and-Performing-Arts-Center


She has very astutely combined her education talent, her arts & crafts talent and tied them to her idustrial design education and developed a new and intriguing resource named PotatoRooster
This is a new site, check it out - lend Conie your support, assistance and advice if you have any - I think it's a great look and a great idea and it seems to me that it fills a perfect niche for an expanding market and the potential seems limitless.

But enough of my words: Conie writes elegantly enough;
"The whole idea behind potatorooster was to develop a small design consultancy that focused on children design. From interior, to interactive, to custom furniture, to graphics.

My friend says that it is the master mind creation of an Industrial Designer, Teacher, and Engineer. For me it was just a way of being able to keep my artistic flair and adapting to my new environments upon moving to Texas! I moved to Texas, had a difficult time getting a design a job & has been teaching art & am currently working on my masters for mechanical engineering (and) in the spare time I enjoy consulting and helping people design things for their children.

The few products I have I want to market them with the idea of modern craft. The plush animals are handmade and each one of a kind. The way I have been doing them is on a custom order basis, the parent gives me a piece of clothing or blanket from their child and I turn it into a plush for them to keep.

Another custom product that has been pretty popular is the creation of graphic silhouettes, parents send in the side profile of their child and I create a graphic silhouette. The duckie bank is an original concept and design that I self cast and fire in my studio. The magnetic board concept targets a bit of an educational field, and the idea of being artistic in a 2d Media. I offer different boards one that has a body to play dress up, one that has a race track and comes with magnetic cars, and another one that comes with organic and geometric shapes for more free play!"

Congratulations to Conie! And when we all need help with Mech. engineering issues you now know where we'll be going! I look forward to hearing about the blossoming of this new venture!

Natalie McLaurin's: I Am An Important Giant Show!

I recently posted the call for entries for a show involving scale furniture, curated by the one and only Natalie McLaurin - All Alum. would benefit by submitting work and showing in this venture - it is super-swell show theme, great for designers who would like to expand their venue, vision, outlook, style-base (I just made that up), and I want to participate with great minds, so please enter - it's not too late!!!

Call for Artists: I Am An Important Giant
Deadline October 1, 2010 (not too late yet!!)

I Am An Important Giant is a collaborative group installation opening to the public on November 13, 2010 in the Saint Claude Arts District in New Orleans. Using scale to create the effect of importance on the viewer, the works in I Am An Important Giant will be smaller than life installations. Organized by visual artist Natalie McLaurin the exhibition will explore the importance of scale and the habit of equating scale with quality in art works.

The exhibition will be made of smaller than lifesized objects (1:12 scale) created by artists from across the country. If you are interested in submitting artworks for inclusion in this exhibition please email a brief description and accompanying images to nataliemclaurin@gmail.com

stephen floyd - Update - New website! new work!

Stephen Floyd, (2001 grad) has been very busy indeed!
Check this out,
sickbirdstudio.com
Just a few clips from the site:

"Moss
visual merchandising, exhibit design & graphic design

Moss is a high-end luxury design store and gallery with showrooms in New York and Los Angeles. It is internationally renowned for its exceptional display of exclusive furniture, lighting, tabletop and accessories from top brands including Swarovski, Baccarat, Cassina, Edra, Vitsoe and Flos. Moss also represents the work of some of the most successful and influential designers working today such as Philippe Stark, Hella Jongerious, Maarten Baas, and the Campana Brothers.

As the Display Director at Moss, and with a background in exhibit design, visual communications and graphic design, I have been able to influence and shape the direction of the visual presentation that embodies the Moss brand. With over 8 years of visual merchandising, showroom, staff and project management experience, I have overseen the conceptual direction, design, installation and daily maintenance of all exhibitions at Moss since 2002."

"Souvenirs from Tokyo
Illustration and apparel design for SFT Gallery / Cibone in Tokyo, Japan

I participated in the annual "Souvenirs from Tokyo" exhibition at the SFT Gallery, operated by Cibone at the National Art Center in Tokyo, Japan. I was asked, along with four other artist and designers, to create designs for three handkerchiefs, t-shirts, and postcards."


"Jihad Pop by Sahar Shah
Book design for Bose Pacia Gallery

designed with Indesign CS4"

And so much more - It is a pleasure to put this website up - Stephen is one of my first students, a friend, and powerful thinker and designer and I am very happy to see him flourish, world-wide, and use his skills as he knew he could!

Stephen is currently looking to broaden his working scope, expand his horizons, and share the vision with others! Please review his site - he's beta testing now, and would love to hear from you - email him at: stephen@sickbirdstudio.com

WoW! So much on the way!

There is a burst of activity in the Alum world; but I must wait a bit before posting. Preview; Updates from Stephen Floyd, Endrit Hajno, New to the site; Conie Chiock and new business and website! Longo land is growing, and many more waiting in the wings - Been in touch with Bryar Babcock, Tiffany Baker, and David Blum - who is/was travelling abroad doing his thing - and still more - just a bit overwhelmed right now! stay tuned!

Isaac Lubow

I am very happy to post this feature for Isaac Lubow (Pratt ID 2006) who has been very busy over the past few years getting into everything, everywhere in the design world, and across the planet we live on.


His website features the short modest note: "Isaac Lubow studied drawing at The Art Students League and industrial design at Pratt Institute. He was the recipient of the Taki Fuji International Art Award.

New York Magazine named his firm, Custom Resource, third in a list of eleven designers creating "the next garde".

He now lives and works in New York City and Bali, Indonesia."

Isaac is the co-founder of Custom Resource Ltd., a custom furniture and interior design house, established in 2006 with Billy Cotton, another Pratt grad, for which he remained until 2009. See the Website for details.
He is now living in Bali, doing freelance illustration, computer graphics and web development. His new website is growing with new projects;

http://isaaclubow.com/

Isaac has used his talent as a true renaissance artist, applying his artistic and design talent to every technology, high and low, to create strong, and witty as well as austere works of art and design. His C.V. is really something to see - I am glad to have him here with us!