let it begin....

i've been struggling with how the heck to start this icff post for a few days now...icff was really interesting this year and really special for a number of reasons. it was interesting because i didn't have the same reaction to the show i thought i would, but more importantly, it was special because i got to meet so many of the wonderful designers that i gush about on here.

i thought i'd spend way more time analyzing the show, it's themes, it's stars, etc etc, but i discovered that it interested me far less than discussing the designs and the people themselves. overall? i'd give icff a B this year. nothing really blew me away and nothing really made me say "eww! what is that?!". honestly- i would have preferred a little bit of both, because that's usually what i expect from icff, but this year was just ok to me. i'm sure the general press opinion will be that it was a great show, but for this sponge, it was just ok.

to me there weren't many overarching trends (except for an overreliance on wood)- i was dying to see some new materials and exciting innovation, but for the most part (minus molo's softwall) i was kinda dissapointed.

the design schools put on a good show in the back of the building that i enjoyed checking out- as usual, pratt put on a really interesting show that i'll discuss later above this post. but in general, again, kind of a "eh" in the exciting dept.

honestly, what made this year so wonderful to me, despite the sort of "eh" designs, were two things: the card girls and john and lara of velocity art and design. before i gush on and on about how both sets of people were amazingly funny, sweet and kind, let me just say- i found this year's icff to be a bit daunting in terms of trying to keep up with the amnt of coverage i knew the bigger blogs would be able to do- and i think i lost sight of why i keep this little blog. but meeting john and lara and kate and stacy (aka- the card girls) and listening to some wise words from ac, i kinda got back on track and remembered why i do this- because i love design and love to share things that make me happy and make me smile. so, with that in mind, i won't try to cover everything at icff this year- instead, i'm going to share the people and designs that made my weekend enjoyable and brought a smile to my face. so, without further adieu, let the posting begin!