NEW YORK CITY TO CELEBRATE DESIGN WITH THIRD ANNUAL NYCXDESIGN MAY 819, 2015

2/5/15


NEW YORK CITY TO CELEBRATE DESIGN WITH THIRD ANNUAL NYCxDESIGN MAY 8–19, 2015

—Registration Is Open for Designers, Organizations and Establishments Looking to Participate in This Year’s Citywide Design Program—


New York City (February 5, 2015) — NYCxDESIGN, New York City’s official annual citywide celebration of design, will take place this year from Friday, May 8, to Tuesday, May 19. Now in its third year, NYCxDESIGN serves as the platform to highlight New York City’s diverse design community and its contributions to the fabric and economy of the five boroughs. The celebration will feature hundreds of events, spanning all disciplines of design, in the five boroughs, showcasing designers and their work from around the world. Coinciding with the relaunch of the program’s website, details of the program were discussed today at a design community kickoff event, which took place at the newly reopened Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Enhancements to the website, created by Cloudred, include the ability to curate lists, improved sorting and categorization and better alignment with new media. To register an event for this year’s program and to learn more about NYCxDESIGN, visit .

“We welcome everyone to experience NYC’s established and emerging design industries during the annual citywide celebration of design,” said Fred Dixon, president and CEO of NYC & Company. “From world-class design events to noteworthy exhibitions to our Design Collection hotels, design has become an increasingly important touch point of the City’s visitor experience.”


"A century after the Garment industry brought a generation of New Yorkers into the middle class, events like NYCxDESIGN help showcase how New York City remains the global capital of design," said Kyle Kimball, President of NYCEDC. "With over 40,000 practicing designers, more than almost any other city in the world, New York City is proving that design thinking encourages equitable neighborhood development where form enables function, and where innovation can generate true social good."


Home to more than 40,000 practicing designers (more than any other metropolitan area in the US), 3,900-plus design firms and 10 prominent design and architecture schools, New York City is one of the world’s design capitals. The design sector has a positive impact on NYC’s economy. Employees in the sector earn an average wage of $86k, and 60% of those employed in the sector earn at least $50k a year—indicating a strong source of middle-income wages and positive opportunities for income mobility. In addition, design employment increased 31% between 2003 and 2013, double the citywide employment growth of 15% over the same period.


NYCxDESIGN 2015 Highlights
Hosted at venues throughout New York City, NYCxDESIGN will include events focused on commerce, culture, education and entertainment with a full, varied program including exhibitions, installations, trade shows, talks, launches and open studios. The following events are returning as NYCxDESIGN participants this May. For more information and to register an event for this year’s program, visit . 









  • BKLYN DESIGNS (May 8–10)


  • WantedDesign Brooklyn (May 9–19)


  • Collective Design (May 13–17)


  • Frieze Art Fair (May 14–17)


  • WantedDesign Manhattan (May 15-18)


  • ICFF (May 16–19)


Highlights of the 2015 celebration will include a launch party hosted by WantedDesign Brooklyn at Industry City in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. And new this year, ICFF is offering international design week organizations complimentary exhibition space in an effort to expand the international reach of NYCxDESIGN.


NYCxDESIGN is supported by a media campaign and will be promoted through out-of-home media in the five boroughs, commercials running in NYC taxicabs and through social media posts using the hashtag #NYCxD. The NYCxDESIGN guide will be produced by Core77 and Metropolis Magazine and will include events registered on the NYCxDESIGN website.


The City offers stylish accommodations throughout the City for New Yorkers and visitors looking to extend their stay in the City during NYCxDESIGN. The hotels of NYC & Company’s Design Collection exemplify great design in all its expressions, from inspiring architecture and cutting-edge interiors to collaborations among top designers and private art collections or culinary adventures. Hotels of the design collection include: 6 Columbus; Chambers Hotel; Dream Downtown; Dream Midtown NYC; Eventi, A Kimpton Hotel; Gansevoort Meatpacking NYC; Gansevoort Park Avenue NYC; Gild Hall–a Thompson Hotel; Hudson New York; The James New York; Le Parker Meridien New York: The Muse Hotel; Sixty LES; Smyth, A Thompson Hotel; W New York; W New York – Downtown; W – New York Times Square; W New York – Union Square. To book a stay at one of The Design Collection hotels, visit .


This morning’s kickoff event included representatives from design-related organizations, businesses and institutions participating in NYCxDESIGN: Fred Dixon, president and CEO of NYC & Company; Kyle Kimball, president of NYCEDC; Caroline Baumann, director of Cooper Hewitt; Odile Hainaut Co-Founder of WantedDesign; Kevin O’Keefe, event director of ICFF; and Carlo A. Scissura, President and CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber, the organizers of BKLYN DESIGNS.














About NYCxDESIGN:
NYCxDESIGN is New York City’s official annual citywide celebration of design. The event is funded in part by the New York City Council and produced by NYC & Company in conjunction with a steering committee, which includes leaders from major cultural institutions, top design schools and firms, designers and design stakeholders and government officials. Participating design communities include, but are not limited to, architecture, cultural organizations, graphic design, fashion design, product design and manufacturing, engineering, industrial design, interior design, interaction design and landscape and urban design. Last year the celebration featured more than 200 unique events on .





About NYC & Company:
NYC & Company is the official marketing, tourism and partnership organization for the City of New York, dedicated to maximizing travel and tourism opportunities throughout the five boroughs, building economic prosperity and spreading the positive image of New York City worldwide. For more information, visit nycgo.com.





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Contact: NYC & Company / Chris Heywood 212-484-1270
              NYC & Company / Caroline Peck 212-484-1270