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We navigated the labyrinthine Navy Yard to make it to the space Diane Ruengsorn of Domestic Aesthetic shares with half a dozen other designers, architects and creative types in North Brooklyn. The whole studio has a great, collaborative feel — the space is open and feels like you might overhear a cross-disciplinary conversation at any time. Diane herself met us to show her beautiful, carved kitchen pieces.

One of the best parts of Diane’s work is that it’s very eco-conscious and sustainably produced — as she says on her site, “By considering the social and ecological ramifications of a product and its development, Domestic Aesthetic aims to provide well-designed, affordable options that are currently lacking in the marketplace.” Diane’s mahogany spice blocks, for example, are made out of reclaimed wood that was discarded because the pieces were too small for the projects the wood was originally intended for. Diane took this beautiful material and turned it into something both striking and functional.

Gallery 1889 will feature several different pieces by Domestic Aesthetic at the Summer Design Sale — which is coming up this weekend! We’ll kick off on Friday at 3PM, so be sure to swing by 1066 Manhattan Avenue on your way home from work.

That’s right, I’m writing about the ladies that write about everybody. When they’re not designing timely, witty, incredibly buzzworthy objects like the Dow Jones Hanky and the Crude Necklace, Liz and Kegan travel around Brooklyn, interviewing designers and other entrepreneurs about how they got started in their particular business. Then they post the finished articles on their blog at Design Glut — and this blog has become an invaluable resource for young artists all over town. (It’s also an entertaining read.) As they themselves put it, “We interview creative entrepreneurs about how they got started and what they’ve learned along the way.”

We went to visit Liz and Kegan in their Bushwick work digs. The space is huge — the advantages of being located in Bushwick — and loaded with Design Glut goodies, as you can see from the picture. We at Gallery 1889 are excited to feature some unique items from Design Glut next weekend (July 24th-26th) at our Summer Design Sale. If you’re in Greenpoint, come by 1066 Manhattan Avenue and see our selection!

Says UM Project on its website: “Our company is integrated and nimble, a hybrid between a workshop for fabrication, a laboratory for discovery and a consulting practice for design.” When we went to visit Francois Chambard of UM Project on location in Gowanus, this statement about hybridity was illuminated in many ways — for starters, they have a tremendous amount of space. This becomes important because UM Project needs space to actualize projects of all scales, ranging from small home accessories to entire rooms.

One thing that stands out about UM Project is their love of detail. The stools pictured here are among their most well-known (and loved) products, and the precise paint detail on the legs is what makes them so memorable. UM Project’s aesthetic fuses old-world craftsmanship with a clean modern sensibility, and their designs have been featured at BKLYN DESIGNS and many other places.

At Gallery 1889’s Summer Design Sale, we’ll have some pieces by UM Project on hand — come visit us from July 24th to July 26th to see which.

It would be easy to pass by DYAD Studio’s Red Hook space on a day when Douglas Fanning is not there — the neighborhood is industrial and fairly nondescript.  But on the day we drove by, the door was open, and we could clearly see Doug’s logo-emblazoned airplane, which he told us he wheels out on nice days.  The airplane segment contains a barbecue, a swiveling table, and a lounge seat.  We’re sure it creates quite a sight on the street, though he had it inside on the day we visited.

After completing his Master of Architecture degree at Columbia University School of Architecture and spending several years working at architectural firms in Manhattan, Doug established DYAD Studio in 1994; since then he’s been creating products of lasting craftsmanship and integrity.  He’s been located in his space in Red Hook since 2004, and the space is very spacious and well laid out.  Check out more pictures on our photostream.

We’ll feature several pieces from DYAD Studio at the Gallery 1889 Design Summer Sale on July 24th-26th.  Doug also has some pieces on permanent display at VOOS Furniture, the Brooklyn design hub located on North 3rd Street just off Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg.

Jean Pelle is a designer based in Gowanus, Brooklyn.  Her beautiful collection of tabletop accessories includes a variety of decorative handcrafted wooden objects such as candleholders. She told us that she’s also working on a series of mixed media pieces titled “Assemblages.”  Here’s a photo of Jean with some of her work at her Gowanus space on the day that we went out to meet with her.

Her pieces all have a simple silhouette combined with a striking and unique feature — a distinctive wood grain pattern, for example, or a gold leaf detail, or a deep crack filled in with white to create a compelling visual whole. Check out her candleholders page for pictures of some of her work in more detail.

Jean has featured her work at ICFF, among other places, and you may have also seen her on the many design blogs that have loved her pieces, such as Design*Sponge.  Jean is one of the twelve designers whose work will be featured at the Gallery 1889 Summer Design Sale.  Keep checking back for more intros!

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been trekking all over this hard-working borough.  We went everywhere from the labyrinthine Navy Yard to bustling Bushwick to the industrial district of Gowanus, meeting designers and seeing the variety of work spaces they inhabit.  Some design in tiny studios; others have cavernous lofts; still others work in shared spaces with a gamut of other creative professionals.  But despite their different surroundings, the thing all these designers have in common is their amazing work.

And now, we’ve almost finalized the list of designers that will be participating in Gallery 1889’s Summer Design Sale.  Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be presenting the designers here on our news blog; please stay tuned as we begin to introduce them and show a sneak peek of some of their work spaces.  The sale itself will be taking place on the weekend of July 24th-26th at Gallery 1889 on 1066 Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint.  We’ll also be previewing some of the sale items at Ft. Greene’s Brooklyn Flea the weekend before.

To stay informed of when we post these updates, please follow us on Twitter!

The interview with Howard Josephs is now posted on Vimeo – Howard has been dedicated to the family business since the late 50’s. He is also the owner of the Gallery 1889. Howard traces his family history back to Joseph Josephs, his grandfather whom immigrated from Austro-Hungary. Joseph Josephs established the family business and settled in Greenpoint.

RE/Accumulation (Prototype). This project first began as a schematic for the roof and wall system of library addition we proposed in a competition entry. Around the time we were approached to participate in RE/build, we were developing this rumination into an installation: ‘Reading Matter (Prototype)’. We interpreted the RE/ as a chance to reconsider, recycle, and re/prototype further with MPS’ collaboration and sophisticated means of production. Moving towards a wall…

Kitchen installation @ the Gallery 1889

The Gallery 1889 is rapidly transforming, even though there’s still a lot to do.  You can see the kitchen going up in the back of the space in this photo.  It’s going to be a busy week and a half leading up to the show.  Look to our trusty Flickr photostream for more updates from the past few days, and from the extremely crazy days to come.