Metropolis’s NYCxDESIGN Fall Spotlight 2020

DIVE BACK IN WITH THE NYCXDESIGN FALL SPOTLIGHT 2020

Usually in early May the city’s creative community would be gearing up for the NYCxDESIGN festival—an annual celebration with 200+ happenings, including trade shows, talks, open studios, and public installations. But this year we were all indoors, watching cases and deaths associated with COVID-19 mount. New Yorkers have a well-deserved reputation for toughness, but even the steeliest among us had our moments of doubt. We all wondered at some point this spring: Will our city pull through?

Now, in the fall, we can say with some pride that we have. Even though the economic fallout and other ramiications—including a possible second wave—remain distinct challenges, it has been heartening to see New Yorkers of every stripe do their bit to keep our great city going.

The design community has stayed the course, resourcefully adjusting to the new normal while also contributing time and expertise to support the city’s recovery. NYCxDESIGN is privileged to be a small part of that.

This special NYCxDESIGN Fall Spotlight gathers together information on all the ways that creative energy is rising up again in New York City. NYCxDESIGN’s citywide poster campaign, An Ode to NYC, has involved 21 leading designers and a host of design businesses, retailers, and restaurants to inject messages of love and inspiration into the city. Proceeds from a special fundraiser sale of the posters, organized in partnership with Poster House, will beneit the Black Artists and Designers Guild.

Midtown, Nomad & Flatiron, SoHo & NoHo, and Brooklyn are the city’s most vibrant design hubs, so we’ve put together a list of local highlights and design destinations, including events and shows taking place in October and beyond. The Product Showcase section that follows is a small selection of the many beautiful objects that are still available because design showrooms and buildings are open for business—in fact, many of them never stopped supporting designers during the spring and summer. Our handy maps will help you navigate all of these great happenings and offerings.

If you’re visiting from out of town, or even just from a different borough, there are plenty of opportunities this fall to engage with the world’s largest design community, both virtually and in person. Use this handy publication, stay up to date on nycxdesign.com, and find ways to dive back in! Just don’t forget to mask up and stay safe. —Avinash Rajagopal

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