International Contemporary Furniture Fair 2014 New York Design Trends Including Mid-Century Inspirations and LED Lighting

The International Contemporary Furniture Fair held last week at the Javits Center was the most recent venue for trend-watchers to take their cue on what are the emerging, returning and prevailing trends for this year.

The romance that Mid-century designs bring still lives on even with the flux of newer and shinier products. A lot of contemporary designs during the ICFF still referred to forms and materials that might be considered as vintage. Some of the examples include the walnut furniture pieces of Benjamin Klebba (Phloem Studio) and Asher Israelow. Mid-century industrial lamps were the inspiration for the products exhibited by Workstead and Southern Lights Electric Co under the design direction of Adam Gatchel. Berndhardt Design, One Collection and Inside Norway produced classic pieces by Charles Pollack, Finn Juhl and Arne Tidemand Ruud, respectively.

When it comes to materials, metals such as copper, silver and brass took the spotlight as exemplified by the Patrick Townsend’s Superstring series and Trevor Duncan’s oil can as part of his “Tools for Everyday Life Collection”. Faux honed marble slabs made from porcelain were also a hit at the ICFF as a variety of ceramic companies such as Stonepeak Ceramics and Florim created these looks using porcelain ceramics.

“Geometry is God” became the theme for some designers who played with elemental shapes and simple geometric forms in quirky combinations. This was the theme for Lauren Larson and Christian Lopez Swafford in their “Material Lust” series. Meanwhile, Danny Giannella and Tammer Hijazi (Bower) and Jacobsen Architecture played with cubical forms in their designs. The “Tools for Everyday Life” series also showed different designs that took their form on pure geometry.

Lastly, more and more designers are experimenting with the possibilities of LED technology. AlexAllen Studio exhibited how LED lights can be used as shelf brackets. Matter presented the flat disc standing lamp designed by Jamie Gray which has the capacity to diffuse light and create a softer and warmer effect.