September 07, 2022
Attention Please:
This is America
In “Attention Please” we take time and space to celebrate Hello Human’s initiatives. As a small company of people, we care deeply about people, and the issues people face. We make an effort to use our collective skills in communication and PR to shine a light on issues and initiatives that we believe can make a difference in the world.
This Is America installation view at Alcova during Milan Design Week 2022, Photo: Jonathan Hokklo
For Milan Design Week 2022,
Hello Human, along with our co-curators, the SF-based experience design studio Aditions and our supporters, Canoa, the design-tech platform, presented THIS IS AMERICA, a survey of America’s diverse creative voices and a reflection on what American design is today. The show was our attempt to re-chart the territories, labels and previous conceptions of ‘American design’.
We’re grateful that the exhibition could further our mission to help creative people thrive, and that it highlighted one of our key brand values - to represent the underrepresented. It was a huge honor to showcase and represent these creative talents, but to see their creative voices recognized so widely by the international media was truly a proud realization moment; this is why we do what we do. And perhaps more importantly, being able to keep the topic of diversity and inclusion alive in the creative community proved just how powerful good storytelling and PR can be, when put to good use.
Below we’ll share more about our show THIS IS AMERICA, the designers behind it and the incredible support we received from the international media community - thank you all for amplifying our stories and our work.
Yours truly,
Jenny Nguyen
Founder, Hello Human.
Secured It:
The PR Upshot.
7.
Elle Decor US; Milan Design Week 2022: Everything Elle Decor Editors Loved This Year
Read Article
8.
NY Mag, Curbed; What Wendy Goodman Loved at This Year’s Milan Furniture Fair The off-site wonders and provocative installations of the design world’s biggest showcase.
Read Article
“A fresh and optimistic view of US design, while sparking discussions about diversity and inclusion in the wider design world.”
- Wallpaper*-
15.
AD Mexico; Salone del Mobile 2022: dónde ir y qué ver en la Semana del Diseño de Milán
Read Article
17.
18.
AD India; Salone del Mobile 2022: Where To Go And What To See During Milan Design Week
Read Article
“The curators set out to shift the perception of what it is to be, make, and look like an American designer today by bringing BIPOC designers of various cultural, racial, and creative backgrounds to the center stage.”
- Dwell -
21.
Wallpaper*; Alcova: Wellbeing, Cultural Identity And The Environment In Focus At Milan Design Week 2022
Read Article
23.
AD Middle East; Salone del Mobile 2022: Where to Go And What To See During Milan Design Week
Read Article
26.
Harper's Bazaar Czech; VIDÍME SE V MILÁNĚ? MILÁNSKÝ DESIGN WEEK 2022 JE V PLNÉM PROUDU
Read Article
30.
The Design Edit; As The Design Industry’s Annual Festival Returns in Full Splendour - TDE Brings You the Highlights
Read Article
31.
AD Pro; Salone del Mobile 2022: Where to Go and What to See During Milan Design WeekSalone del Mobile 2022: Where to Go and What to See During Milan Design Week
Read Article
“Addresses diversity and representation in the design world by featuring a range of voices from the field as a means of repositioning the term “American design.”
- The Slowdown -
37.
ArchDaily; 8 Architect-Designed Products and Furniture Pieces at the 2022 Salone del Mobile
Read Article
38.
Scandinavian MIND; 9 Highlights from Fuorisalone and Salone Del Mobile at Milan Design Week
Read Article
39.Design At Large; Cosa vedere al Fuorisalone 2022: la selezione di DesignAtLarge (solo chicche e no blockbuster)
Read Article
“Stereotypes around the identity of American designers are disrupted at ‘This is America’”
- Wallpaper*-
The Press Release:
June 5th, 2022 (Milan, Italy) — This Is America is the first exhibition co-curated by cause-driven design PR collective Hello Human and experience design studio ADITIONS. Both companies, founded by women of color, saw an opportunity to collaborate and use Milan Design Week as an international platform for discussion around diversity and representation in the design world today, a topic that unfortunately has never been broached, in this format, at Salone, the industry’s most important global event. In co-curating This Is America, they have brought together a survey of diverse voices in design, both established and emerging, in an attempt to rechart global conceptions of the term ‘American Design’ and the faces behind the industry itself. This is America is a debut group exhibition co-curated by Hello Human & ADITIONS, powered by Canoa.
Designers & Artists
Alara Alkan
Alexis Moran
Alexis Tingey
Bellafonté Studio
Forma Rosa Studio
Ginger Gordon
Jaeyeon Park
Jialun Xiong
Kate Greenberg
Ladies and Gentlemen Studio
Madeline Isakson
Monica Curiel
mym
Nifemi Ogunro
Studio Mano
Designers & Artists
Alara Alkan
Alexis Moran
Alexis Tingey
Bellafonté Studio
Forma Rosa Studio
Ginger Gordon
Jaeyeon Park
Jialun Xiong
Kate Greenberg
Ladies and Gentlemen Studio
Madeline Isakson
Monica Curiel
mym
Nifemi Ogunro
Studio Mano
“As a communications professional in the design world, I’ve seen firsthand how impactful inclusive representation of creative voices can be in achieving equitable diversity. Simply uplifting underrepresented voices can have a tremendous ripple effect; allowing creatives to take up space and build their careers with the freedom to design from their own points of view. The result can be a built environment that is designed with more intention and on behalf of our diverse communities.“
- Jenny Nguyen, Founder of Hello Human
“It’s necessary as an industry that we take the time to look at the work of female identifying and BIPOC designers. Conscious or not, our collective tastes have been conditioned towards the work of white cis male designers because this is the work that receives the bulk of the recognition. We hope that by showing more diverse creative voices, starting with those in America, that we can share a point of view that can resonate more widely.”
- Alma Lopez and Liz Wert, Co-Founders of ADITIONS
- Jenny Nguyen, Founder of Hello Human
“It’s necessary as an industry that we take the time to look at the work of female identifying and BIPOC designers. Conscious or not, our collective tastes have been conditioned towards the work of white cis male designers because this is the work that receives the bulk of the recognition. We hope that by showing more diverse creative voices, starting with those in America, that we can share a point of view that can resonate more widely.”
- Alma Lopez and Liz Wert, Co-Founders of ADITIONS
This Is America installation details L-R Alexis Moran, Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, Alexis Tingey at Alcova during Milan Design Week 2022, Photo: Jonathan HokkloCuratorial Statement -
This is America
Labels, whether correctly or incorrectly attached to people, identities, groups, ideas or objects are the way we as a society can begin to understand, categorize and contextualize the world around us.
Indeed, the term “American design” is a label attached to the cohort of American designers producing work today, and how they express themselves, their ideas and their work. While individuals may have a personal view on what American design is, it is a global culture that collectively labels what American design is, what it looks like, feels like, how it’s made, who makes it, who buys and uses it.
Moving away from stereotypes around American design and of American designers, those that tie and contextualize our work to an overarching canon, style, vernacular or person, whether they be mid-century design, “Americana” the traditional American home, the American maker movement or even the historical narrative of American fine woodworking in furniture and what that woodworker looks like.
This is America is an opportunity for us as part of a diverse nation of designers, communicators and curators to rechart the territories, labels and previous conceptions of American design by showcasing our reflections and views of what American design is today.
What we have discovered is an enormously diverse set of viewpoints and cultural references from designers as they express the idea of America through the lenses of cultural diversity, decolonization, climate migration, post-pandemic life, consumerism, materiality, technology and craftsmanship.
All photos by Jonathan Hokklo
Midsummer by Alara Alkan
Strea Chairs by Alexis Moran
Ripple Floor Lamps by Alexis Tingey
Mountain Chair & Gaze Mirror by Bellefonte Studio
Botryoidal Lamps by Forma Rosa Studio
Portal Screen & Silhouette Chair by Ginger Gordon
Tennis Chair & Ski Chair by Jaeyeon Park
Folds Soft & Dwell Side Table by Jialun Xiong
Steam Shelf by Kate Greenberg
Veil Pendants by Ladies & Gentlemen Studio
99c Mirror by Madeline Isakson
Paño by Monica Curiel
Mil-Stone Bench by mym
Untitled by Nifemi Ogunro
The Climate Refugees by Studio Manol
Curators (L-R) Liz Wert, Jenny Nguyen, Alma Lopez
This is America team at Alcova