The Dwell 24: The Up-and-Coming Designers Who Need to Be on Your Radar Right Now
2020 has been anything but a normal year for designers navigating the early part of their careers. But that isn’t stopping this year’s Dwell 24 from charting the future of design. Below, we feature our annual list of emerging designers around the world—from a lighting designer inspired by clusters of soap bubbles to ceramic mugs recalling Mexican cuisine.
We partnered with New York design fair WantedDesign to create this year's list. Many of the studios we selected were slated to appear at its spring events before they were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we’re excited to give them a well-deserved platform here.
Click through each designer to learn more and to read our interviews with them. And don’t miss The Design Life, where we ask The Dwell 24 about how they work and what their lives look like.
Platalea Studio
Location: Mexico City, Mexico | Instagram: @plataleastudio
Led by designers Lilia Corona and Rodrigo Lobato, Platalea Studio creates bold dinnerware and furnishings inspired by Mexican culture and current social issues.
Part of the new Pixán collection from Mool, this powder-coated aluminum mirror is one of many furniture pieces and home accessories from designers Edgar Tapia and Emmanuel Aguilar.
Designer Gary Fernández creates sculptural candleholders, vases, and other vessels out of concrete.
Nina Cho's work is inspired by the traditional Korean aesthetic of emptiness. Her interest in negative space led to the Cantilever Coffee Table, shown here.
Christina Zamora and Cathy Lo, the married founders of Brave Matter, create striking ceramic tabletop objects and lamps, including the Sender One Lamp, shown here.
See the Q&A with Brave Matter.
Utility Objects
Location: Atlanta, Georgia | Instagram: @utilityobjects
Inspired by contemporary Japanese styles, ceramicist Aleisha Ellis of Utility Objects creates tumblers, mugs, and other kitchenware—adding personal touches such as dimples in the side of these "Tumblers Against Injustice."
See the Q&A with Utility Objects.
JG Switzer + Studio AHEAD
Location: Sebastopol, California | Instagram: @jgswitzer
Location: San Francisco, California | Instagram: @studioahead
With beginnings as a wool blanket company, Jessica Switzer Green is expanding JG Switzer to offer a wider array of natural-fiber textiles, bedding, and home goods, including this new appliqué fabric designed in collaboration with Studio AHEAD for their Sheep Lounge Chair.
See the Q&A with JG Switzer + Studio AHEAD.
Sunshine Thacker
Location: San Antonio, Texas | Instagram: @sunshinethackerdesign
With a decidedly Memphis feel, ceramicist Sunshine Thacker is creating a new collection of colorful seating planters, lamps, and other furnishings—such as this Gearhead Side Table.
See the Q&A with Sunshine Thacker.
Grain
Location: Bainbridge Island, Washington | Instagram: @grain_design
As the designer-couple behind Grain, James and Chelsea Minola are expanding their accessible collection of products with new entrants like this Saddle Stool.
At Artish, designers Courtney Evans and Abby Ross, offer a modular collection of magnetic wall art kits, steel side tables, lighting selections, and more.
Furniture designer Casey Lurie dives deeply into various typologies in a quest to uncover new ideas, such as this new bookshelf design.
With designs like this a coat rack that evokes the shape of pig intestines, the recently graduated designer Zihe Gong is quickly making a name for herself.
Coming off collaborations with retailers like Adidas and John Elliott, designer Ko Júbilo is exploring unnecessary ornamentation and gaining attention with his new folded aluminum pendant, shown here.
Ethan Summers, the founder of Oil / Lumber, creates furniture, household objects, and clothing—including this Ko-h- table, which takes its name from the Japanese word for coffee and has cantilevered edges that tip a hat to George Nakashima.
See the Q&A with Oil / Lumber.
Laura T. Jaramillo
Location: Los Angeles, California | Instagram: @laurafurniture
With designs such as her Serra Watering Can, Laura T. Jaramillo is on a quest to recreate everyday objects and tools that speak to the human experience.
See the Q&A with Laura T. Jaramillo.
Cody Campanie
Location: Portland, Oregon | Instagram: @cccampagna
Third-generation woodworker Cody Campanie is challenging furniture design with creations such as his Sit, Set chair, shown here, which merges a plank with a half-barrel to create a seat with an integrated table.
See the Q&A with Cody Campanie.
Kazuki Guzmán
Location: Chicago, Illinois | Instagram: @kazukiguzman
In his recent Hammer Study, Kazuki Guzmán reimagines traditional tools with a nod toward exploring how technology might augment and sustain ancient art forms.
See the Q&A with Kazuki Guzmán.
Not Work Related
Location: Brooklyn, New York | Instagram: @notworkrelated_
Sarah Hussaini, the ceramicist behind Not Work Related, keeps up with an adoring fan base and a routinely sold-out e-store with these stripe tumblers and other colorful kitchenware.
See the Q&A with Not Work Related.
Lios Design
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts | Instagram: @liosdesign
Michael Stern and Daniel Lizardo—the lighting designers behind Lios Design—created the world's first molten-glass 3D printer to pump out creations such as their Tetra Pendant, shown here.
Rosie Li's experimental light fixtures range from delicate palm frond–inspired sconces to this Bubbly collection of floor lamps and chandeliers that resemble molecules.
As the face behind Lolly Lolly, ceramicist Lalese Stamps took social media by storm with her 100-day challenge to create wildly shaped mugs.
Designers Reed Hansuld and Joel Seigle of Harold imagined this Bend Side Table, now a finalist for this year’s NYCxDesign Best in Show award.
Amalia Attias
Location: Providence, Rhode Island | Instagram: @amaliaattias
Designer Amalia Attias processes language on her own terms with "mark making" on canvases and other experimental objects.
See the Q&A with Amalia Attias.
Crosland + Emmons
Location: Atlanta, Georgia | Instagram: @croslandandemmons
Running a marketing agency by day and Crosland + Emmons by night, designers Dana Castle and Michele DeHaven create sculptural porcelain light fixtures and earthenware—including this Grapes Multilight pendant.
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