NEW YORK — In 2024, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) will celebrate its 35th anniversary and is marking the milestone year by redefining and rebranding.
The new vision starts with a new identity for ICFF, to be implemented in January 2024. The new logo, designed by New York-based creative agency ForceMajeure, features a solid, heavy wordmark reminiscent of this densely populated city juxtaposed with a lighter supportive typeface that speaks to its softer side.
Changes are underway as well for the event, set to take place May 19-21, 2024, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
“Given ICFF’s 35-year history, we felt it was time to redefine and rebrand ICFF to solidify, clarify and amplify our design messaging and content,” said Odile Hainaut and Claire Pijoulat, ICFF brand directors. “Since ICFF is the leading contemporary design fair in the U.S., we decided to concentrate on the most important products, technologies and issues facing the industry and partner with global, high-quality brands that reflect ICFF’s ethos.
“Our long-standing collaborations with the industry increase our engagement year-round with the design community, allowing us to enhance ICFF’s brand visibility across design communities around the world.”
As part of its continued focus on sustainability, ICFF is making strides to decrease the show’s carbon footprint and lessen the amount of waste it produces. Initiatives include removing most of the carpet from the show floor, renting walls instead of building them, using recyclable material for all signage, placing water fountains throughout the floor for refillable bottles, using low-energy lights and asking the food vendors to avoid single-use plastic.
And, sustainability will be among the main programming topics for the ICFF Talks, which will also cover:
- The best in making and producing, from handmade and high-end craft to new industrial innovations and technology-related processes.
- Business and collaboration opportunities in the U.S.: how to achieve company goals, understanding the U.S. market better, design landscape and needs.
- Education, including diversity in design, original design and new tools (such as A.I.)
For the next edition of the show, the ICFF team is designing the fair to be more curated, accessible and user-friendly.
New dedicated areas have been created for complementary products such as Materials, Outdoor Living, and Kitchen & Bath. The latter will also feature a lounge area for dedicated programming.
Other dedicated spaces include:
- Bespoke: The Art of Making: Celebrating craftsmanship, this feature will showcase the skill and expertise of high-end artisans. The 3,000-square-foot space will present companies creating one-of-a-kind works, responding to the need for sourcing materials.
- Design Schools Workshop: Produced since 2012 as part of WantedDesign, the Design Schools Workshop is a collaborative, four-day course where a selection of 35 to 40 international design students work together on a creative solution to a brief. This year, the “Dream Driven Design” workshop will invite the students to imagine the future of mobility, with a storytelling and holistic approach.
- ROOM + OFS Podcast Studio:New this year, ROOM with OFS’ Imagine a Place productions will activate a space on the show floor featuring live conversations with acclaimed speakers from the ICFF main stage.
- The Library, in partnership with global book publisher Phaidon, with activations for the new release Designed for Life: The World’s Best Product Designers and a curated Phaidon library adjacent to the Talks Mainstage.
Other features for the May ICFF include WantedDesign, Look Book, Launch Pad, the Schools Showcas, and the Design Schools Workshop. The Wanted Lounge and the Look Book Workspace will be central meeting areas during the show.
A centerpiece of the 2024 fair will be the exhibition, At the Crossroads of American Design: Sustainability in Practice and Spirit, created as a collaboration between the ICFF brand directors; Creative Director David Rockwell, founder of Rockwell Group; and co-curator and editor Pei-Ru Keh.
In addition to the fair itself, ICFF is evolving beyond the fair to promote its partners year-round through expanded editorial content and programming, networking, and promotional opportunities. Plans for 2024 include a networking opportunity in Paris (January), a global virtual press preview (February), a Look Book talk in NYC (April), an event in Milan (April) and a networking designers’ trip to Design Week Mexico (October).
“Rather than ICFF being just a three-day event, we are building a brand to speak to the design community 365 days a year, on all platforms,” said Hainaut and Pijoulat. “We want to keep the conversation going and continue to provide relevant stories for the entire design spectrum.”
Registration for ICFF 2024 will open in January. For more information, visit the ICFF website.