Introducing the 2019 Whatnot Collection: was/is

Through the investigation of what was, students in the Designed Objects program have focused on the question: what is obsolescence? Native to human existence, our environments are in constant flux. The human/object relationship changes as new methods of making and modes of efficiency force new perspectives, and, subsequently, new objects. was/is presents a collection that explores objects of our past and reimagines them in our present.

WantedDesign Brooklyn at Industry City
274 36th St.
Brooklyn, NY
Subway: D, N, R at 36th Street Station
May 17
11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Please visit whatnotstudio.design and follow @whatnotstudio.saic for more information.

Press inquiries and image requests contact:

Doug Kubek | dkubek@saic.edu | Phone: 00-1-312-499-4254 

Introducing the 2018 whatnot Collection: Potluck

Aptly titled Potluck, the 2018 whatnot collection presents an assortment of ideas. Through material, form, scale, and function, designers in this year’s whatnot studio have thoroughly considered the relationship between food and borders and employed design as a medium to explore how the food we consume is deeply entwined with global systems of production and profit, personal and cultural identities, politics, ethics, and the environment.

For the second year, the whatnot studio partnered with West Supply, an artisanal production house based in Chicago. From cast and mouth blown glass to cast bronze and aluminum, leather, and silicone, the work in the exhibition presents a harmonious cacophony of colors, textures, abstracted imagery, and forms. The diversity and boldness of perspectives presented in Potluck is refreshing and a sage reminder that the defining issues of our time are fodder for this emerging generation of designers.

The 2018 whatnot collection will be on exhibition and for sale during Salone del Mobile (April 17-22, 2018) at Spazio Rossana Orlandi (via Matteo Bandello 14, Milan).

Press inquiries and image requests contact:
Doug Kubek | dkubek@saic.edu | Phone: 00-1-312-499-4254

Introducing the 2017 whatnot Collection: whatnot x West Supply.

For a decade, students from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) have exhibited work in Milan during Design Week. For the tenth anniversary SAIC partnered with West Supply—a Chicago-based artisanal foundry and fabricator of designer furnishings, lighting, and fine art—to develop a collection of heirloom-quality objects in glass and bronze. By working with form, texture, and finish in relation to phenomena such as transparency, reflection, refraction, and diffusion, the student designers have developed works that respond to light in unique and innovative ways, harnessing the inherent qualities of these precious materials. The whatnot x West Supply collection, consists of fifteen serially produced multiples, the first edition will be on exhibition and for sale during Salone del Mobile (April 4-9, 2017) at Spazio Rossana Orlandi (via Matteo Bandello 14, Milan). Subsequent editions produced by West Supply are available to order through SAIC.

Press inquiries and image requests contact:
bwitt@saic.edu | Phone: 00-1-312-499-4211 | Mobile: 00-1-847-445-1371

The 2016 Whatnot Collection, titled Eighteen Sixty Six.

In celebration of the 150​th ​anniversary of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), the 2016 ​whatnot ​collection draws from the world as it existed in ​1866—the people, behaviors, beliefs, things, technologies, ideologies, cultural norms, natural events, fads, crazes and missed opportunities. The student designers researched Victorian mourning rituals, hypnosis, prostitution, imperialism, the invention of plywood and the stapler, garment patterns, solar powered engines, Mendel’s theory of inheritance, Haeckel’s Generelle Morphology, Alice in Wonderland, Hans Christian Anderson’s The Porter’s Son, Hong Kong’s dualistic currency, the confluence of Italian and Mexican culture under Emperor Maximiliano and Empress Carlotta, the physical raising of Chicago’s buildings to prevent epidemics, and the mandate of an eight-hour work day.

Press inquiries and image requests contact:
bwitt@saic.edu | Phone: 00-1-312-499-4211 | Mobile: 00-1-847-445-1371

Whatnot 2015

For the 8th consecutive year, emerging designers from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) will debut new work in Milan during Design Week, April 14 – 19, 2015. The 2015 whatnot collection is a series of everyday objects with a twist: pillows that hug you back, messy vases, torn mirrors, soul-searching lamps, and dented platters. A total of 12 new products will be exhibited at Spazio Rossana Orlandi and sold in their adjoining design shop. Visit us.

Press inquiries and image requests contact: wwong2@saic.edu (on-site) or bwitt@saic.edu

Whatnot 2014

During Milan Design Week 2014, student designers from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) will debut their whatnot 2014 collection: a series of playful objects that encourages a child’s interaction with the people, places, and environments around them. Eight products and three furniture systems will be exhibited at Spazio Rossana Orlandi and sold in their adjoining design shop from the eighth to the thirteenth of April. Visit us.

Press inquiries and image requests contact: bwitt@saic.edu
Whatnot Press Release
Whatnot Fact Sheet

whatnot 2013

Building on the successful 2012 launch of the whatnot brand in both Milan and New York last year, the 2013 collection continues to bring new design concepts to life with a range of contemporary products designed and made in the USA.

Each of the 16 designers has approached color as a critical question. The subsequent collection of “whatnots” explore the visceral, perceptual, associative, emotional, and conceptual potential of color in all its permutations-muted, primary, fluorescent, functional, natural, and erotic.

2012 Collection