The LA Design Festival 2020 Honorees

Artwork by Monica Ahanonu

This year marks the 10th edition of the annual LA Design Festival and the time ever that the festival will be completely virtual. Presented by Squarespace, it will include a creatively exciting program that includes the annual LA Design Festival Awards Night and Design Block party, installations that can be viewed virtually or safely in-person at ROW DTLA, workshops, and tours of projects and design studios.

For the full schedule of events, click here.

Every year, the LA Design Festival Awards Night celebrates unique and creative talents with the ICON Award, given to an iconic woman that has made her mark in LA through her work, character and creative leadership, and the EDGE Award, given to emerging new talents. We’re excited to share this year’s honorees!

The 2020 ICON recipient is Frances Anderton, host of DnA: Design and Architecture on KCRW, author, curator, and LA’s widely recognized doyenne of design. When asked about what’s next for LA, and for herself, Anderton had this to say:

“The pandemic has made LA yet again a magnet for people looking for a big city culture with a garden city feel. But the garden city has to grow — up. I hope LA will meet its destiny with imaginative density: multi-story housing designed for indoor-outdoor living and working — for all pay grades. If the brilliant Philip K. Dick foresaw a world of Androids dreaming of electric sheep, I, a human, dream of goats, chomping at weeds on the green walls and roofs of next LA.”

For this year’s EDGE Award, there are four honorees. They include:

Eunbi Cho, who landed a chance studio assistant gig with Ben Medansky at the point in time when she was considering creating a fashion line. After discovering clay, she never looked back. Her creative expression through the material results in modern ceramic objects that are playful and unexpected.

Lucy McRae, a multi-disciplinary artist with previous careers as a ballet dancer and architect. Both of these roles aid in her unique eye and take on the world as she explores and explains how art, science, design, and architecture are all related.

Monica Ahanonu, who’s a freelance illustrator and expert in color theory, vector illustration, and motion design. She started her career at DreamWorks Animation and since then, has worked with iconic clients including Vanity Fair, The New York Times, and TIME Magazine. She describes her style as “a little Bauhaus, a little Warhol, vector illustrations packed with personality, nostalgia, and pride.”

Stephen Kenn, who’s known for his bespoke furniture pieces that highlight the beauty of quality materials combined with heritage craftsmanship. His work has garnered the attention by the likes of Todd Snyder, Nick Wooster, Jamie Blakey and Klein Agency, and since the pandemic, Kenn has pivoted to designing and producing face masks. At this year’s festival, he will be debuting new artful pieces and accessories.

Don’t miss out! View the schedule and get more LADF 2020 details here.