Design Within Reach Catalogs

Design Within Reach features the best in modern design. Working as an out-of-house in-house team, Language Dept. redesigned their catalogs layering in stories of home and celebrating products and designers alike integrating bold typographic headlines and photojournalistic photography with designer interviews and products.

My role was in executing the editorial design of two catalogs: The February Catalog, featuring DWR’s extensive product line and highlighting the annual dining sale, and the Accessories Category Mailer, a small scale catalog just featuring accessory items. Since this was the first time DWR would be featuring accessories as their own category of products, I had to come up with a thematic concept that could connect these items together.

February Catalog

For 20 years, DWR has been driven by the mission to make timeless design by talented designers easily accessible. This issue highlights the designers and history behind the products with interviews. The February also features their largest dining sale. To tell the story of home, the catalog is divided into five chapters that offer a glimpse into the residential homes of New Yorkers living in diverse neighborhoods, including Bushwick, Williamsburg, Manhattan, Long Island, Bedford.

Concept

Through bold type treatment and a conversational voice, each chapter opens with a question directed at the reader implying the infinite potential and unique experiences a room can offer.

Process

Catalog pagination, product selection and curation, inclusion of dining sale, and integration of editorial stories.

Celebrating designer collaborations

I composed editorial layouts from the documented photographs and in-person interviews conducted by the Editorial Director. These interviews include the studios of HAY (Rolf and Mette Hay) in creating a global design phenomenon and the architecture collective Claesson Koivisto Rune in how they used the idea of space to create an amazing new sofa Lecco.

Accessories Catalog

Accessories function to accent our lives and add an atmospheric layer – they bring a personal touch to our homes. I was tasked with coming up with a thematic concept and strategy for curating accessory items. By focusing on how accessories activate different parts of our home throughout the day, I chose time as a navigating tool to curate accessories by the chronological activities that construct our daily routines from AM to PM.