Announcement: Successful Alumni to Discuss Breaking In to the Design Field at Annual BKLYN DESIGNS Show, May 9

Pratt Institute will present "Breaking In," a panel of five Pratt alumni
discussing how they are making their mark on the design world, led by
Julie Taraska, a contributor to Interior Design magazine, at 5 PM on
Friday, May 9 at St. Ann's Warehouse at 38 Water Street in the DUMBO
neighborhood of Brooklyn. The event is part of the sixth annual BKLYN
DESIGNS show presented by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and featuring
designers and manufacturers of contemporary furnishings.

The discussion will feature Pratt alumni Sam Cabot Cochran, Erika
Doering, Liz Kinnmark, Joshua Longo, and Sergio Silva, who will talk
about the challenges of establishing themselves early on in their careers
as designers in a highly competitive field. These alumni collectively
have shown at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and Art Basel, had designs
featured on the cover of The New York Times, helped found The Association
of Women Industrial Designers, had work produced and sold at MOMA, and
launched successful design companies.

Sam Cabot Cochran (B.I.D., '05) is an entrepreneur at Pratt's Design
Incubator for Sustainable Innovation where he, his sister Teresita, and
fellow Pratt alumnus Benjamin Wheeler Howes have translated his senior
thesis project "GROW," an ivy-like solar and wind panel that attaches to
the sides of buildings, into a patent-pending prototype under the company
SMIT: Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology. "GROW" is in the "Design
and the Elastic Mind" exhibition at MOMA through May 12.

Erika Doering (M.I.D., '93) is principal of Erika Doering Design, located
in Brooklyn and specializing in renovation and custom furnishings for
private residences, public spaces, commercial studios, and retail stores.
She is co-founder of The Association of Women Industrial Designers where
she co-produced the exhibition and corresponding catalog "Goddess in the
Details: Industrial Design by Women."

Liz Kinnmark (B.I.D., '07) won the annual Design Within Reach competition
at last year's BKLYN DESIGNS show, and has since seen her winning design,
Egg Pants, a flexible egg cup designed to hold soft-boiled eggs, produced
and sold at various design stores including MOMA. She and Pratt alumna
Kegan Fisher founded socially conscious product design company Design
Glut in 2007.

Joshua Longo (B.I.D., '03) started his multidisciplinary design business,
Longoland, in 2007. The company designs elaborate "monster skin" rugs,
chairs, and bared-teethed stuffed animals. In addition to exhibiting in
New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, and
Melbourne, Longo is a home design consultant and industrial design
teacher at Pratt Institute and New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Sergio Silva (B.I.D., '06) developed an affinity for 3D studies while at
Pratt and has since been involved with Pratt's international 3D design
workshops. His work has been showcased in design exhibitions at the
Noguchi Museum, New York and Art Basel, Miami, and has been featured in
various international design publications.

As a sponsor of BKLYN DESIGNS, Pratt will present select work from the
2007-2008 academic year at a booth in St. Anne's Warehouse displaying
furniture and light design concepts from undergraduate and graduate
students of the Industrial Design Department, including the top three
winning designs from the George Kovacs Student Lighting Competition.

Prints and jewelry by Pratt fine arts alumni will be available for sale
at Tobacco Warehouse in the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park section of
Brooklyn Bridge Park throughout the duration of the BKLYN DESIGNS show
from May 9-11.

Following the panel discussion on Friday, May 9, a representative from
Design Within Reach (DWR) will present first-, second-, and third-place
Young Designer Awards for the best designs by Pratt industrial students
displayed in the Pratt booth. A jury of leading design editors will
decide the three winners, whose designs will be featured in the DWR
showroom in Brooklyn Heights from Monday, May 12 through Thursday, June
12. This marks the second year of the Young Designer Award, a
collaboration between DWR and Pratt Institute.

Entrance to the show after 5 PM on Friday, May 9 for the Pratt Institute
panel discussion and student award presentation is free to students and
alumni with a Pratt Institute identification card. For all others, the
entrance fee is $12 advance or $15 at the door.

BKLYN DESIGNS is presented by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and is
sponsored by Target, The Clarett Group, Two Trees Management, Greenpoint
Manufacturing and Design Center, Pratt Institute, Benjamin Moore & Co.,
Con Edison, American Institute of Architects New York, American Institute
of Architects Brooklyn, American Society of Interior Designers, Brooklyn
Museum, International Interior Design Association, and Furniture New
York. Official media partners are Interior Design and New York Magazine.
BKLYN DESIGNS receives support from Speaker Sheldon Silver and the
Brooklyn Delegation to the NYS Assembly, Speaker Christine Quinn and the
Brooklyn Delegation to the NYC Council and the New York City Department
of Small Business Services.

For more information on BKLYN DESIGNS, please visit bklyndesigns.com or
call auster*events at 718-243-1414.

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