Sight Unseen set to take their design fair digital this May
Many will already be aware of Sight Unseen, but for those that haven’t encountered the brand yet they are, in brief, an online editorial platform. A digital magazine, if you like. Sight Unseen have this week announced their plans to showcase the latest interiors pieces from 57 designers and brands in their first ever digital design fair.
Image: Supaform, Offsite Online, 2020.
The digital design fair, called Offsite Online, will launch on the 18th May and will consist of four weeks of related programming across Sight Unseen’s channels. The project will also be present on other well known digital design platforms such as 1stdibs and on Dezeen.
Image: Richard Clarkson, Offsight Online, 2020.
“The aim of Offsite Online is to provide support to designers in a time when, due to the global pandemic, they find themselves cut off from nearly all avenues for sales and promotion. Many were ready to launch their 2020 collections when retail stores were shuttered and design fairs canceled for the foreseeable future.”
Offsite Online is regarded as a ‘pivoting’ of Sight Unseen’s original plan, which involved rolling out Sight Unseen’s own design fair, which was scheduled to take place during May at Skylight Modern in Manhattan.
Image: Kalon Studios, Offsite Online, 2020.
Offsite Online will debut as its own dedicated page within sightunseen.com, on which collections of new releases from each participating designer will be available to view. All designer presentations will feature a slideshow of 2-12 pieces, a written collection description, and an audio clip of the designer sharing the concept of and inspirations behind their work. While the entire fair will be available to explore starting May 18, Sight Unseen’s editors will be producing more in-depth editorial stories about each collection, published daily over the course of four weeks and supplemented with special content such as Instagram Live talks.
Image: In Common With, Offsight Online, 2020.
Offsite Online will be the use of 3-D renderings to bring some of the featured designs to life in the absence of a physical fair presentation — as well as in many cases, the inability to produce a styled photo shoot during the quarantine. Sight Unseen have brought in two of the design world’s most up-and-coming digital artists, Stefano Giacomello (@stefo_rotolo) and Charlotte Talyor (@charlottetaylr), to create 3-D rendered “photo shoots” of several of the collections in the show. It’s worth noting every piece in the digital fair actually exists as a real object.
For more information on Offsite Online visit sightunseen.com.
Feature: Rory Robertson
Images: Sight Unseen, or as credited.