Our recap of NYCxDesign 2026, New York's citywide design week, covering the ICFF show floor, a Women in Design panel on food design, and IDSA's circular design celebration. We break down the materials and furniture trends we saw — heavier, more tactile forms and a growing focus on circular, sustainable design — and what we're bringing back into our own industrial design and product development work.

A recap of April at our Brooklyn industrial design studio: Isis Shiffer led a hands-on Take Apart Day workshop at Parsons, Sherry Chiu judged the IDSA Student Merit Awards at NJIT, and Isis joined a WID NYC panel at NYU on careers in industrial design and product development.

Isis Shiffer breaks down how so-called "invention labs" take advantage of first-time inventors, and lays out five red flags to watch for before signing with an invention promotion company. Practical advice for anyone with a product idea on vetting a design or development partner before money changes hands.