The 99% Conference 2011: Day One Recap

Our day one overview of the idea-making conference

Now in our third year, the 99% Conference speakers are a group of hard-workers at the forefronts of their fields, carefully selected by Behance and Cool Hunting for how they manifest Edison’s notion that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. The 2011 line-up features 16 thought-provoking leaders taking the stage over the course of two days, including designer Yves Behar, Google Ideas director Jared …

Jill Platner Sculpture

Master jeweler applies her metalsmithing talent to sculpture

Massachusetts-born beauty Jill Platner, known for the beautifully organic forms of her exquisite jewelry, has always yearned to apply her metal-manipulating skills to her passion for sculpture. This week, realizing the career-long dream, she opened a month-long show of her sculptural work in NYC. Platner discovered her love of metal working in NYC while attending the Parson’s School of Design, getting into the jewelry business …

Leon Ransmeier

A young minimalist takes on the challenge of designing for everyday life

A kind of Shaker simplicity marks the work of Leon Ransmeier, a beauty that results when an object is exactly what it’s meant to be and nothing more. A humidifier is a pristine bucket filled with water; an extension cord wraps itself neatly around a flat white spool. Some designs are, in fact, so pure of purpose that they can stump those of us surrounded …