E.S.T. illustration: h a p t i c l a b

During my time in NYC earlier on this year, i found myself a internship with Miss Emily Fischer, founder of Haptic Lab, Brooklyn, NY.Emily who studied architecture started making her soft map quilts in 2002 when her mother was diagnosed with glaucoma; these early projects were meant to be way-finding tools for the visually impaired. In 2009 Haptic Lab became a Brooklyn design studio specialising in tactile and sensory design, custom handmade objects, and spaces that are designed to playfully explore the sense of touch and feel. Emily and the 'Hapticians' make intricate quilts, kites, furniture, and environments that combine new technologies with traditional craft techniques -- infusing a sense of play and timelessness into everything they make.

* Haptics is any form of nonverbal communication involving touch

The Studio..

My first day in the DUMBO studio under Brooklyn Bridge was a busy one, Emily was preparing for her Kick Starter launch for the new star constellation quilts, starting in a few days. I got busy to work on the Star quilt to use as an example for the website and trade shows during design week.

Emily prints her designs on a light weight paper which you then use as a guide to stitch through the layers of your quilt, and then tear away.

You can buy all of Emily's designs of her website as a kit to make at home!

With all the prep for Kick Starter, Emily needed photographs of her new kite collection, which people could pledge for; and as the Beaty Heart boys where in town they gave me a hand at Brooklyn Botanical Blossom Gardens