Pacific Design + Gamila Product Launch Party at Designbox. November 2, 2007
Pacific Design, out of Austin, Texas, and Gamila partnered to create the “Indie Artists Collection” for iPod cases and PSP gaming cases. The Indie Artists Collection is launched under the Pacific Design brand and features 2 local Raleigh artists: David Eichenberger and Paul Friedrich. The First Friday show was a celebration of these cases being launched nationwide and sold in Circuit City throughout the country.

Gamil Design Creates blog.gamil. November 1, 2007
In an effort to better connect with the design community, DB member Beth Khalifa has launched Gamil Design's very own blog. It's here that they plan to log "elements of inspiration and moments of distraction from a small design firm." They plan to have multiple authors from their group of Gamil Design and Gamila Company discuss design in their day-to-day research and everyday lives.

Designbox chosen by Arcteryx as the right place for their brand and culture presentation. September 27, 2007
Great Outdoor Provision Company (outdoor gear shop in NC) recommended Designbox as the perfect gallery space for Arcteryx (outdoor gear brand from Vancouver Canada) to showcase what's in the stores now for Fall '07 as well as where their heading with the brand and product innovation into 2008. The event will be attended by Arcteryx folks, as well as Great Outdoor folks from around North Carolina.

Lee Tripi's Art and Design Works at Kohn Associates. September 2007
Lee Tripi (Lee Tripi Design) witll be showing works from his portfolio of art and design at Kohn Associates, 404 Glenwood Ave, Raleigh, NC. The opening reception is September 29 at 7:30pm.

Designbox members contribute to the development and success of SPARKcon. September 2007
Isaac Panzarella (Consider Design) and Aly Khalifa (Gamil Design) were "bobbleheads" (managing directors that dont say yes or no to anything - just help keep it all together) for SPARKcon07. Beth Khalifa (Gamil Design), directed the branding, and Cheryl Gottschall (Gottschall Photography) directed the photography. SPARKcon is a creative conference and festival focusing on the Triangle of NC. It was developed by Designbox, the first year was 2006. See SPARKcon website for details, and all of the media attention.

November DB Gallery Show called out in Independent "Fall Guide." September 2007
"Forget the static run-through of the usual museum/gallery experience...Sum of the Parts will depend more on the audience than the art," says the Independent about the show, chosen as one of the things to do this November. Jon Williams (Shove Media) is curating the event, and is collaborating in the creation of the show with others, including fellow DB member, Lee Coltrane (Project Mastermind).

Lee Tripi's work featured in the Asheville Citizen-Times. August 2007
"An urban loft emerges with simplicity, peace," headlines the article. The owners are quoted as saying "At first, we were concerned about it being only 800 square feet, but as soon as Lee saw it, he laid the plans out so quickly and simply, and it all made sense. We wanted a clean, relaxing place for the weekend. We leave all the clutter at home." See the full article.

Francesca Talenti's exhibit is recognized in The Independent. July 2007
Sarah Lupton writes about how Francesca Talenti "offers us a new recipe for the creation of life in a scientific era" in the July 25 issue of The Independent.

Aly Khalifa contributes to award winning project . July 2007
ID Magazine's 2007 Annual Design Review, July/Aug issue, gave design distinction to The Vilcek trophy (given annually to American immigrants who have made lasting contributions in the arts and sciences). Aly Khalifa of Gamil Design was hired by Stefan Sagmeister to be a part of the design team for the trophy, each of which is a unique form stemming from the prize-winner's name. Gamil used their design and engineering expertise to revise a fragile initial design with a unique mathmatical model. Gamil also changed the materials, using laser processing and nickel plating on the piece.

Lee Tripi to design a flagship store in Ireland. July 2007
Lee Tripi has been commissioned to design the flagship store for Zenza, the
Asian-modern furniture studio based in Longford, Ireland. Zenza, scheduled
to be completed in September will be the first of it's kind in Ireland.
Intelligent modern design concepts that utilize, eco-resin, cast polymer and
anodized aluminum chain curtain to divide vignettes become the central focal
point of the studio. A sense fresh tranquility is achieved in this zen-inspired space with some of that wow factor sprinkled in. Look for the latest photos of the studio to appear on the website, www.leetripi.com in September.

Aly Khalifa and The Teastick in Southern Living. July 2007
The Teastick, a tea infuser designed by Aly Khalifa of Gamil Design, was featured in the "Carolina Clips" section of the July issue for Southern Living magazine.

Francesca Talenti shows her video for American Dance Festival. June 2007
Francesca was invited to show her video piece called "Dream of Liquid Memories" at the American Dance Festival after-party on June 23, 2007, for Pilobolus' 30-year anniversary. She was delighted to see the company show up and dance to the DJ's music, completely unchoreographed, and absolutely stunning...

Cheryl Gottschall receives Honorable Mention. May 2007
Cheryl, Gottschall Photography, recieved an Honorable Mention in the Southeastern Photography Triennial Exhibition at the Gregg Museum of Art and Design at NC State University. Joyce Tenneson, juror, will speak in September, shortly after the opening of the exhibition on August 23, 2007.

Designbox Gallery gets a "Best Bets" designation for Low Pop. May 2007
The Independent Weekly chose Designbox Gallery as one of the Best Bets of things to do for Friday, May 4. "Low Pop: a show of cartoonists " is a collaborative show featuring Paul Friedrich [db] and other cartoonists featured in Hellcar.

Isaac Panzarella, Consider Design, fights global warming. May 2007
Isaac Panzarella [db] and Matt Luck of Consider Design, PA, working with Sundance Power Systems, have designed and installed a 5.2kW grid connected photovoltaic system. This project is at Prairie Ridge Ecostation in Raleigh, an adjunct facility of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. The PV system will produce 8,300 kWh per year of power, offsetting all power used by the site and providing a surplus to the power grid. Prairie Ridge Ecostation, a green building designed by a Frank Harmon Architect led team has been selected for several design awards and was recently featured in Architectural Record Magazine. Future plans for the site call for a wind generator and solar powered weather station to serve as research and education tools for this 50 acre restoration of a native Piedmont prairie savannah, with visitation of over 10,000 K-12 students per year.

Raleigh City council approves the City Plaza design that Designbox and Spark Con members helped to develop. May 2007
Designbox and Spark Con members, at the request of the Urban Design Center, facilitated a charrette in January to spark ideas about the City Plaza space in downtown Raleigh. Following the charrette, a team consisting of the facilitators, The Urban Design Center, Kimley-Horn and others developed and refined the ideas into a series of illustrations and a presentation for the City Council. The proposed City Plaza design consisted of a foundation for a "creative play space" for the city, including water, electricity, kiosks, stage abilities, and large pedestals for ever changin artwork and community events. On May 15, 2007, the City Council voted unanimously to approve the design. More info

Independent gives nod to Designbox and Spark Con, May 2007
In an article expressing regret and Raleigh's loss at the closing of Bickett Gallery and Kings Barcade, the Independent mentions Designbox and Spark Con: "Now the hard work continues for other independent galleries in the region. As Coward says, 'Anyone who works in the arts can tell you that there is almost always (a) no money and (b) no staff. Regardless, there are projects out there that, thanks to the dedication of their supporters, are moving forward. CAM is finally headed towards breaking ground, thanks to the tireless efforts of Nicole Welch. Tracy Spencer, Lia Newman, all the folks at DesignBox, Branch Gallery, Flanders, Rebus, the SparkCon crew and Wootini ... these are all creative forces who work around the clock to make this arts community thrive.' " full article

Designbox Gallery gets a "Best Bets" designation for The Dinosaur Show. April 2007
The Independent Weekly chose Designbox Gallery as one of the Best Bets of things to do for Friday, April 6. "The Dinosaur show" is a collaborative show featuring David Eichenberger, Casey Porn and Beth Tacular.

Designbox moves to a new space!. March 2007
Come see our new space at 323 West Martin Street, in the Warehouse District of downtown Raleigh! Our new space is over twice as big as the old space, with more Designbox members coming "inbox" and more public space for the "out-of-box" members to share. Our gallery space is also larger and we are looking forward to carrying our involvement in First Fridays to the western side of downtown.

Designbox and Spark Con members facilitate City Plaza charrette. January 2007
After Spark Con in September of 2006, Raleigh Mayor, Charles Meeker, requested Spark Con organizers to put forth ideas from the conference to propel creative public spaces within the city. From this suggestion, The Urban Design Center and Spark Con members, including many Designbox members (Paul Friedrich, Cheryl Gottschall, Aly Khalifa, Beth Khalifa, Isaac Panzarella, Lee Tripi, Jon Williams, Inaki Zubizarreta) developed a creative workshop to get abundant and diverse ideas for the City Plaza space on Fayetteville Street. The public was invited and many diverse and influential community members and stake holders were personally requested to attend. The workshop was a great success, with large attendance and many voices being heard through the Designbox facilitation process. The resulting ideas will be further developed by the facilitators and the Urban Design Center, with the goal of presenting a complete design philosophy of the space to the Raleigh City Council for approval. For complete results of the workshop, go here.

Lee Tripi juried the Visual Art Exchange's January exhibit. January 2007
Lee Tripi was selected as the juror for the Visual Art Exchange's January exhibit, "A Room With A View", looking in and looking out: works in all media, investigating portals, interiors, doorways and windows. Lee was chosen for his unique perspective as a designer of modern spaces and painter in his right. Over 70 entries had been considered for awards, as first place went to kenbroart and his compelling mixed media piece which featured a drivers view of Fayetteville Street complete with a flashing traffic light powered by battery. The gallery was standing room only for the reception and First Friday event.