City NY 09/00
" The New Modernism"
by Zoe Ryan for City NY

Leading the Way: Someone who is working to accelerate the appreciation of design is David Shearer, who along with Gail Schultz founded the Totem Design Group with the mission of promoting design produced by both emerging and already established talent in their gallery-like store, linking designers with manufacturers, and helping designers market their lines. They also work to educate the public through seminars, design competitions, ndn special exhibitions that Totem sponsors and organizes, such as the G7 group show of young designers. Shearer, remarking on the different way in which designers are regarded in the U.S., says, "In Europe designers are celebrities. Phillipe Starck led the way, proving that an industrial designer could become a superstar, the rockstar of designers. He put a personality and a face to design."