12th
July
2006
Regrets Only
“The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum began the National Design Awards in 2000 to honor the best in American design… If design has an Oscar, the National Design Award is it. The honor is taken seriously… Because the Awards program was originally conceived as an official project of the White House Millennium Council, the First Lady serves as the honorary chair of the gala at which the winners are celebrated. She also traditionally hosts a breakfast at the White House to which all the nominees and winners are invited. That breakfast was today. This year, however, five Communication Design honorees decided to decline the invitation. They wrote a letter to Laura Bush explaining why.”