Marc Ecko, being techy and adorable.Photo: Lauren Salazar
If you walk by the corner of Gansevoort and Little West 12th this weekend and you seeing strobing neon lights, don’t worry — you didn’t get meat-market roofied again. The flashing lights are just part of the launch installation for iGoogle’s new theme pages, designed by such luminaries as Diane von Furstenberg, Jeff Koons, Jackie Chan, Anne Geddes, Lance Armstrong, and the Beastie Boys.
Some of the big names were on hand for last night’s launch party and panel discussion. Architect Michael Graves, whose Met exhibit opens next week, was candid about why he signed on board: “I did it because I thought they’d give us Google stock. They didn’t.” Fellow Met alum Koons seemed genuinely excited about the whole process, but it might have been because it gave him an excuse to surf the web: “I spend half my day on the Internet looking for ideas.” You hear that? Jeff Koons could be reading this right now. Jeff, if you are, we think there is an untapped genius in glitter glue.
No one, however, was more enthusiastic than designer Marc Ecko, who proclaimed, “The ability to design apps yourself, that’s what the Internet is about. That’s the American Dream, God Bless America!” When we caught up with him after the panel, we asked what was on his iGoogle page. He replied, “My own theme, of course. It allows me to be completely self-indulgent.” Also making his personal dashboard rotation: a CNN news ticker, a calorie counter, and a daily Yoda quote. —Lauren Salazar
