In the ongoing quest to essentialize something as large and diverse and strange and outright unfathomable as a major international city, perhaps the only definitive or salient guideline is that different places strike different people in different ways. Thus, designer Linus Dean’s line of hand crafted rugs named after some of this earth’s most exciting places leaves much to interpretation, especially in regards to Chicago.

Chicago Rug. Designed and Manufactured by Linus Dean.

The Chicago Rug Features Vintage Typography and Nepalese Hand-Crafting

Now, I’ve admired the windy city from afar—and occasionally from up-close, mostly from NeoCon’s environs in the gigantic Merchandise Mart—yet I possess passing familiarity with the place at best, so I’m woefully ignorant of the civic implications of Dean’s vibrant red rug traversed with an ornate swirling script.

Until a native Chicagoan tells me otherwise, then, I’ll just assume that the Chicago Rug is a creative synesthetic take on the city’s famed swirling gusts, with a daring dash of color thrown in for good measure.

Of course, with the possible exceptions of “New York” and “Boston,” Dean’s rugs are overwhelmingly imaginative, with the assignation of the particular city suggesting above all a certain state of mind.

What matters for the consumer is that each rug is visually arresting and compelling in its own right. Each displays an artist’s knack for the strange and enticing, as well as an artisan’s dedication and facility with craft. In fact, Dean is currently way out East, working with local Nepalase and Tibetan craftspeople to create his impressive collection of handmade silk and wool rugs.

Each of the city motif rugs has been designed by Dean himself in his native Sydney, but they’re all handmade in Nepal. All of them can be made in wool, silk, or a blend of the two, and other options include number of knots per square inch. The rugs are exceptionally durable (they’ll last for life under normal residential use), and all are guaranteed to be child-labor free.

Via MocoLoco.

About the Designer: After spending 12 years in the graphic design industry, Sydney-based artist Linus Dean decided to take his act elsewhere—or, perhaps I should say, to engage in some horizontal integration. He now creates interior products that incorporate his expertise in visual media. He designs each and every of his hand-loomed rugs in Sydney and makes them in Tibet and Nepal, a process that “yields an ideal blend of contemporary design and traditional craftsmanship.”