Teamwork

A creative brother and sister are putting Detroit on the map in a unique way

At City Bird, a fledgling Detroit-based design business, style is a relative thing. To put it another way, the creators/owners are a brother-sister team. Emily and Andy Linn, 30 and 25 respectively, are a Detroit born-and-bred duo whose jewelry line is beginning to turn heads. Both educated at the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University for graduate studies, they decided to invest in their hometown and established the Web-based City Bird in 2005.

Their creations include a line of Detroit-map jewelry. Each one-of-a-kind piece depicts bits of a vintage map of downtown Detroit. Street maps adorn handmade earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. The Linns are also adding a necklace that displays the State of Michigan on sturdy black plastic.

Other wares created and sold by their cottage industry include candles imprinted with the Detroit skyline and wall clocks fashioned from vinyl albums with a Detroit-map record label.

The Linns say they’re expanding their product line this fall. Tote bags depicting Charles Lindbergh, Joe Louis, and other notable Detroiters are in the works, as are new greeting-card, pillow, and lamp designs. Look for their creations at the Birmingham-Bloomfield Art Center in Birmingham, the Detroit Artists’ Market, Bureau of Urban Living in Detroit, Naka in Ferndale, and also at ilovecitybird.com.

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