Posts from — June 2009

Here’s a sneak peek of what NeoCon ’09 will have to offer next week. From textiles to technology, Neocon never disappoints.

Maharam Digital Projects combines content and execution, making the work of today’s leading artists and designers affordable and accessible as a curated repository of images printed using the highest quality digital techniques available. Digital Projects is a carefully curated repository of museum quality installations for walls, including two 10′ by 36′ works by Douglas Gordon and Karel Martens. Digital Projects can be used for contract and residential applications; this versatile medium provides visual vocabulary drawn from emerging and established artists, internationally renowned graphic designers, and longtime Maharam collaborators.

Defining Leather through design. Whatever you can create can now come to life in genuine leather and then be upholstered onto the furniture piece of your choice. SIF Technology is raising the bar on creativity in the contract market with its new Digital Leather image process-a unique printable laminate that permanently fuses high resolution aniline and semi-aniline colors, full color photos and graphic images onto and into the surface of genuine leather. What a perfect way to showcase it but with the Pantone Chair.

Several innovative, technical methods were fundamental to the success of these Momentum fabrics. Classique features a unique carving finish which results in a vertical rib effect on the face of the velvet. Sartorial’s dimensional pleat construction is unusual in the industry. Most pleated or puckered fabrics are created using a stretch yarn or a finishing or chemical process which can lead to a flattening of the pleat during the upholstering process or through standard use. It took more than five years of experimentation for Momentum’s collaborative mill professionals to achieve a hand-woven pleat effect in production. While Sartorial is not the only pleated fabric on the market, it is the only pleated fabric which is also embroidered. Delano features a Trieste yarn which is a custom made novelty weft yarn from Italy. The striations that the Trieste accomplishes are unique. They are long and graceful rather than the shorter, choppier striations most often seen. This very special yarn was used in tandem with a carefully fashioned woven structure to create an unusually soft and slick tweed look.

Designers want a web experience that reflects and enhances their design and product selection process. The Virtual Library by Mannington Commercial delivers on these desires by complementing the creative process and keeping key tools at a designer’s fingertips. The Virtual Library, the first of its kind for our industry, enables exploration from any location with online access and shortens the sales cycle - all while reducing unnecessary use of valuable space in design firms’ libraries or contributing to landfill waste. This immersive online experience uses 3-dimensional and Flash technology to simulate the experience of being in a product library for every hard and soft surface floorcovering in Mannington Commercial’s complete product mix, and to stimulate exploring and experimenting with product choices with virtual flip book technology -letting designers flip thru pages the same way as a designer would look through a paper catalog.

As its name suggests, Stucco by Geneieve Bennett resembles molding sculpted on a plaster wall, but it is actually a cleverly designed, three-dimensional wall panel adorned with cut leather pieces. The resulting composition of abstracted leaves and flowers comes just in time for spring. While custom colors and sizes are available, it comes standard in a 30 1/3-inch-by-39 1/3-inch panel.

Finally, My favorite- I have already downloaded it!

With Colorsnap by Sherwin Williams you can discover how coordinating colors and bringing ideas to life is easier than you ever imagined. Find a color you love, snap the photo and receive the matching Sherwin-Williams paint color and coordinating palette. And it’s all FREE!

• Choose a color that inspires you and match it with one of our 1,500 Sherwin-Williams paint colors.
• Receive a coordinating palette that complements your color.
• Find your local Sherwin-Williams store where the experts will help you bring your vision to life.
• Save colors to your “My Saved Colors” library for future inspiration.

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Tricycle’s Ample Sample competition again challenged designers to rethink and repurpose carpet samples after their usefulness to a design project was finished, to make a design product. They weren’t disappointed as designers answered their call; making beautiful and useful objects with upcycled materials. The best (and my favorite) part is that each designer must also submit blueprints and/or instructions of their designs. In the spirit of design democracy, they are available for free download to design firms and individuals around the world

The judges have deliberated and here are the 2009 Ample Sample finalists and winner. If you’re going to NeoCon in Chicago; check them out in person where the finalists’ products will be showcased. The finalists include:

Jake Tompkins of JMBC Design - Magic Carpet Ride

Sean Miller - Mailbox

Heather Wright and Christina Jih - Plush Petal Pendant

Wuthichai Leelavoravong - Shoe-Keeper

Sean Miller’s Mailbox

The Plush Petal Pendant used a cylindrical, reclaimed lampshade frame which allowed for 32 strips. This fabrication used exactly 2 carpet tiles. The shade was designed for the reuse of materials, and the absence of glues and adhesives. This picture is an actual fabrication which is lit by a spherical compact fluorescent bulb.

An Eco-Friendly Hammock, Magic Carpet Ride, inspired by the paper chains of childhood that utilizes the texture and feel of carpet to create a more comfortable and relaxing surface.

AND THE WINNER IS……

Cut, Clip, and Hang. There are only 3 simple steps to create “Shoe-Keeper”. Shoe-Keeper was inspired from the close (physical) relationship between the carpet and shoes. Importantly, there is no waste in this design. To keep a pair of shoes, we need only a half of the carpet tile. Besides its main function, we can also use Shoe-Keeper as decoration on a wall by mixing and matching different colors and patterns of carpet tiles.

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NeoCon is the world’s largest show of contract furnishings held each year at the Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL

June 15-19, 2009

Merchandise Mart

Chicago, IL

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European Design Since 1985: Shaping The New Century opens in early March until June 21 at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The first comprehensive assessmwnt of Western European design from 1985-2005 trace notable contributions to the field from 118 influential designers including Tord Boontje, Marcel Wanders, Studio Job, Hella Jongerius and Jasper Morrison.

Exhibition Admission
Adults (18-64) $10 (Buy online and save $2)
Children (7-17) & College students with valid I.D. $6 (Buy online and save $1)
Seniors (65+) & Groups of 10 or more $8 (Buy online and save $2)
Free for IMA members and children 6 and under

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The Fashion Felt exhibiton is open at the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in New York. Felt is one of the earliest known materials, and is the most used medium by architects and textile or product designers when experimenting.

Fashion Felt explores the origins, uses and devlopment of felt across the globe. See designs by Tom Dixon, Hive, MOLO, LAMA; among them stunning examples like the Little Field of Flowers rug by Studio Tord Boontje for nanimarquina.

Until September 7, 2025

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