Designlog

Teknion reinvents the worktable

Carl Gustav Magnusson is the brain behind Teknion's new Marketplace. Marketplace reinvents the worktable while expressing the spirit of the emerging workplace...an environment defined by collaboration and the exchange of ideas and information. Marketplace minimizes the barriers to the moment by moment interactions of today's team based office, to achieve an extended span of uninterrupted and unsupported up to 20 feet. Marketplace tables offer generous wiring capacity, well designed privacy options and allows quick and easy installation. Marketplace is bascially made up of two parts; Chassis and Body. The chassis includes.....end gables, truss, cable tray, and traverse. The Body includes...worksurfaces, privacy angles, accessories, monitor arms and canopy.

Marketplace is ideal for collaborative workspaces where free flowing communication is essential, including meeting rooms,call rooms, and wide open plans. Markeplace has also won the Good Design Award from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.

Be sure to check out Teknion view Marketplace and call us here, at DTE for any infomation. We will be glad to help!!!

Footprint Carpet? ViVA L.A.

Want to cover your floors with outlines of feet?  Well, you can get it with Bentley Prince Street's ViVA L.A.'s "Feet on the Street" product.  It was designed in collaboration with L.A. based pop artist Andre Miripolsky who created a large 3-D wall sculpture of his vision of downtown L.A.'s exploding skyline.  Sure it's fun and different, but it's definitely a carpet design I wouldn't recommend... not even for podiatrists, or kids areas... too corny for me!  There is also a pattern in the collection with arrows all over it called " Which Way Now" and one that I would consider using.... "Linked to the Vibe" because it's an interesting pattern without being an exact representation of something (of anything that I can tell at least!).

Interesting Digital Art

As designers, we love seeing projects through from beginning to end.  Sometimes a space doesn't seem quite finished until final touches of art and accessories are incorporated.

One artist we really like at DTE is Henry Domke Fine Art.  Henry has many wonderful digital photographs of landscapes and nature scenes available through his website, www.henrydomke.com.  The photography focus is varied and that is part of what makes it so interesting.  An interesting fact that you might not know about Henry Domke is that he is a retired family physician.  "While he has retired from his career in medicine to pursue art full-time, his passion for healthcare continues through his art...Having been a physician, I understand how dismal hospitals can be...My goal as an artist is to find beauty in the ordinary and to create images that inspire and heal."Courtesy of HealthCare Design Magazine: No Longer an afterthought: The Emerging importance of art.

The photographs are available printed on canvas or paper, in a large assortment of sizes.  Let us know what you think about Henry Domke Fine Art.  Do you like it as much as we do? Pictures courtesy of www.henrydomke.com   

Liberty Chair

I know everyone has seen this chair. It is the Humanscale Liberty chair. In fact if you look close you can spot it all over on TV shows. In fact I have noticed it on my favorite show "House." Go to Humanscale, and build your own Liberty chair. When your done, give us a call with the part number and let's see what kind of discount we can get for you! Have fun designing your chair!

Watch out! CFL's are coming!

Start saying goodbye to your wonderful incandescent bulbs, folks!  By 2012, they will all have to be replaced by more efficient lighting products.  The bulb being pushed in it's place is the compact fluorescent, or CFL (the one that usually looks like the top of a Dairy Queen confection).  While it only comes in a few sizes and shapes right now, it will certainly begin to be produced in more forms in the next few years.  After all, it will have to fit into candelabra-type chandeliers, ceiling fans, accent lamps, night lights. . .well, you get the idea!

As a long-time fluorescent-hater, I am really having a hard time letting go of my favorite bulbs!  I do want to save the environment, use energy responsibly, and save money - but I am not willing to give up the soft light and flattering color rendition afforded us by my friend, the incandescent bulb!  Fortunately, the CFLs are now being produced in a warm color temperature as well as the old standard, cool white.  That is progress!  Perhaps by 2012 I will have adjusted my thinking, and the industry will have come up with innovative, interesting and aesthetically pleasing efficient bulbs which will look nice enough to make us forget the light bulbs we grew up with.  I hope so!

Boy's Room Carpet

There seems to be a bias when it comes to carpet selections that would be appropriate for boy's bedrooms and play rooms. We see lots of girl oriented carpets that range from dainty to fun to wild. However,unless you go with a generic solid or a comic/toy theme that look cheesey, boys do not have much choice in carpet. I have found  carpet tile that gives good choices to boys young thru teens. Interface Flor carpet tile have some unique patterns that are very durable, simple to install (and, easily replaceable!) Patterns range from subtle airplane to dogs & cats to varigated tones. The carpet colors and patterns allow you to have some other interesting design elements in the room (such as in the bedding, art, window treatment, wall coverings )without a blah or visually demanding floor. Check it out at www. flor.com.

What's your color?

So walk into any typical American home. What colors are you going to see? Well if you walk into anyones home that hasn't had the finishes changed out since about the 70's you might see an orange counter top,  but I'm talking about homes that have been finished in the past 10-15 years. Well at least where I come from every house is every shade of neutral possible. After going home a few weeks ago, and seeing this I started thinking. "I wonder, if all these people could have any color they wanted on any surface they wanted what would it be? Would the very happy lady around the corner paint her ceilings yellow and her bathroom fire engine red? Would that grumpy old man next door, that tells the neighborhood kids to get off his lawn have a black living area?" So now I walk around observing people and trying to put their personality to what I would think is their color. So I ask what do you think your color is? And does your home, car, office space reflect this?

Comment on what you think your color is and we'll find out so we can get those creative juices going!

Blue? Green? Turquoise? Silver? Red? Pink? Yellow? Gold? Orange? Purple? Lavender? Black? White? Grey? Ivory? Beige? Brown?

Edelman Leather powered by Crypton: A New Option in Leather Upholstery

Recently, I have been working on a project that involves a small conference area.  The client wants the luxury of a fully upholstered leather conference chair and being a good designer my job is to make sure that I specify the best product possible for the client.  So I started researching different options for the chair upholstery and remembered that Edelman Leather had recently come out with a collection of leathers that were powered by Crypton.

With 17 collections of Edelman Leather powered by Crypton available, each with varying textures, grain patterns, and all with different color choices, you are sure to find one that works for your project.  I was able to find the unique color of leather that I had been searching for in a grain pattern that was appropriate for the project! 

We usually test the upholstery fabrics we specify and this project was no different.  So I ordered a couple of samples and did my own testing on them and was very impressed!  I confidently specified the leather for my project, knowing that the client was getting the luxury of leather and I was not compromising on the durability of the piece. 

"Edelman Leather powered by Crypton feels like an Edelman Leather but acts like a work horse."Courtesy of Edelman Leather Website

Check out this great product for yourself at www.edelmanleather.com/crypton.htm

"Edelman Leather powered by Crypton reaches new levels of practicality with a specialized stain resistant system developed by Crypton with Edelman technicians...Use Edelman Leather powered by Crypton for aviation, hospitality, yachts, and even healthcare.  Grease, grass, coffee, wine, odors, crayons are no longer big problems.  To clean, use Edelman Leather Cleaner and Restorer powered by Crypton."Courtesy of Edelman Leather Website 

No Orange or Blue Iris Here... Antron's Carpet Color Point of View

Previous posts have addressed the prevalence of orange in unexpected places and the usability of Pantone's color of the Year... Blue Iris...  Well a couple of the designers here at DTE recently attended a CEU presented by Antron carpet fiber that didn't pick up on either of these colors. 

Instead of a more typical "color forecast" they title their research "color point of view"... basically their opinion of where the colors in carpet are heading.  They had designers from around the country submit color inspirations in the form of paint chips, tile samples, magazines pages, pieces from nature, etc. and compiled them into collages.  They addressed four market segments: Healthcare, Corporate, Education, and Hospitality.  For each of these segments they created "buzz" words to address how design is/should be changing in each of these areas. 

Healthcare:  "Enlightenment and Healing"... "Emotionally Supportive Designs Offset Natural Stresses"

Corporate:  "Restoration and Performance"... "Natural Environments Promote Positive Emotional States"

Education: "Cultivation and Diversity"... "Perceptions Change Through Exposure and Interaction"

Hospitality: "Authenticity and Experience"... "Local Experiences Establish Meaningful Connections"

For more in depth info... to order you own Point of View Literature Kit with sample color chips, or to mix and match colors within each segments color palette with the Color POV tool visit: http://www.antron.eu/en/content/style/ant03_02.shtml 

Pantone's Color of the Year?

So, speaking of trendy colors. . .Pantone has decided it's 'color of the year' is Blue Iris.  It's a deep, purpley-blue - pretty much just like the french iris!  I do love iris, but am not sure i'll be using much of that color in my designs for furnishings. 

This is a strong, saturated color - so will need to be used sparingly, in this designer's opinion. Yours?

So, back to trendy - though the 'color of the year' is, I guess, intrinsically trendy. . .a color this strong will definitely be datable.  So if one decides to cover their sofa in it - they had better be sure it's their favorite color, because in 10 years we'll all know when that sofa was covered!

Really, I'm  just having fun with this - I love color and everything about it!  And we do need the color counsel to decide what color our cars, fabrics, and Rubbermaid containers will be each year - so we have to know they have a hard time coming up with new colors every time! 

What do you think about Blue Iris???