Our blog is mostly about sustainable design in the interiors industry,
especially carpet. Sometimes it's just about us. Updated when we've got something good to say.
“Cut, Clip and Hang.” These instructions and a clever idea for storing shoes made Wuthichai Leelavoravong our winner in the 2009 Ample Sample Design competition. Now in its third year, Ample Sample challenges designers to rethink waste—as creative fuel rather than a by-product of the design process.
Wuthichai’s design will be featured in Tricycle’s booth this month at NeoCon 2009, North America’s largest contract and commercial interiors trade show. If you won’t be in Chicago for the show you can view all the designs on the Ample Sample website. Finalists in the competition included a pendant light fixture from Heather Wright and Christina Jih, a mailbox from Sean Miller and an inviting-looking eco-hammock from Jake Tompkins.
Unfortunately there was no judging category for it, but Alix Bulleit and Ashley Helton of the University of Texas at Austin had us considering an award for Most Fun submission. Their use of carpet samples for an assortment of lawn games (Tufted Twister anyone?) resulted in a photo shoot that looked like the best fun since some visionary combined beer and ping pong balls.
Thanks to everyone who accepted the challenge to turn carpet sample waste into useful objects. Creative thinking has the ability to move us closer to solutions in unexpected ways. Perhaps Ample Sample will inspire even more ideas for redefining what we consider waste.
Think you’ve got an eye for design? Here’s a chance to raise your virtual voice and help choose a new commercial carpet product from Mannington.
Mannington Commercial’s Tx:style Design Challenge is in the final weeks of voting. This unique contest which began in February invited designers who were relatively new in the industry to submit carpet designs out of which one will be chosen for launch of a full production line of commercial carpet. Capitalizing on the real-time feedback of social media and an interactive voting website, nearly 250,000 votes narrowed 440 design entries to six finalists.
The finalists visited Mannington and worked there with Mannington’s design team to refine their patterns and to create associated colorways. The completed designs along with the initial concepts and comments from the designers about the inspiration that led to their designs are featured on the tx:style website. Visit tx:style to join the discussion by leaving comments about the designs and vote for your favorite. Voting ends on June 16, the first day of NeoCon, with the winner to be announced during NeoCon. In addition to having their design launched as a full carpet collection, the winner will receive $7500.
Tricycle design provided development support after the initial Mannington concept and created promotional collateral and advertising. Good luck to all the designers and congratulations to Mannington for a great inaugural effort.
Update: The winner has been announced. Here's a link to the Interior Design magazine article.
“Imagine your ideal magazine.”
That’s the opening statement for a magazine called Mine. Published by Time, Inc, the premier issue arrived earlier this month. I’m not sure if it represents “a groundbreaking shift in the way magazines are made” but it certainly presents an interesting concept. Last month I visited timeinc.com/mine and selected five out of eight available magazine titles and answered a few seeming random questions like “Do you like to sing in the car?”
Based on my input, Time chose content from the five titles I selected and printed it in a magazine along with personalized ads from lone sponsor Lexus. Somehow my answers suggested to Lexus that I like personalized luggage and tooling around Chattanooga looking for spa resorts and their ads were tailored accordingly. While there were a few missteps with the launch, the idea of user-specific content, or mass personalization, is just the latest acknowledgement of how technology can enable customized responses to clients.
Tricycle clients will be attending the HD show in Las Vegas and later, NeoCon in Chicago. Tryk studio tools and sampling products will be part of the message of how they are incorporating environmentally friendly processes and increasing responsiveness to their own customers. But is the point really to reduce sampling costs for our clients and provide them with environmental talking points? A product truly personalized to me requires knowledge about me; the challenges I face and an understanding of the context in which I will experience the product. Specific information about me is combined with general information and maybe an insight or two. The result, if I’m lucky, is something I might barely notice because it lines up with what I’m already doing. Rather than forcing a radical change in behavior (me accommodating the product) it reinforces existing behavior (the product accommodating me) and presents rewards that move beyond my own experience (reduced use of resources, less waste).
Design is about timing—the trends of the moment and lasting style—the designer’s schedule and the client’s expectation of “Now.” New Tryk formats and changes to our Tryk Studio websites reflect what we learn from ongoing conversations with designers and salespeople. Faster response and more tailored products shorten the bridge between inspiration and execution. Benefits to sample budgets and less contribution to the waste stream are rewarding by-products of a system that has value during the design process as well as after.
Have we found the perfect mix of Tryk formats and services? Almost certainly not; the target is in constant motion. But by combining specific information about the people who use our products with what we understand about the environment in which they work, and an insight or two we’re confident we’re getting closer. A customized response is only half the picture; a response that adds value and reflects values completes the picture in a meaningful way.
While I’m not sure how I feel knowing the “2010 Lexus RX now comes with more Sujeel Taj” the growing tide of personalized content will, without a context of value, become just more background noise. Now to find that local spa resort.
Eco Expo happens tomorrow (April 7) at the downtown Chattanooga Trade and Convention Center. Tricycle will be one of many sponsors presenting information about how to live, work and play green in Southeastern Tennessee. I'm looking forward to the Fuel Efficient Auto and Boat Show which will be part of the Expo.
Last fall, Habitat for Humanity in Chattanooga built its first home to be LEEDs certified. A documentary about the house and the remarkable story of its owners will premiere tomorrow night at the end of the Expo. While ticket cost for the documentary will benefit Habitat for Humanity, admission for the Eco Expo is free to the public. If that's not enough to bring you out for an eco-tastic event, Tricycle's own Jonathan Bragdon will be speaking on The Myth of the "Green" Product at 1:30 p.m. at the Trade Center.
Ample Sample is again challenging designers to rethink and repurpose carpet samples after their usefulness to a design project, to make a design product. The best ideas will be showcased at NeoCon 2009 and featured on the Ample Sample website, complete with blueprints and instructions for their designs.
Criteria for the winning design, instructions for entries, and previous year’s winners and finalists are available here. An interactive gallery of 2009 entrants allows for comments and rating of designs. Enter before May 8.
For the last few years, AIGA San Francisco and the AIGA Center for Sustainability have hosted Compostmodern. This conference explores the range of design thinking necessary to create a socially and ecologically responsible society. It's a great event in the design industry because it encourages collaboration between many divisions of design including product development, interiors, architecture and graphic design. The conference promotes not only effective design solutions but also how these solutions result in a smaller footprint and better quality of life.
If you missed the conference a couple of weeks ago you can follow a synopsis here, or join Tricycle in attending the webcast in Chattanooga on March 17. In collaboration with AIGA Chattanooga and Green|Spaces, we will enjoy St. Patrick's Day afternoon watching a selection of speakers from the event while discussing how the local design community can embrace sustainable design in our work.
Compostmodern 09 Webcast
March 17th 2009
Green|Spaces
1:00-5:30pm
contact mark.cooley@tricycleinc.com for more information
General Electric is promoting its new Smart Grid system with a little Wind Turbine Flash game. It's really cool - all you need is a printout, a webcam, and the newest version of Flash and poof - the magic of the web hits you square in the face.
Really cool promotion for even cooler green energy movement.
Check it out here:
