Searching for help

We’ve all been stunned by recent images from Haiti. Official numbers aren’t yet available but by current estimates the earthquake that struck last week may have instantly ended 100,000 lives with thousands more at dire risk from injury, disease and hunger.

Beyond hoping for the best, many of us have helped in small but meaningful ways, sending water and medical supplies or making direct donations to relief efforts. Chris Csikszentmihalyi, director of the M.I.T. Center for Future Civic Media recognized the need for people to connect with loved ones in Haiti and applauded news organizations for creating sites to assist people in finding each other. But he also explained in an email to the media that “this excellent idea has been undermined by its success: within 24 hours, it became clear that there were too many places where people were putting information; each site became a silo.”

Social media is a powerful tool for connecting people but only if both people are using the same channel. A volunteer initiative by Google engineers answered Csikszentmihalyi’s call. In 36 hours Google’s missing people finder was created and deployed. The Google widget is embeddable in a blog or website and includes database information from CNN, the New York Times and other news organizations as well as the U. S. State Department. The interface is easy to use, simply click on one of two situational links: “I’m looking for someone”, or “I have information about someone”, and it works in three languages: English, French and Creole. Google even provides an interface to make it easier for developers to upload/download information with the database.

Google’s crisis response page also gathers many resources into one place, providing, among other things, a tool enabling direct donations to UNICEF and CARE for Haitian relief as well as links to many other organizations accepting donations of money and supplies, instructions on how to use text messaging to make monetary donations, resource updates, local media websites and updates through the US State Department. In addition Google Earth provides imagery that anecdotally has been valuable in mapping areas where landmarks have been obliterated and for organizing on-the-ground rescue efforts.

Searching and realizing immediate results is commonplace, unremarkable. Using something familiar in an unexpected context, those same tools and processes are now saving lives and reconnecting frightened families.

Tryk Vids- Designers love Tryk!

In part one of our three part series, we sat down with interior designer Sara Webb of Artech Design Group in Chattanooga, TN and chatted about how she uses Tryk Sustainable Samples in her design process.

Check it out and let us know how Tryk helps in your design process!

Tryk Vids | Sarah Webb | Artech Design Group from Tricycle, Inc. on Vimeo.

Tryk Mod. See More with Less Waste.

Tryk Mod is a life-size modular print that shows every detail without the waste. Used for the first round of sampling choices, digitally tufted Tryks are perfect for design brainstorming, client presentations and archiving.

Tryk Mod is available from J&J & Tandus. Or ask for it, from your other favorite carpet manufacturers.

IceStone® Chooses Tryk for Sampling

A new Tryk hard surface sampling vehicle has been designed and produced for IceStone® 100% recycled glass and cement surfaces. The IceStone swatch deck is a durable and beneficial resource for designers and will be available through its distributors. Tryk utilizes PLA, a compostable plant-based substrate that consumes less energy in production when compared to petroleum-based materials, to provide an environmentally-conscious alternative to traditional sampling.



The Tryk toolkit of sustainable samples and online design tools enables hard surfaces manufacturers such as IceStone to introduce new product to the market and service existing and new customers faster, while reducing the use of natural resources and eliminating the waste of traditional sampling. The swatch deck utilizing Tryk will also be a more portable and space-saving option for both distributors and design studios.

Tryk tools for hard surface products such as stone, wood, ceramic, glass and porcelain tiles evolved naturally from Tricycle’s presence in the soft surface flooring industry. Hard surface products of this nature are generally a financial and environmental burden for companies that receive sample requests from designers and consumers. These sustainable samples are less expensive and much lighter than physical samples; thereby, allowing a larger repeat size to be shown and reducing transportation costs while diverting unnecessary sample waste from landfills. The quick 24 – 48 hour turnaround for a Tryk also saves time and money for manufacturers and designers, the latter who can order a Tryk at no-cost.

Don't end it, mend it.

Platform 21 recently sponsored the "Remarkable Repair Contest" on its blog. The Amsterdam design shop asked people to consider how objects rendered imperfect (from wear or damage) could be reimagined and creatively put back to the same use or repurposed for another function. The goal was an excercise in reconsidering ideas of product lifecycle.

The effort ties into Platform 21's Repair Manifesto which asserts, among other things, that repairing is a creative challenge.

The contest winner, Siba Sahabi, used embroidery and ink to repair and decorate a plastic bag damaged in the wheel of her bicycle.

We couldn't help but notice the parallel to our Ample Sample contest which asks designers to imagine creative, useful products from discarded carpet samples.

Here are the rest of the entries for the Remarkable Repairs contest, enjoy and thanks to Tricycle alum Michael Hendrix for the heads up!

Design More With Less Waste

We recently relaunched our Tryk® product site as a portal to our Tryk-powered online design tools as well as other manufacturer sites that utilize our technologies. Now there is a single location where the A+D community can access sustainable design tools with only one registration required.

Check out the video from the homepage below (and share it!) for a look into the Tryk toolkit.

Primer from Chris Rushing on Vimeo.

Catching Up

For several months now, we've been developing, designing, and staying very busy. We're launching new products and partnerships.


At NeoCon 2009, we introduced Tryk for hard surfaces. These products can now be simulated and presented as sustainable samples that are less expensive and much lighter than physical samples. And through the use of Tryk-powered online design tools, the specification cycle for designers and architects is a more efficient process with substantially-decreased lead times.

We've also formed a best of breed partnership with Eflection, Inc. to allow interior designers and architects to immediately visualize product and layout specifications for a project through a web-based suite of tools. TrykPlan, a new format for floor plan prints, can be ordered with the click of a button.