NeoCon 2013

Check back in mid June for first hand exhibit notes from our design team!

As you probably know, NeoCon is coming up once again and we can't wait to check out all of the innovative products to be showcased this year! If you're not familiar with the event, NeoCon started in 1969 and is ultimately where the contract industry kicks off its year. Thousands of products and resources for hospitality, healthcare, retail, government, institutional and residential interiors are shown in more than 700 showrooms from various exhibitors. The conference is "North America's largest design exposition for commercial interiors, providing over 40,000 architecture and design professionals with nearly 100 CEU-accredited seminars, association forums and top-notch keynote speakers."

As a part of the design community, we're sending three of our team members to the conference this June to check it all out. This way, we'll have a fresh take on the current and upcoming direction of the industry. Our design/sales team will spend the week checking out various seminars, mingling with other firms, and finding inspiration in the newest interior products. We'll expect to see just about everything from building products to files and storage to wall treatments and lighting. And, of course, a good helping of uniquely modern furniture.

Here's a short list of some vendors expected at Chicago's NeoCon 2013:

BuzziSpace
Arcadia
Chemetal
Izzy+
HON
OFS Brands
SitOnIt
Workrite
Humanscale
Maharam

Whiten Up

We all know about the importance of color in the workplace and what it can do for your business. But what about the impact of white in a space?

Arguably the purest "color", this clean tint adds an amount of elegance that only white or black can achieve. Its simplicity keeps things looking fresh and visually appealing with little effort. Sure, we love a good pop of color and a fun ode to a seasonal trend here and there, however, there's something so perfect about the purity of white that keeps us interested and thirsty for more.

Some of the latest in modern design utilizes the color white in conjunction with sleek materials - like glass, resin, or concrete - leaving a simple, minimalistic aesthetic that's easy on the eye.

Spring is the perfect time to update your look and using white is a great way to get a fresh new start for the season! What are your favorite colors for the office?

Check out these inspirational space designs that put white to work in a fantastically modern way:

Use interesting textures and shapes to create an eye catching display of white.

Or leave it flat and functional for a non-messy look.

And, of course, you can't go wrong with the addition of contrasting brights to give some depth to an all white design.

Get Your Office on Board...Literally.

Clever puns aside, we're seeing more and more collaborative designs pop up all over the interior design community. The classic white board may be old news, but how about entire walls dedicated to note taking? Interactive work places are proven to be more productive work places. By getting your office on board with things like the Smart Board technology and truly interactive walls, you can boost both your collaboration and creative idea potential - then turn those bright ideas into sales. Think brainstorming and mind mapping on a giant scale.

Along with providing private meeting areas for collaboration, Workspace Design Magazine encourages writable wall surfaces in centralized spaces to provide a more informal spot for employees to come together and express new thoughts. tvsdesign’s Don Ricker says “Our most successful office designs feature writable walls in large open spaces where multiple people from diverse teams gather to exchange ideas and feedback. This fosters genuine collaboration along with a sense of play and fun, which in turn, opens the floodgates of creativity while serving as a potent morale booster.”

According to MMQB, one of the oldest building materials - glass - is gaining popularity in the office world yet again and a Texas based company, Clarus Glassboards, is first in line with the newest innovation in wet and dry erase technology. Clarus boards are made in a variety of sizes from 2'x3' to 4'x10' and may be fully customized to fit specific project dimensions if necessary. They're compatible with any dry erase pens, permanent markers, grease pens, etc. The glassboards easily wipe clean and are also made with eco-friendly and recyclable materials. Clarus even provides magnetic options, calendar grids, and customizable colors, logos or branding of your choice. Our showroom utilizes both the Smart Board technologies and Clarus Glassboards, shown below. Both of which we can help you get for your own office!

Come visit us for a look at some interactive options!

Get the Look: Ergonomic Options

Earlier we pointed out the importance of comfort in employee satisfaction and overall productivity. One of our favorite trending products is the height-adjustable table. This desking solution provides a simple switch between sitting and standing postures throughout the day, perfect for supporting those employee's physical comfort needs. In a successful office, "the focus should be on the well-being of the individual, even in shared workspaces."

One of our designers currently utilizes the height-adjustable table from Kimball Priority in our showroom, pictured here. The push of a button simply brings the work surface to the perfect height for standing or sitting, promoting motion in the workplace known to be beneficial for health. Kimball says, "A genuinely productive and dynamic work environment doesn't have to stop short at facilitating the free passage of ideas from place to place. It can also focus on the physical needs of people to change things up (or down) throughout the day."

With Priority, healthy functionality can maintain a sleek and stylish look at the same time.

In addition to employee-friendly desks, the right chair can make a world of difference. We love the Freedom chair by Niels Diffrient from Humanscale, shown here. Designed to give the maximum ergonomic benefit, once the chair is adjusted to the sitter no further fixes are needed. Winner of ten design awards to date, the Freedom chair was made to encourage and support spontaneous movements without locks or tension springs to mess with. Special mechanisms automatically adjust to support the body throughout the day while its position sensitive headrest cradles the head while reclining and moves out of the way when sitting upright. Talk about the perfect chair for comfortable posture and essential body movement!

Come see these ergonomic picks in action in our working showroom!

Now Trending: Comfort

As a new work week starts, we wondered, "what makes a happy employee?" Though the answer isn't exactly cut and dry, one could guess a few things that may keep workers satisfied in the office. For one, studies by Alan Hedge, Ph.D., CPE, and Cornell University have shown that comfort in the office often leads to greater productivity from workers. Think about it: there must be a reason why so many young talents enjoy working from home rather than in a stuffy office.

Comfort can come in the form of ergonomic seating options, through open door policies and good moral with the management, or even in decent room temperatures. In fact, Hedge found that when office temps drop "from a comfortable 77 degrees to a chilly 68, typing mistakes increase by 74%, while typing output drops by 46%" at cooler temperatures.

When it comes to comfortable desk solutions, new height-adjustable desks are becoming increasingly popular among employees who may want the option to stand and work throughout the day. According to Hedge, during his study, "over 80 percent of workers who received a height-adjustable workstation preferred it over the traditional one. A survey also found that the average musculoskeletal discomfort index score for users of the height-adjustable workstations was 20% lower than for the users of the fixed-height desks."

Ergonomic seating options are important, as well. Along with providing comfortable, "residential" seating areas for chance meetings and employee collaboration, as mentioned before, having the right desk chair for specific employee needs is also key for maximum productivity. The correct support promotes better posture, and a happier, more comfortable employee!

Check back on Wednesday for a closer look at some of our favorite ergonomic picks.

Now Trending: Collaborative Offices

Another growing trend in today's workplace is the importance of collaboration among employees. Studies from Gensler show that top performing companies spend their time socializing and engaging in collaborative work 16% and 23% more than average companies, respectively. Those top performers consider collaboration to be more than twice as critical to job success. So what exactly does "collaborative work" mean?

The most current office furniture is designed to initiate employee interaction throughout the day, thus promoting a more exciting, busy, and overall more creative place to work. With bench desk layouts and low panels separating employee space, workers have the welcomed option to interact with their desk-mate and receive creative and necessary input from others while maintaining enough privacy to work on individual projects as well.

Collaboration doesn't necessarily mean "loud", however. In our own working showroom, benching has kept the noise level of phone conversations and side by side collaboration significantly lower because we're constantly aware of the employee across from us. Previous panel style desks really only provided perceived privacy. Hiding behind panels, phone calls were unintentionally louder due to the cubicle effect of the once popular desking solution.

Not to mention, being confined to a cubicle-esque work space all day doesn't exactly breed happy employees! Employees of the top performing companies surveyed were "uniformly satisfied" with their work environments, further proving the success of collaborative offices.

Amp up your collab potential by providing other informal meeting areas for your employees to sit down together in small groups. This could be in the form of couches and occasional tables in common areas or in simple, small scale conference rooms. Wide aisles in the office also allow for chance meetings among workers without disrupting individually focused work in the office.

Check back on Wednesday to get a closer look at the product we suggest using to get your company operating in an open plan up there with those "top performers".

Get the Look: OFS

Earlier this week we pointed out a new trend in interior design: sleek, simple pieces with clear European influence. So how do you get that look in your space? The answer is in OFS Brands. Presented with two Best of Year 2012 Awards in Product Design for these two chairs, OFS is a leader in modern office furniture.

The Madrid Seating Collection, pictured first, was designed to complement a variety of table heights. This is key in keeping a cohesive look throughout the office. The collection offers a great seating solution for conference tables, personal desks, and occasional table environments alike. Its clean lines and modern design add to the trendy, refreshing
aesthetic of your newly revamped workspace.

Similarly, The Flexxy Swivel, at right, is another great example of modern design by OFS. The chair was "inspired by the surface flow of the Sansevieria plant," so "continuity among edges and surfaces was critical" during the design process. The twisted structure provides strength, allowing for a consistent thin edge throughout the frame, while its unique mechanism offers chair adjustment without disrupting the visual flow. The Flexxy Swivel is available in two back heights, three frame colors and, in keeping with the idea of a cohesive aesthetic, it has a series of complimentary stacking and nesting side chairs to complete the family.

 

Pair these new seating solutions with the Eleven Work Space from OFS and bring your office in to the 21st century with clean, low storage, open concept work areas, and overall visual simplicity. Swiss architect and designer Daniel Korb developed Eleven with a "seamless blend of functionality, connectivity, storage, and media integration" in mind. To get set up with this adaptable, internationally inspired look in your space, contact us at NWOI for a consultation.

Now Trending: Clean & Simple

This year, interiors continue to make the shift from heirloom bulky to modern slim. In an attempt to adapt to the New Normal of the current generation, we'll be parting ways with the overly adorned to make room for the purely minimalistic.

According to Furniture News, one of the freshest trends we'll be seeing throughout 2013 is referred to as "Fraction". As you might guess from the name, new products will begin to embrace direct, angular properties with interlocking shapes and an abstract, European feel. Think geometric, Ikea-esque fashion with finishes at an extreme - either ultra-glossy or subdued and raw.

Design will begin to have strong Scandinavian tones, showcasing "pure forms, and smooth and compact finishes" that are controlled and totally non-excessive.

The point is for new age product to act as "discreet, yet direct" functional furniture. Meaning, super sleek lines and non-cumbersome pieces that are pleasing to look at, yet their function is simple and plainly obvious. In our over complicated world, we can begin to feel "freed by the plainness" of this new trend as our furniture starts working with us, not against us.

Patterns this year should draw from cubist mentalities, with repetitions of small scale geometrics being key. Mondrian style grids and bold, typographic patterns will be seen as well.

Find some inspiration in these photos and leave your thoughts on this architectural, low profile trend in the comments!

DigsDigs, The Luxe Home, HomeOOfficee, Maze Home, Lincah Design, Coco Cozy, Decor Advisor, Home Swiss

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog - a place for all things office related. We'll be here often to report on current and upcoming industry trends, highlight fun new products and designers, share interesting articles and, of course, the occasional update on our own projects.

Check back soon to see what we've been up to!