| CSI
Contract Specialties,
Inc.
your link to
workplace news
August
2009 | |
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 "The artist is nothing without the gift, but the
gift is nothing without work." - Emile Zola
(1840-1902)
(click image to see
cricket bench) |
| in the know |
Sign of the
Times: Economy Forces Steelcase to Vacate Its Iconically
Weird HQ
The company's infamous pyramid, once
bustling, will soon be as empty as a tomb.
It's been a gruesome couple of years
for Steelcase, one of the country's biggest office
furniture manufacturers--in 2008, their profits
evaporated, dropping by 99%; in 2009, sales have
plummeted again and they're bleeding cash. And finally,
to add symbolic insult to monetary injury, the company
has been forced to vacate its iconically hideous
headquarters in Kentwood, Michigan. Steelcase says no
jobs will be lost in the move, even though it came about
due to under-utilization (the brunt of the layoffs has
already occurred).
There's no word yet on what will
happen to the Pyramid--it was part and parcel of the
company itself, housing the design offices, test labs,
and various management functions. Despite what its
outward appearance suggests, it wasn't the product of a
drunken office park developer.
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| news @
CSI |
 The HBF Solace Chair receives a
Best of NEOCON 2009 Gold Award for outstanding design.
Solace, a lightly scaled guest chair
designed for HBF by Chris Annas, reflects classic details and
quality artisanship in the softened wood edges and tapered
legs, providing an added sense of simplistic beauty. The
understated details of the award winning Solace are evident
when viewed from any perspective, reflecting the spirit of HBF
design
Boss Design is Launched in North American at
NEOCON
Boss Design and Tayco announced at NEOCON a
joint venture , which will see a selection of Boss Design
branded seating products manufactured out of Toronto, Ontario,
Canada and distributed throughout the North American
market.
Brian Murray, Boss Design Managing Director
said: "These are indeed exciting times for Boss Design.
We are delighted to be taking the Boss Design brand to North
America with our partners Tayco." He added: "In recent
years we have seen demand for our products increase throughout
America. I look forward to working with Tayco and to
seeing Boss Design seating installations throughout the North
American Market."
"Tayco is very excited about our partnership
with Boss Design," said Tayco President, Phil Phillips.
"Both companies have very ambitious plans for the joint
venture and look forward to becoming a key player in the North
American marketplace.
Laura Barrett is LEED CERTIFIED!
Our very own
Laura Barrett has earned her accreditation as a LEED AP
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Professional.)
This national recognition by the Green Building Certification
Institute signifies that an individual has attained advanced
knowledge in sustainable design, construction and operational
practices that are integrated to maximize both economic and
environmental performance of the built
environment.
As more and more furniture
manufacturers embrace environmental sustainability, it's
important to do more than just "Talk the Talk". Laura is now
in a position to "Walk the Walk" when it comes to discussing
green solutions for your projects.
One of the manufacturers
Contract Specialties, Inc. represents is HBF. HBF
and HBF Textiles have made significant commitments to follow
the path of environmental sustainability. They recognize the
potential impact of their products and processes, and the
importance of using available resources intelligently. The
company has pledged their research and development
capabilities to investigate and implement the use of new
materials and environmentally conscious manufacturing
processes to secure ecologically responsible alternatives to
traditional methods.
The HBF ecoScorecard is an online tool
for consumers that will allow you to identify HBF's
environmentally sensitive products. This database enables you
to calculate the contribution of HBF products towards the
attainment of LEED credits.
Contract Specialties, Inc.
supports your desire to use the most environmentally friendly
products available. With HBF's ecoScorecard and other
tools we have available, we will demonstrate how the products
from HBF and other manufacturers we represent will help you
reach your goal of building a greener future for all of
us.
Contact Laura to discuss how our manufacturers can
help.
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| Textile Talk |
Three new Technology Leathers from
Joseph Noble that perform beyond the norm.
Stingray.
Early civilizations
believed that the stingray brought strength and power to
anyone who had  contact
with it. Certain cultures thought it to be a protector of good
luck and prosperity. Egyptian craftsmen prized the beauty and
durability of stingray skin by fashioning armor and other
decorative items from it, which were later discovered in the
tombs of ancient pharaohs. Shogun Samurai used the raw skins
for armor as well as handles on their Samurai swords.
Inspired by the winged phantom of the deep, our STINGRAY
Technology Leather™ possesses the inherently primitive beauty
and grace one might expect from these ghost of the open
seas.
Up close, STINGRAY's subtle patterned "skin" reveals
a handsome pebbled surface, yet when viewed from a distance it
discloses a surprisingly subtle spinal patte
(Click image for
details)
Visconti.
It's
the classic marriage of ideas. It starts off with strips of
leather. Small, tiny strips,  architecturally arranged - sometimes as a simple plait,
at other times complicated rows of chevron. Then wed this
basic item to the time-honored craft of braided weaving
(artistically, a perfect match). The strength of this marriage
is manifested in the finished product - a soft, pliable,
functional yet strikingly beautiful work of achievement.
Now, add to that Joseph Noble's ability to translate this
into one of his amazing Technology Leathers™. The final honor
bestowed on this arrangement is shading all three patterns
with the most historic universal hue of leather, espresso.
What you have is Visconti.
Honoring the classic art of
creating a fascinating product from the most basic of
ideas.
(Click image for
details)
Dangerous.
In
nature, an essential function of snake skin is to reduce
friction with the ground as it moves,  which is
crucial since friction is the major source of energy loss for
a snake in motion. Both the snake's skin and its scales help
retain moisture in the animal's body. Reptiles pick up
vibrations from both the air and the ground and can
differentiate the two by using a complex system of internal
resonances involving the use of its scales. These scales are
made of keratin, the same material that human hair and
fingernails are made of.
Like its natural counterpart, our
newest Technology Leather™ was designed to promote wear,
flexibility and function. The sleek finish helps to reflect
the base color and emphasizes the overall scale of this
amazing saurian pattern.
(Click image for
details) |
| tips &
tools |
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 How Knowledge Can Hurt
Innovation
Chip and Dan Heath
described the curse of knowledge nicely in their 2007 book
Made to Stick (highly recommended to all innovators). The
basic problem: people who have deep knowledge about a topic
sometimes assume other people have that same knowledge. That
can lead to major missteps
The brothers
Heath bring this to life by describing a simple experiment run
by a Stanford doctoral candidate in the early 1990s. The
researcher gave subjects a list of popular songs like "Happy
Birthday" and asked them to tap those songs out on a table.
Another person had to guess the songs. The researcher asked
the "tapper" to predict the percent of songs the "listener"
would guess correctly.
The tappers - who could hear the
song in their heads as they tapped - assumed that people would
get 50 percent right. They actually got 2.5 percent
right
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Bill
Meyer
Contract Specialties, Inc.
(CSI)
phone: 904-220-0221 or
800-808-8274
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