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 February 2010
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Leland Marquette Bar Height dome base table"A doctor can bury his mistakes but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines." - Frank Lloyd Wright (1868-1959)
 
 
 
 
 
 
in the know
What's Next: Workplace 
Baby boomers are marching into their sixties and seventies; and soon-faster than you can say "Fiber One"-we'll have the oldest workforce in the history of work. What does that mean for workplace design? "Companies will want older people because they've got knowledge and experience, so there is going to be a big emphasis on creating the right settings for them," says Jeremy Myerson, director of the Helen Hamlyn Centre at the Royal College of Art, which is currently engaged in research on work environments for older employees. These spaces favor concentration over messy collaboration, and relaxation over hypercaffeination, and might feature advanced telecom that eliminates the need for business trips halfway around the world. He says the best of these innovations will redound to the benefit of any working stiff, whether age 75 or 25.
 
 COMBATING NOISE
"The number-one bugbear for older workers is noise. People think that knowledge, work, innovation, and creativity are all about brainstorming and teamwork. They are to a point, but, actually, the majority of people's work has to do with solo, private concentration. So I would expect to see innovations like sound-transformation technologies. We have been experimenting with a few in London where you have a sound system and some speakers that are listening to ambient sound around you and changing it. It will take horrible background noise in the office-people shouting, scraping chairs-and turn it into chorale or whale music."
news @ CSI
Adjustable Shelving (a division of Karp Industries) on the move in 2010 
 
CSI LogoWhether it is architectural and design driven furniture grade library shelving or simply back room storage products, shelving and storage products are required on almost all projects.  Often designers and dealers alike overlook a lot of the products Adjustable has developed a reputation delivering.  While 2009 dealt most of the office furniture industry a severe blow, Adjustable Shelving had a very acceptable year.  Established in 1927, the Adjustable Shelving Brand provides premier shelving products for the contract furniture industry including innovative, economical and effective storage solutions for:
                 Libraries
                 File Rooms
                 Conference Rooms
                 Storage Rooms
                 Mail Rooms
 
Part of Adjustable's success in 2009 was their diversity, serving several market segments.  Another part of their success was their attention to customer needs, service oriented personnel and great pricing.  Unlike most of the filing and shelving manufacturers out there, Adjustable has created a business model that relies on the A & D community to recommend their product and the office furniture dealer to be a partner, not a competitor.  Adjustable has elected to serve the market in this manner teaming with office furniture dealers, not filing dealers or direct sales forces.  The scenario works, A & D firms and furniture dealers across the country have begun to rely on Adjustable for filing solutions to meet their customer's needs.  Armed with a terrific estimating department and CADD drawing capability, the designer or dealer need only provide Adjustable with the job's requirements and a drawing (or sketch) of the area, and Adjustable provides a detailed quote and product layout drawing (if needed).
 
Adjustable's electrical assist systemFueled by the success in 2009, Adjustable is expanding their offering in two areas this year.  The first is the addition of an electrical assist high density filing system to complement their already hugely successful mechanical assist high density system product line. 
 
The new electrical assist product offers:
                Advanced touchpad design providing oversize touch areas.
                Electo-static touch pads allow for "Hands full" operation.
                Simple plug in the wall power.

 
Some of the Safety / Security features of the new offering are:  
                Infrared Safety Sweep extends the length of the system, and if infrared beam is broken, system will halt.
                Passive safety aisle protection
                Advance Motor Current Monitoring System detects people/objects in the aisle, and if it's path is blocked will put
                a spike down in the system.
                UL certified under the 1950 code requirements.

Convenience / Reliability features
                Transponder programming easily sets up proprietary functions
                The system recognizes weight load changes and adjusts carriage operation automatically to reduce system wear
                 and tear.
                 The system can interact with outside systems such as file tracking systems, building alarm systems, etc,

The second product line addition in 2010 is cantilever shelving.  Adjustable Shelving has entered into a strategic alliance with a manufacture of cantilever shelving.  This expands their capability in the storage/filing marketplace and allows them to compete for projects requiring "budget priced" shelving.  Please keep in mind that Adjustable still markets and manufactures their LR and LF series library shelving , AC Clip and Nut & Bolt backroom storage products.  This new addition to the Adjustable product lineup offers dealers and designers tremendous flexibility when a cantilever shelving solution is needed. 
 
Textile Talk
 2010, A new decade, a new decadence - Great Launch
 By Victoria Larocca - GreatDesign.com
 
Damm ChicIf you run in décor circles, you've probably noticed every year around this time savvy designers growing kind of restless. Heaven knows, in this industry it's not bored-restless. No, it's more eagerness -- to get a glimpse of what Joseph Noble has been up to for the last 11 months. Equally telling, their über-discerning style cronies -- interior designers, architects, editors, demanding clients -- are also standing by on straight pins and upholstery needles, anticipating that whatever he's been doing will have been worth the wait.
Fortunately for all, the 2010 Joseph Noble Collection is just that.
"I loved doing it," Mr. Noble says, shrugging as if it were effortless. "Pulling off the combinations of colors, weaves and finishes took some behind-the-scenes diplomacy. But with some calculated coddling, everyone ended up getting along famously."  
As for the overall impact of the collection, you really have to give Mr. Noble a supple hand. The unexpected-yet-long-awaited touchability of each engineered product clearly demonstrates -- like a sentimental old cigarette campaign -- they've "come a long way, baby." And color? This year's color palette is so progressive, he describes it as off the charts. 
 
The Collection

Historical references abound in all five signature patterns.  But don't be fooled -- these are not your Granny Gert's fabrics.
 
Damm ChicTake for instance DAMN CHIC. The tiny cubes of cut velvet are positively playful. Against a backdrop of what looks like micro-petit point, they're arranged like a variegated 3-D checkerboard waiting only for the addition of some tiny gold-plated checkers.  Added bonus: DC wears like a whip and nets out at less than 40 bucks a yard, signifying that it's also a damn bargain. (DAMN CHIC, $39.50)
 

 
BeautyAnother cut velvet beauty, not-so-coincidentally named BEAUTY, is also making its debut. Interpreted in an engaging Japanese palette of limes and pinks, at first glance it feels a bit superficial. But go a little deeper and you'll see behind every burst of color a fair amount of engineering. 
"Every workhorse has a bit of showhorse in him, ready to strut its stuff," Mr. Noble says. "Here it is."
And while it's true, BEAUTY couldn't have been executed without technology, let's not forget to give credit where it's due: pure design and color. (BEAUTY, $79.50)
 
AmazingThe aptly-named solid AMAZING is a subtle twill with a loose, enchanting hand.  As if it needed an endorsement beyond its moniker, Mr. Noble just incorporated AMAZING into his recently renovated New York apartment, using it on all the window treatments, then matching the walls in the same color. 
"It's almost mono-dull.  But at the same time quite multifarious," he says. "It makes the perfect backdrop for some kickass art."
Finished with the most up-to-the-nanosecond nanotechnology, AMAZING continues to earn its name by exceeding 100,000 double rubs, and more importantly, does so while wholesaling at less than $25 a yard.  Not sure what else he could have called it.  (AMAZING $24.50)
 

SoftRounding out the calm, cool Collection are two new Technology Leathers, SOFT and FRANKENSTEIN. Both of them are non-PVC alternatives that could fool even a seasoned saddle maker. What used to be called vinyl has now sobered up to be a responsible product all on its own. SOFT is, well, pretty self-explanatory. FRANKENSTEIN is a nod to Mary Shelley, Austrian machine embroidery and, just for fun, aggressive European plastic surgery. 
"Our Technology Leathers continue to be a 'right place, right time, right price, right look' product. They're not for everyone -- either you like them or you don't," he says with no trace of arrogance or hard feelings. (SOFT, $29.50 and FRANKENSTEIN, $39.50)Frankenstein
 
Standing here looking back over the Collection's evolution, you can see Mr. Noble has been busy working outside of categories such as "contemporary," "modern" and "classic." Yet still staying focused in this amusing industry of "dry goods," as he likes to call them.  He also refuses to be burdened with the past. 
"We're still being over-patterned by the mature textiles houses," he says. "It's not surprising then that young designers are shying away from serious interiors that get awfully soggy awfully fast." 
 "I design and sell product that is a component item," he concludes, "so I am constantly obligated to think like a craftsman. You know, how it works." 
In this case, we do know. But only because he shows us. 
tips & tools 
 10 Signs Time to Quit
How many times a day do you say to yourself, "I like what I do, but not where I work?" Or the opposite, "I like where I work, but not what I do?" The current economy has kept many employees stationed for the past couple of years, not because they love what they do - but because they are too scared to pursue other opportunities. But, according to a recent Gallup Poll, 71 percent of employees feel disengaged from their jobs. So what should you do? Continue to stay in a job where you are unhappy? Or start looking for somewhere where you'll be happier?
People quit their jobs for many reasons. Maybe you don't like your co-workers or your boss drives you crazy. Maybe there's nowhere for you to move up in the company. Maybe you're overworked and underpaid. Maybe you're all of the above.
While the choice to move on to greener pastures is up to you, here are 10 signs that should tell you if it's time to start thinking about moving on:
1. Your co-workers drive you crazy.
Co-workers can be a curse or a blessing in the workplace. When you work with people you love, it's one thing. But how are you supposed to get any work done when your colleagues are irritating you, offending you, distracting you, coming in late, leaving early, talking loudly on the phone, procrastinating or coming to your desk to gossip? If you find that you want to tear your hair out at the end of each day because of your colleagues, it might be time to look for more tolerable people.
2. You hate going to work.
When Sunday night rolls around, are you dreading going into the office the next morning? As soon as you arrive on Monday morning, are you already thinking about Friday at 5 p.m.? I think all of us have had to go to job that we hate at least once, and if you haven't - you're the exception, not the rule (not to mention extremely lucky). When you're spending 40+ hours at work, the last thing you want is to hate every second you're there. If you do, it might be time to start thinking about your next career move. 
All the best,
Bill Signature
Bill Meyer
Contract Specialties, Inc. (CSI)
 
phone: 904-220-0221 or 800-808-8274
 
 
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