FURNITURE

Gispen
Innovative Dutch design. CQ-like desk in a sphere, which looks like a large white globe but pulls apart to reveal a seat and desk surface. The product is being upgraded so that you’ll soon be able to paint on the “egg” and make it your own.

Decca Contract
The Rottet by Decca collection of sleek, contemporary pieces draws upon Asian simplicity and minimalism and was created by Lauren Rottet, FAIA. It took home a Best of NeoCon® GOLD in Seating: Benches

LIGHTING

Haworth
The Brazo task light by Pablo Pardo of Pablo Designs is one sexy little number. It’s the first task light to offer focus control, which makes it ideal for use above computer monitors. The lamp also features 360 degree head rotation with 90 degree head adjustability, a height adjustment range is from 14 -21 inches and tangle free wire rotation. The source is LED, so it’s got a super long life and is cool to the touch. No wonder it won a Best of NeoCon® GOLD in Lighting and Best of NeoCon® BEST OF COMPETITION.

FABRIC

Designtex
Who would have thought those old cassette tapes could be woven into gold” Well, almost. Designtex has introduced a 30,000 double rubs upholstery fabric named “Sonic,” which is made up of 49% post industrial polyester. Even though it’s composed of both black and brown tape fill, it actually comes in five colors.

Innovations
We fell in love with their silver metallic “disco tweed” fabric, aka Fumiaki Odaka’s Alexander line. They also showed a fabric called Constantine, which is a metallic on linen. The copper color drew us in. Appropriately enough, this year Innovations won Best of NeoCon® INNOVATION in Textiles: Upholstery.

FLOORS & WALLS

LSI North America
It’s hard to make vinyl flooring exciting, but their Imagination Collection – which consists of river rock, water, grass, leaves, and ivy – succeeds. What really attracted us was the pink cow print, but they also offer less in-your-face selections such as bamboo and concrete planks. In the manufacturing process, the factory recycles annealing water into steam power.

Roman Architectural Finishes
It’s a little confusing, but they have several lines:
– Armorfaux: Allows you to create simple commercial faux finishes in the fraction of time. Use one of the pre-tinted bases and pre-tinted glazes, along with some simple tools.
– Armortex: A through-color textured coating product so “One Product Does It All (primer, base and texture coat). Available in 12 standard colors, but can be custom tinted to more than 3,000 colors. Just spray it on, but you can also “knock-down” or flatten it to achieve a different look.

Interlam, Inc.
They’re all Vegas, baby! Featuring high-end decorative surfaces and components: weaves, art diffusion, stone veneers, glass diffusion, 3-Diculous. Think of it as a glam fun house / playground for interior designers. The photos will speak for themselves.

TECHNOLOGY

Steelcase
Thought Steelcase just made furniture” Think again. They are embracing their inner geek for everyone’s benefit. The RoomWizard is a meeting room scheduler touch screen, as mentioned by keynoter Tim Brown from IDEO (see below). Oh, and Steelcase also hosted a fun party in conjunction with ASID on Tuesday night with a groovin’ DJ.

NOVA
The Trolley™ system which allows you to raise & lower your flat panel display from beneath a desktop with a touch of a button. Very James Bond. Use for reception and sales desks to keep things sleek or executive assistants and medical areas for privacy reasons.

The Evo System by Vantage Point
This is the absolute fave product of P&C Founder, Laura McDonald. It cleverly hides all the spaghetti of audio/visual system wires while sleekly offering brackets, shelves, etc. It’s high-function and high-aesthetics. It allows you to “make a mistake” or change things around. You mount the rails on wall studs, and if mount over existing electrical plugs, you don’t even need an electrician. This product line is good for conference rooms or living rooms, bars or hotel rooms.

ACCESSORIES

Doug Mockett & Company
Grommets and coat hooks and drawer pulls, oh my! Think pop-up power and data in tabletops, contemporarily beautiful cabinet hardware and shelf supports, and wire / cable management. You can even buy directly from the website.

Mechoshade
The bastion of natural lighting control has introduced their Ecoveil product – “cradle-to-cradle” window shade that can be recycled. Bonus: It’s also flame retardant and anti-microbial.

KEYNOTES

Barbara Barry
We walked away loving this woman after we heard her speak. (And even though we were not intentionally stalking her, as an extra treat we were able to ride the elevator down with her after the event.) She is very calm and has a specific philosophy about design – very tone on tone, high-end, treat-yourself-well concepts. Everything meshes for very cohesive projects. She has expanded into all sorts of product lines and related that she cannot imagine doing design without the product lines, and vice versa.