Jessica Smarsch, Manager of Design for Robert Allen Contract, attended the NeoCon World Trade Fair June 14-16 in Chicago.  North America’s largest design exhibition and conference for commercial interiors, this annual industry gathering has taken place at The Merchandise Mart for the past 42 years.  We knew Jessica would be trend-spotting so we asked her to share a few of her discoveries in our blog this week. 

It was a refreshing sight to see bustling halls at NeoCon this year.  There certainly seemed to be a positive spirit in the air.  I was struck by a number of interesting trends infiltrating the Contract market.

The trend of naturals has been huge in residential and it seems to also be taking hold in the corporate arena.  Here Steelcase pairs leather and wool looks with a soft throw in a modern, natural feel.

Nurture by Steelcase uses this linen ground with a playful illustration for a pediatric accessory in healthcare.

Wool felt is nothing new to the corporate arena, but here Halcon uses it in a new way: in a natural tone as an elegant and functional magazine rack.

And perhaps the most innovative, surprising and beautiful use of a natural fiber was seen at Herman Miller with this perforated wool panel system.

Another interesting sight at Neocon this year were sheers in the corporate environment.  Here Knoll uses a modern, "techie" sheer as a corporate space divider, allowing more fluidity of space, perhaps following the trend of lowered panel heights and a more open corporate environment.

Humanscale offers a simple geometric sheer as a "go with" in this office setting.

And finally: COLOR.  Purple has infiltrated the market in waiting rooms, healthcare and corporate settings.  Carolina / Loewenstein uses purple as a decorative accent in a waiting room.

... and here as an accent pillow in a medical setting.

Izzy Group shows purple with the still-popular acidic green.

And Steelcase offers an office system in this hip new color.

Robert Allen Contract’s NeoCon exhibit included our own homage to purple. Shown here is one of our five room palettes in the new Classic Living collection, which includes fabrics and paints (Sherwin-Williams low and no-VOC wall coverings) for senior living. It’s our first collection targeted to CCRC (Continuous Care Retirement Communities). 

If you haven’t been to NeoCon, plan to attend next year in Chicago on June 13 –June 15.  You’ll see thousands of innovative new products – can choose from 150 CEU-accrediteed seminars – and connect with 40,000 or so of your colleagues! It’s informative, educational and lots of fun!

Summertime, and our thoughts turn to beaches…and books.  The fabric design studios at Robert Allen and Beacon Hill are filled with books, everywhere you turn.  We thought it would be fun to ask our Design Team for their current favorite “reads” when it comes to design inspiration….

JENNIE WILDE
Vice President, Product Design & Merchandising, The Robert Allen Group

SAMPLE: 100 FASHION DESIGNERS, 010 CURATORS, CUTTINGS FROM CONTEMPORARY FASHION
By editors of Phaidon Press
Phaidon Press Ltd., 2005 Edition  

100 Fashion Designers is a curated collection of influential fashion designers from around the globe. From concept to content it's like an explosion of ideas, that is somehow packaged perfectly.  The package itself - elastic bound escalading pages -  is always a first grab every time I start thumbing through my shelves look for some satisfying visual consumption. The photography captures the color, the pattern, shape, silhouette…expression…mood…texture...and most importantly the energy, energy of ideas, the energy of fashion. I have owned and dog eared it for several years and it still feels new every time I thumb through…the runways are typically the place where I am the most inspired. 

CHRISTY ALMOND
Operating Vice President, Fabric Design, Robert Allen

When I visited South Africa, I was fascinated with the thousands of colorful shacks I saw on the hillsides surrounding Cape Town.  Painted in multiple colors, these shacks were bold and bright, vibrant and happy --- some were even covered with wrappers from containers.  So I couldn’t come home without this book of stunning photography, which tells the story of the Shack Dwellers.  After building their shacks, they take great pride in painting and decorating the exteriors to be as reflective of their personalities as possible.  The Shack Dwellers’ creativity and their spirit in the face of adversity are equally inspiring.

DIANE LYON
Design Director, Upholstery, Robert Allen

 
COLOR: A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PALETTE
By Victoria Finlay
Random House Publishing Group, 2003 edition

This book is a fascinating look into the history of the paintbox.  The author has researched the history of all of the colors found in an artist’s palette.  It delves into the details of each color, how it was originally made, and the story behind its use.  In every chapter, there are political and religious storms that all cause the artists in that time period to adjust their colors accordingly.  

Anyone who loves color will find this a great read.  It is part History Channel, part Travel Channel, part Discovery Channel.  You will never look at a painting again without appreciating the effort it took to get the paint made, let alone into a beautiful image.

ALEXIS AUDETTE
Beacon Hill Design Director

 
THE PRIVATE WORLD OF YVES SAINT LAURENT AND PIERRE BERGE
By Robert Murphy with Photography by Ivan Terestchenko
The Vendome Press, 2009 edition

The bold, eclectic and personal interiors of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge offer a wellspring of inspiration.  Their homes were brilliant cacophonies of objects that somehow all worked together.  The photos in this book reveal pastiches of modern art, African sculpture, handpainted wallpaper, artful “still lives” of treasured objects, and, of course, exquisite textiles.  

GERMAINE MURRAY
Manager, Trimmings and Drapery Hardware, The Robert Allen Group

  
PARIS INTERIORS
by Lisa Lovatt-Smith
TASCHEN, 2007 edition

One of my favorite design inspirations is Paris Interiors, the 2007 25^th anniversary “special edition” from the Taschen series of art and design books.  Beautifully illustrated with superb photography of the incredible houses and apartments belonging to designers, artists and actors, it shows some of the real-life design influences in this city renowned for its style.   There is so much to soak up from this book, I refer to it again and again.  New York Interiors is another great city reference from this series that I’ve found inspiring.