Top Four Take Aways from NeoCon

NeoCon 2015, held June 15-17 in the venerable Merchandise Mart in Chicago, was its usual cornucopia of inspiring and innovative commercial interiors products.

Here are the top four trends we saw at NeoCon:

Privacy — There is a continued progression back toward creating products and spaces that offer some degree of privacy. After years of intentional design for open, collaborative spaces, it’s apparent the pendulum is swinging back, even if slightly. People want and need places to escape for quiet or concentrated thinking time. This was evidenced at Izzy+, Knoll and other showrooms.

Bold Colors – From chairs to carpet, the seemingly unbridled use of bold and vibrant colors continues. Being biased of course, we love the colors in the new F-Stop product in the Filtered Effects Collection from our client J+J Flooring Group.

Our Zeftron nylon client, which makes the nylon that goes into commercial carpet, has also introduced several new color collections within the past 18 months, providing further evidence that bold colors are here to stay in commercial interiors for some time.

Cross-Over Products – The trend toward more “cross over” products that can serve multiple markets continues. Case in point: Our American Seating client’s new NIMA Chair is stylish enough to serve in a casual corporate or hospitality environment, yet durable and flexible enough to work exceedingly well in higher education environments. The same can be said of many of J+J’s commercial flooring products as well.

Awards – NeoCon is a place where the best of the best come to display and introduce their products. So, it’s no small feat when a company wins a NeoCon-related award given the high competition. This year, we were thrilled that two of our clients racked up notable awards! J+J’s Umbra and Umbra Stripe, an innovative textile composite flooring, won a Best of NeoCon in the Flooring: Hard Surface, Tile and Stone category. Talk about innovative: Kinetex products provide the luxurious look of a soft surface product with the durability and performance of a hard surface. Umbra and Umbra Stripe also won an Interior Design HIP Award in the Health & Wellness Flooring category.

American Seating’s NIMA Chair, developed in conjunction with iconic designer Giancarlo Piretti, also won a HIP Award in Educational/Institutional Seating category. This was the second year in a row American Seating has been honored with a HIP Award.

Here’s a small sampling of the great images and products we caught at this year’s NeoCon

Where NeoCon happens...The historic Merchandise Mart on the Chicago River.
Two essentials for starting your day at NeoCon: Starbucks and Interior Design magazine's Show Daily.
NIMA Chair with a Tablet Arm is perfect for education and corporate training purposes.
Large, wall-size fabrics in delicious blues and blue-greens grace the entrance to Mayer Fabric's showroom.
West Elm now has a full line of office furniture.
The NIMA Chair was featured in Show Daily.
The new NIMA Chair from our American Seating client.
Momentum Group fabrics on display in an elegant fashion.
NeoCon Day 2 was beautiful!
Break area on the 8th Floor brings the outside in with calming effect.
Knoll shows off a trending height-adjustable desk for sitting or standing, with a privacy screen.
F-Stop from J+J Flooring Group's new Filtered Effects Collection.
Izzy+ shows how to create a little privacy in an open office space.
Blackhawk fever gripped the city!
Contract Magazine Editor in Chief John Czarnecki hands out prizes at the J+J Flooring Group showroom
J+J Flooring Group's newest Invision collection, Filtered Effects, splashes the cover of Show Daily!
It was a rainy day departing Chicago back home to Atlanta. Kind of like I felt after leaving NeoCon.