at issue vol6 no1

7/28/2019 At Issue Vol6 No1

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T o m P e t e r s O n M a n a g i n g D e s i g nDo You R eal ly Know Your C olors?

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I n t e r f a c e C a r p e t s th e E a r t h i


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i s s u e :Volume 6, No.lThe Journal of Business and DesignPublisherCorporate Design FoundationSponsored by Potlatch Corporation

Delphine HirasunaDesignPentagramKit Hinrichs, Design DirectorAmy Chan, DesignerContributing WritersDelphine HirasunaNoreen O'LearyPeter LawrenceCover Illustratio nBrad HollandM ajor I llustrat ion and PhotographyC.F. PayneBarry RobinsonE ditoria l Advisory BoardPeter LawrenceCorporate Design FoundationJens BernsenDanish Design CentreAgnes BourneAgnes Bourne Inc.

PentagramDelphine HirasunaHirasuna EditorialPeter LaundyDoblin GroupJames PatellGraduate School of BusinessStanford UniversityChristopher PullmanWGBH Educational FoundationFor m ore informationCorporate Design Foundation20 Park Plaza, Suite 321Boston, MA 02116Telephone: 617-350-7097Fax: 61 7-451 -6355E-mail: [email protected] Wide Web s i te :http : / /www.cdf.on
mailto:[email protected]://www.cdf.on/http://www.cdf.on/mailto:[email protected]


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Tom P eters on DesignRenowned for hisastute observationsabout corporatemanagement, TomPeters turns hisfocus on howbusiness can betteruse design.

Less Is Moreat InterfaceInterface's drive tobecome environmentally sustainable hasled to breakthroughinnovations in thedesign and marketing of its commercialcarpets.

Color Awareness QuizYou think youknow colors, but doyou really? Take thisquiz and find outwhy there's moreto using color thanmeets the eye.

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CorningMuseum of GlassThe newly renovatedCorning Museum ofGlass celebrates theart of glassmakingand raises awareness and appreciation for how amazingand important thismaterial is.

Business andDesign C lassicThings did not zipseamlessly intoplace for the inventors of the Zipper.False starts exposedmany holes in theoriginal designbefore it ail cametogether.

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Tazo TeaIn developing abrand image forits premiumteas, Tazoliterallyinventeda fictional identity, modeling itselfafter a "Marco Polomeets Merlin theMagician" concept.26^ue:

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M a n a g e m e n t G u r u T o m P e t e r s o n D e s ig nS i n c e t h e p h e n o m e n a l s u c c e s s o f u In S e a r c h o f E x c e l l e n c e ' 'in 1 9 8 2 , Tom P e t e r s h a s b e e n c o n s i d e r e d t h e p r e e m i n e n tau t h o r i t y o n b u s i n es s m an ag em en t . He re h e t a l k s w i t h P e t e rL a w r e n c e , c h a i r m a n of C o r p o r a t e D e s i g n F o u n d a t i o n , a b o u tthe ro l e des ign can p l ay in bus iness t oday .

Y o u a r e b e s t k n o w n a s a g u r u o f c o r p o r a t em a n a g e m e n t , s o m a y b e I s h o u l d s t a r t b ya s k i n g w h a t d e s i g n e n c o m p a s s e s f o r y o u ?Literal ly , everyth ing. I once contr ibuted al i t t le p iece cal led "Des ign I s . . . " for a book,in which I wrote down 100 th ings , l i s t ingeveryth ing f rom easy-to-fill-out airb i l ls tobas eba l l s , w h ich I cons ide r f abu lous tu rn -o n s . Design ranges f rom the phys ical layo u t o f a r o o m t o t h e m a k e u p a r t i s t s w h op r e s e n t L a r r y K i n g t o t h e p u b l i c . I t ' sW i n s t o n C h u r c h i l l ' s " s p o n t a n e o u s " w i t t yrem ark s , a l l of whic h he had careful ly w r i t t e n o u t t h e n i g h t b e f o r e o n s m a l l s c r a p sof p a p e r a n d c a r r i e d a r o u n d w i t h h i m .A no the r huge pa r t o f des ign i s u s ab i l i ty ,w h i c h D o n N o r m a n d i s c u s s e s s o w e l l i n h i s b o o k ," T h e D e s i g n of E v e r y d a y T h i n g s . "Is design purely practical?Not really. I saw an article in Fortune r ecen t ly w hereSteve Jobs is quoted saying "des ign is the soul of ama nm ade c r e a t ion . " The re ' s a pa r t of tha t I'm a t t r ac tedt o . I a lso loved Rose Tremain ' s passage on mus ic inhe r nove l "M us ic and S i l ence , " w h ich I th ink i s ju s t

Tom Pe te r s ' name has beensynonymous with businessmanagement since 1982 whenhe authored "In Search ofExcellence," written withRobert H. Waterman, Jr. -cited as one of the "Top ThreeBusiness Books of the Century"by NPR. This seminal workand his other best-sellers havehelped to transform corporateAmerica. "In no small part,what American corporationshave become is what Petershas encouraged them to be,"notes T h e Ne w Yorker. His latest work includes "The NewReinventing Work Series." Healso writes hundreds of articlesfor major publications annuallyand presents seminars aroundthe world.

as t rue about des ign. [Reading f rom book]S he w r i t e s , " . . .of course , we real ly donot know where mus ic comes f rom, orwhy, or when the f irs t note of i t was heard,and we shal l never know. I t i s the humansoul speaking without words , but i t seemsto cure pain ." For me, des ign is e lus ive ,i t ' s soul , i t ' s abs t ract , and i t ' s a l l of theoppos i tes of those th ings .Design as the "soul" of a productis a switch from Six Sigma methods aimedat zero product defects, which was thecorporate mantra of the '90s. Why shouldbusiness buy into that?Becaus e a s mos t p roduc t s w ork in theSix S igma qual i ty sense in ways that

w ere un imag inab le a f ew yea r s ago , th i s th ing ca l l eddes ign and I refuse to call i t the "soft s ide" h a sbecome cen t r a l to en te rp r i s e s t r a t egy . The s ucces s o fS ix S igma has turned qual i ty in to a "commodity ," somuch so that i t i s no longer the determining factor forw h ich b rand to buy . Tha t ' s w hy w e a r e s o tu rned onby the iM ac and Bee t l e . D es ign i s " l a d i f f e r ence . "In a wor ld loaded with s tuf f that looks l ike a l l the


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other s tu f f and per fo rms l ike a l l the o therstuff, i t i s a way to s tand ou t .Is design more important for

m a r k e t i n g products than services?N o. Paradoxica l ly , I be l ieve tha t des ign

is more impor tan t fo r se rv ices . Harvardmarke t ing exper t Ted Lev i t t

po in ted ou t years ago tha t i fyour p roduct i s tang ib le

(p lanes , boa ts , cars , pen kn i fe ) ,you need to d is t ingu ish yourse l f f rom

th e h e r d b y e m p h a s i z in g i n t a n g ib l e s i .e . , se rv ice . I f your p roduct i s in tang ib le(bank ing , t r ave l , e tc . ) , d is t ingu ish yourse l f

f rom the masses by emphasiz ing the tang i b le to wi t , des ign . FedEx, fo r example ,

s tands ou t on the tang ib les s t r o n g b r a n d in g , c l e a nt ruc ks , easy- to -u se fo rms. To me a bus ine ss sys tem ,l ike FedEx ' s , tha t works t ransparen t ly on the su r faceand o f fe rs b r i l l ian t s impl ic i ty i s as much abou t des ignas an iMac o r a Bee t le . I f you ' re a se rv ice business ,i t ' s impor tan t to spec i f ica l ly work on the tang ib les .Does the design industry recognize this fact?Well , I found i t in te res t ing tha t when ID Magazinepubl ished i t s Top 40 l i s t o f o rgan iza t ions tha t makeeffective use of design, half of them were service comp a n ie s . T h e r e we r e a s m a n y Fe d E x s , B lo o m b e r g s a n dNew York Yankees on the l i s t as there were Gi l le t tes ,Ca t e r p i l l a r s a n d Ap p le s .Designers often claim that corporate executivesthink differently from them. Assuming there is sometruth to that, why do you think it is?Be c a u se we a r e l i t e r a l i s t s . We ' r e t r a in e d a s e n g i n e e r s . We h a v e M BAs . Be c a u se we s t i l l b e l i e v eth a t b u s in e ss i s a r e d u c t io n i s t a c t i v i t y , r a th e r t h a na ho l i s t ic ac t iv i ty .Do you believe the reductionist approachstill works for business? Does it hampercreativity and leaps-of-faith solutions?I tend to agree wi th Henry Min tzberg who wro te"The Rise and Fa l l o f St ra teg ic Plann ing ," my favor i tebusiness book of the las t 15 years . Basica l ly , Min tzbergsays tha t there i s obv iously a ro le fo r p lann ing you have to meet your budget ; I have to meetm i n e . B u t h e a r g u e s t h e f u n d a m e n t a ln o t io n i s c o m p le t e ly r e d u c t io n i s t , y e t

t h e r e a l i t y i s a b o u t l e a p s a n d in tu i t i v e t h in k in g .Af t e r y o u ' v e r e v i e we d th e e v id e n c e , y o u h a v e t ot rus t your in tu i t ion .

In h is au tob iography , ex-Apple CEO John Scu l leyof fered one o f the n ices t quo tes I 've ever read on th is .He wro te , "I have never seen an e f fec t ive marke t ingd e c i s io n m a d e b a se d o n t h e d a t a . " He wa sn ' t m a k in ga n a n t i - d a t a c o m m e n t . He m e a n t t h a t y o u sh o u ldco l lec t da ta by the ton , so tha t your subconsc ious i sin formed by the da ta . Then you do whatever you oughtto do . Cer ta in ly design fa l l s in to tha t rea lm. You can ' treduce design cho ices to a few genera l p r inc ip les , bu tyou can in form your in tu i t ion .Can design play a role in modeling the future?A huge ro le . In the fo rward I wro te fo r Michae lSc h r a g e ' s b o o k , "Serious Play : How the Wor ld ' s BestCo m p a n ie s S im u la t e t o I n n o v a t e , " I t a lk a b o u t h o wM ic h a e l h a s o p e r a t i o n a l i z e d t h e p o in t s t h a t Bo bWa te r m a n a n d I c o v e r e d i n " I n Se a r c h o f E x c e l l e n c e "- e .g . , that the No.l t r a i t o f exce l len t companies i s ab ias fo r ac t ion . That ac t ion i s be ing manifes ted in thedesign o f p ro to types . Michae l ' s p remise i s tha t " thereac t ion to the p ro to type i s innovat ion ." In o therwords , when you have rea l th ings to p lay wi th , youhave someth ing to ta lk abou t .Is that arriving at the solutionthrough the process of elimination?Years ago a guy a t Cadbury in t roduced me to thep h r a se "Re a d y . F i r e . A im ." which I 've a lways loved .As a y o u n g Na v y m id sh ip m a n , I l e a r n e d th a t wa s wh a tthe mili tary does. You f ire to the lef t , you f ire to ther igh t , then you f igure ou t how to h i t the sh ip b roadside .What mistakes have you seen managersmake in terms of understanding and using design?Mistake No. l i s t r ea t ing design as a veneer i ssuer a th e r t h a n a so u l i s su e . T h e d u m b e s t m i s t a k e i sv iewing design as someth ing you do a t the end o fthe p rocess to " t idy up" the mess , as opposed tou n d e r s t a n d in g th a t i t ' s a "d a y o n e " i s su e a n d p a r to f every th ing .


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Ho w i m p o r t a n t is d e s ig n in e -c o m m e r ce ?I t i s e-commerce. Per iod . Al l s top . Whether i t i s thelook of the screen , the innards , the del ivery mechanismtha t actua lly ma ke s the stuff com e to fruition after youpun ch your one -c l i ck bu t ton , o r the look - f ee l- t a s t e -touch of the s ite itself, t he In te rne t i s a pu re , unadu l t e r a ted des ign med ium.It's interesting that s o much of the trulyinnovative Internet work is originating withthe Gen-X crowd and startup companies.

Yes, in the SanFrancisco area , much ofthe In ternet innovat ionis being led by coolk ids w i th d read locksand lo ts of body pierci n g s . I 'm not sure whattha t means , bu t I th inki t goes back to MichaelS ch rage ' s po in t abou t" s e r ious p lay . " TheInternet game involvespieces on top of p ieceson top of p ieces , andit is l i terally played atw arp s peed . I t ' s as c r e w - a r o u n d b u s i n e s s ,where you have to bef lexib le enough tochange it tomorrow. Youcan ' t wai t for corporatedecis ions in the t radit iona l s ens e .Do you consider thephysical manifestation ofa brand important?

h e d u m b e s tm i s t a k e i s

iewing design a so m e th i n g y o u dot t h e end o f th e

p r o c e s s t o 't idyup7 t h e m e s s , a s

pposed t o underit's a 'day

n e' issue and pa rtf e v e r y t h i n g . "

In f ini t e ly . I r ead a com men t in a book , can ' t r em em b e r w h i c h , t h a t t h e r e ' s n o t h i n g d i s t i n c t i v e a b o u t t h eK odak iden t i ty excep t K odak ye l low . Th ere ' s s om et ru th to tha t . K odak ye l low . S he l l ye l low . Time r e d .Coke r ed . The phys ic a l man i f es t a t ion of a b r a nd i ss hock ing ly impor tan t , i f i t i s cons i s t en t w i th w ha t ' sgo ing on in s ide .To what extent is the design of the workplace important?I th ink space des ign is arguably the mos t powerfulo rgan iza t iona l , cu l tu r e - s hap ing too l . I n "In Search of

Exce l l ence , " w e inc luded ju s t one g raph . I t w as anexpo nent ia l curve f rom Tom Allen a t MIT showing th eeffect of locat ion on com mu nica t ion . I t showed th atif t eam m em ber s a r e s i tua ted w i th in 30 f ee t of eachother , they communicate l ike crazy. More than thatand i t might as wel l be 3 ,000 miles .

I wi tnessed th is f i r s t -hand years ago when we didsome consul t ing for a l i t t le uni t of P i tney Bowes , whichhad done some fabulous ly cool th ings . A secret to theirsuccess was that when a l i t t le res taurant near theirhead quar t e r s w en t ou t of bus ines s , the d iv i s ion r en tedi t for $2000 a month and put a team there . For a l lk ind s of r eas ons , l ike d i s t anc e from the co rpo ra teheadquar te r s , l i ke s habby s u r round ings , l ike p rox imi tyto one another , i t was enormous ly powerful .Are traditional corporate settin gssuited to the way we work today?I have been appal led by the s ter i l i ty of corporateset t ings . The real wor ld of enterpr ise , whether i t ' ss e rv ing cus tomers o r deve lop ing p roduc t s , Jui s about r isks and b lood and pass ion andl i fe and human beings . I t makes no sense tome that the p laces where we are supposed to doproduc t ive w ork a r e inc red ib ly imper s ona l .Do you think the corporate managersoverseeing design have to have an artistic sense?No , bu t they need to app rec ia te the impor tance o fdes ign. Years ago the powers that be a t my formeremployer , McKinsey & Co. , spent a year and a halfredoing the typeface, the le t terhead and so on. I thoughtthey were crazy, until I realized that I was crazy for notseeing they were r ight . Among them, they had probably zero ar t is t ic sk i l l , but they unders tood that a wel l -des ig ned id ent i ty was the esse nce of who they were ,jus t as IBM has s ince the ear ly Tom Watson, J r . days .How can non-designers hone their design awareness?I th ink 9 9 % o f u s app rec ia te des ign on a pe r s ona llevel . Why else do we agonize over what color car tobuy and what s ty le ref lects who we are? But we turn i toff when we come to the office. In working with peopleon th i s , i nc lud ing myself, I found the only pra ct ic alexercise is to car ry a notebook and pay a t tent ion tostuff that turns you on or turns you off and don ' tworry about why. You' ll begin to f ind that your preferen ce s go from th e dee p soul aesth eti c s tuff to [Don]N o r m a n e s q u e " u s a b i l i t y " f e a t u r e s .


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I S S U E :R o b C a s s e t t i , D i r e c t o r o f E d u c a t i o n a n dC r e a t i v e S e r vi c e s , C o r n i n g M u s e u m o f G la s sFormerly exhibition development manager, RobCassetti is now responsible for CMoG's interpretiveprogramming and traditional education and educational outreach programs.

L ocated midway be tween New York Ci ty andNiag ara Fa l l s i s one of the s ta t e ' s most pop u lartour is t des t ina t ions the Corn ing Museum ofGlass (CM oG) . Crea ted in 195 1 to ma rk Corn ing G lassWorks ' (now Corn ing Inc . ) 100 th ann iversary , them u s e u m now a no t - fo r -prof it edu ca t io na l ins t i tu t ion has become the reposi to ry o f one o f the wor ld ' s mostcomprehensive and f ines t co l lec t ions o f g lass .

Cur ren t ly CMoG is pu t t ing the f in ish ing touches ona s ix -year , $62 mi l l ion renovat ion tha t has t ransformeda 6 8 ,0 0 0 - sq u a r e - f o o t a m a lg a m o f p e r io d s t r u c tu r e sbu i l t in 1951 and 1981 in to a con temporary l igh t - f i l led117 ,400 square foo t fac i l i ty . In add i t ion to design ing

two new bu i ld ings fo r CMoG, a rch i tec ts Smith -Miller H-Hawkinson m a n a g e d to b l e n d d i sp a r a t e o ldand new arch i tec tu ra l s ty les whi le h igh l igh t ing them o s t i n t e r e s t i n g a sp e c t s o f e a c h .

But i t wasn ' t jus t the bu i ld ings tha t were updatedand expanded . The renovat ion ca l led fo r a comple tere th ink ing o f CMoG's a r t i fac ts and exh ib i t s , and theadd i t ion o f a new Glass Innovat ion Cen ter , devo ted tosc i e n t i f i c a d v a n c e s i n g l a s sm a k in g . Am b i t i o u s i n c o n ten t and scope , the Innovat ion Cen ter i s un l ike anyth ing done before . Rob Casse t t i , CMoG's d i rec to r o fe d u c a t io n a n d c r e a t i v e se r v i c e s , o b se r v e s , "This p r o jec t i s an exper iment . I t looks ahead f ive o r ten yearsa n d g u e s s e s , 'This i s wh e r e m u se u m s m a y b e g o in g . ' '

To o v e r se e e x h ib i t d e s ig n , CM o G p ic k e d Ra lp hAppelbaum Assoc ia tes (RAA) , one o f the wor ld ' s fo rem o s t m u se u m d e s ig n e r s . Bu t Ca sse t t i a d m i t s t h a tCorn ing "d id a coup le o f rounds wi th o ther exh ib i t


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des igner s " be fo re s e t t l ing on RAA. "We t e n d e d to findtha t our l eve l of e n t h u s i a s m for the s ub jec t u s ua l lyo u t p a c e d the d e s i g n e r ' s . If in teres t s tar ted to fade outin the b e g i n n i n g , it was a warning s ign that it w ouldn ' tbe the re at the end."

Corn ing , w h ich had a s s e m b l e d a c ros s -d i s c ip l ina ryteam tha t inc luded eve ryone f rom poe t s to ar t is ts inits effort to b r i n g d e p t h and r i c h n e s s to the m u s e u mcon ten t , w an ted to make s u re tha t the exh ib i t des igners h a r e d t h i s g o a l . " W h e n we w e n t to A p p e l b a u m ' soff ice , they were working on the A m e r i c a n M u s e u m ofN atu ra l H is to ry and had a pa leon to log i s t on the staff.They w ere w ork ing on a Motown exhibi t and had a c u l tu r a l h i s to r i an on the team. That so ld us r ight away,"s ays Cas s e t t i . "We be l i eved they w ou ld make the content par t of the des ign p roces s , not j u s t deco ra t ion . "

Cas s e t t i a t t r ibu tes the s u c c e s s of the b u i l d i n g to theea r ly invo lvemen t of RAA with its a rch i t ec t s and s t ruc -

Ralph A p p e l b a u m , P r i n c i p a l ,Ralph Appe lbaum Assoc ia tesRalph Appelbaum oversees a 90-person museumplanning and exhibition concern, with clients ranging s j^from the Monticello presidential home to the U.S.Holocaust Memorial Museum.tural e n g i n e e r s . " T h e r e was w hat migh t be s e e n as ahea l thy t ens ion among them. As the c l i en t , I saw agood co l l abo ra t ion . "

Part of t ha t may be b e c a u s e RAA c o n s i d e r e d thedes ign chal lenge f rom the per s pec t ive of how a m u s e u mvis i tor would respond to the s p a c e , not j u s t the exh ib i t sbut a lso the t r a n s p a r e n c y of the b u i l d i n g itself.

" H a v i n g c o m e to exh ib i t des ign f rom a rch i t ec tu re ,I am a lw ays s u rp r i s ed at how b lack -box mus eum ga l l e r i e s are i n s t i tu t iona l i zed , " con ten ds J ack P as ca ros a ,RA A ' s l ead des igner on the m u s e u m . " T h e r e ' s a l m o s tan as s umpt ion tha t all of the exhibi ts wi l l be h o u s e din a d a r k e n e d v o i d . RAA has b e e n q u e s t i o n i n g the

->;# ft '


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neu t ra l i ty a nd sepa ra t ion o f the ga l le ry spaces for somet ime. In th is p ro jec t , exp lora t ions o f g lass run th roughth e e n t i r e m u se u m , i n e x h ib i t s a n d a r c h i t e c tu r e a l i k e .No m a t t e r wh ic h p a r t o f t h e e x p e r i e n c e y o u ' r e p a ss in gth roug h , there ' s a lways a re in forcem ent o f the p ro per t ies o f g lass . What ' s in te res t ing i s the f low of tha texp lora t ion . You never ge t the fee l ing tha t you ' re shu tup in a con ta iner ."

Indeed , v is i to rs to the museum can ' t he lp bu t deve lopa g rea te r apprec ia t ion fo r the physica l p roper t ies o fg lass . Even the new en t rance fea tu res a g lass cur ta inwal l where v is i to rs walk th rough "f rac tu res" in theg lass sk in . Ins ide , they c ross over a g lass rampway andare inv i ted to watch a v ideo p rogram ins ide a "glass

bott le" theater . The idea is to get visi tors to look atglass ra ther than mere ly through it .

At the same t ime, des igners were carefu l no t too v e r wo r k th i s c o n c e p t . Ca sse t t i s t r e s se s , "T h e o th e rs ide o f the co in i s tha t g lass doesn ' t so lve every p roblem. You can ge t car r ied away wi th the novel ty o f theth ing . We used g lass in ways tha t made sense . As anexample , we used i t as a f loor ing mater ia l when wewanted to ta lk abou t the s t reng then ing o f g lass . I t ' s no ta th rowaway g immick . I t i s par t o f the in te rp re ta t ion ."

S t r i k in g a b a l a n c e b e twe e n e d u c a t io n a n d e n t e r t a in ment was c r i t ica l in the Innovat ion Cen ter . An over r id ing goa l was to he lp v is i to rs apprec ia te the wonders o fg lass and rea l ize what i t cou ld con t r ibu te to the fu tu re .

Open PlanThe entry lobby opens onto

layered spaces so visitors c ansee the range of museum

experiences from the momentthey walk in the front door.

One flight up is the InnovationCenter; a flight down leads to

the retail shop, restaurants, apublic auditorium and access

to outdoor spaces.

W fHHot E ventsRob Cassettidesigned this logofor 2300 (the temperature at whichglass moves an dflows), a monthlyprogram featuringguest glass artists,live music and otherentertainment.


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"To achieve that , we take people on a path that goesf rom the famil iar to the unfamil iar ," Casse t t i exp lains ."We s how the l ink be tw een a w indow pane and thescre en of your laptop computer , betw een a magnify ingglass and an opt ical f iber cable , between the casserolein your k i tchen and the nose cone of a miss i le ."S ome 30 exhibi ts explain ing that evolut ion areo rgan ized in th r ee ga l l e r i e s : "Window s " looks a tg las s a s a bu i ld in g ma te r i a l ; "O p t ic s " ad d res s e sits l ight conducting properties; and "Vessels" investigatesi ts poss ib i l i t ies as a container . RAA conceived the galler ies as open exhibi t ion spaces that appear to " f loat"above the retail shops on the level below. "Ralph believestha t commerce mo t iva tes inven t ion , " s ays Cas s e t t i .

"He was in t r igued with the idea of the act iv i ty of themuseum shops providing a context (and soundtrack) forthe invent ion s tor ies to ld in the Innovat ion gal ler iesabove." This connect ion may elude many vis i tors , but i tref lects the range of th inking that went in to the des ign.

Even though CM oG ' s pe rmanen t co l l ec t ion o fob jec t s inc ludes 30 ,000 p ieces s pann ing 3 ,500 yea r s ,i t lacked a number of impor tant indus tr ia l ar t i facts .The des ign team fel t that the des ign d irect ion had tobe d ic ta t ed no t s o much by w ha t the mus eum a l r eadyow ned as by w ha t i t hoped to become . "A ppe lbaumfaci l i ta ted th e ref inem ent of the exhibi t content a ndident i f icat ion of the s ignif icant Vo w! ' ar t i facts thatwould make the exhibi ts come to l i fe ," says Casset t i .

Art and History GalleriesDesigned by a rchitectGunnar Birkerts in1981, the Art an dHistory building's original aluminum-clad glassexterior was left intact,bu t RAA opened upthe interior to dispel thedark maze-1 ke feeling.

C M G ,DCCr,aBbCcDd\aBbCcDdEeaBbCcDdl^ j g g g ^Museum Logo and Avenir TypefaceCMoG founder Arthur HoughtonJr. drew the original "hot spot" 0on a cocktail napkin in 1950.Two years ago, Cassetti and hiswife Q, a graphic designer, turnedit into CMoG's logo by combiningit with Avenir, used for exhibitsignage. A modern sans-seriftypeface, Avenir is highly legibleon a variety of surfaces.

Back to the OriginalThe new Sculpture gallery is housedin the original 1951 steel-frame andglass building designed by Wallace K.Harrison. When renovating the space,architects Smith-Miller+Hawkinsonstripped away decades of architectural changes and found a steel frameceiling, which suited the contemporary sculptures so well they decidedto leave it exposed.
http://abbccddee/http://abbccddee/http://abbccddee/


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I S S U E

CM oG ' s no t - fo r-p ro f it edu ca t ion a l s t a tu s he l pedto ga in ou t s id e coo per a t io n in tha t e f fo r t , C as s e t t iadmi t s . "Tha t b roke the log jam in t e rms o f w hereA ppe lbaum w as t ak ing us . N ow w e cou ld t a lk to theS m i t h s o n i a n , N A S A , t h e p e o p l e w h o p u t t o g e t h e r t h eH u b b l e t e l e s c o p e . W e b e g a n t o a m a s s t h i s a m a z i n gc o l l e c t i o n o f i n d u s t r i a l a r t if a c t s t h a t t h e m u s e u mh a d n e v e r h a d b e f o r e . "

At t imes , however , that meant the des ign had tomove forward without conf i rmat ion that the museumcould ac tual ly ac qui re the ar t i fact . "Most of the s tuf fwe were hunt ing for were th ings where we needed awhole case dedicated to i t or the ef fect of the exhibi twas hanging on get t ing that ar t i fact ," Casset t i says .

O n e w a s a 1 4 x 1 8 ' p i e c e o f g l a s s , t h e l a r g e s t t h a tcan be s h ipped on the h ighw ay . "A ppe lbaum' s des ignca l l ed fo r hang ing i t f rom the ce i l ing . I t w as theeleventh hour before we could pull i t off . We broke acouple before we could get a good one."

Ano the r impor tan t p i ece w as the tw in of the H u bb let e l e s c o p e . "The cas e w as des igned , the moun t w asin , but we had no c lue i f we could get the th ing or

not ," Casset t i recal ls . In the end, Casset t i says they tookthe exh ib i t des ign to the s upp l i e r to make the i r appea l ."You know, we kind of sa id , here ' s the 'garage ' wherew e ' r e go ing to pa rk your 'car.' I t would look funnywithout the car in i t ."

O n more than one occas ion , the mus eum w en t to theInteractive

DisplaysThe museum is

filled with interactive objects

and electronicexhibits that

provide visitorswith hands-on

experiences.

MerchandiseRetail merchandise

includes everything fromar t glass an d glassmaker'stools to collection-relatedproducts and

books on glass.

Museum Retail ShopA clear glass floor leadinginto the museum shop isdecorated like an archeo-logical dig with sand andsemi-buried artifacts. Merchandise is totally devotedto the subject of glass, sothat even the range of thingsoffered is part of the interpretative experience.

10


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I S S U E

Steuben factory next door to enl is t the help of g lassar t is ts who were famil iar wi th deal ing with b izar reg las s t echn ica l cha l l enges , s ays Cas s e t t i , w ho h ims e l fwas a g lass des igner a t S teuben before jo in ing CMoG'sstaff. One problem the ar t is ts helped to so lve was howto hang a 2 00 - inch P y rex* mi r ro r b lank , w h ich r ep re sented Coming ' s f i r s t and f lawed at tempt a t cas t ing ate l e s cope mi r ro r in 1 9 34 .

On display a t CMoG s ince 19 52 , the d isc - essent ia l ly2 0 tons o f f r ac tu re d g las s n e e d e d t o b e r e m o u n t e da n d m o v e d , a p r o b l e m t h a t c o n f o u n d e d e n g i n e e r s .S teuben des igner , P e te r D robny , and h i s co l l eaguesapp l i ed the i r exper t i s e to the t a s k . Today , a concre tebas e s i tua ted in the r e t a i l s hop s uppor t s the s l ing -

shaped mount for the d isc , which r ises up through thef loor of the Op t ics gal lery abov e. Tho ugh th is so lu t ionw as dev i s ed fo r p r ac t i ca l r eas ons , i t a l s o add res s esAp pel bau m 's idea of hav ing d if ferent e lem ents of themus eum in fo rm one ano the r , Cas s e t t i adds .

Casse t t i c i tes th is as jus t o ne exa mp le of the "timeswhen we went to engineers and scient is ts who to ld usi t couldn ' t be done, so we said we ' l l do i t ourselves . Inthe end, we created our own mini R&D s taf f to inventthese th ings that the des ign cal led for ."

Tenac i ty and c r ea t ive p rob lem s o lv ing have beenes s en t i a l du r ing the long p roces s , Cas s e t t i emphas izes ." I t ' s one th ing to propose ambit ious th ings ear ly on ,bu t you need a s t rong and commi t t ed t eam w hen

20 Ton ArtifactThe largest glass

artifact in theworld, the 200-inch

Pyrex mirror disc4*p made by Corning

for the H ale telescope in 1934 canbe seen from two levels. The base rests in

the retail area (left) and rises through theceiling to the Optics gallery (right) abo ve.

n


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I S S U E :

you ' re t ry ing to execute i t ."Cas s e t t i adds tha t the one th ing he l ea rned over

the pas t s ix years is that "u l t imately , you mus t take therisk. If you're not willing to live on that edge of r isk,the des ign can ' t go as far . And i t mus t be a col laborat ion be tw een c l i en t and des igner . Y ou bo th g ive eachother permiss ion to take that next s tep fur ther outtow ard the edge . "

O ne p rob lem s o lved by the des ign t eam w as mund a n e , how ever vex ing . I t i nvo lved the pub l i c ' s des i r eto see a l ive g lassblowing demons tra t ion . From themus eum' s beg inn ing , peop le s topped in a t the S teubenfactory next door to watc h real g lassm ake rs a t theirj o b s . "When they saw i t , they loved i t ," says Casset t i .

"Trouble was , i t ' s a real factory so when the workerswent to lunch or took a break, there was nothing tos e e , a n d p e o p l e w e n t a w a y e x t r e m e l y d i s a p p o i n t e d . "The new H ot G las s S how remed ies tha t s i tua t ion . Bybu i ld ing a the ate r -s t y le s e t t in g in f ront of the factory ,peop le can w a tch a g la s s b low ing demons t r a t ion , w i thc los e -up v iew s s how n on l ive v ideo du r ing eve ry s t epo f the p roces s , inc lud in g in s ide the 2 300 r ehea t ingf u r n a c e w h i c h i s e q u i p p e d w i t h t h e s a m e k i n d o fw indow g las s u s ed on the N A S A S pace S hu t t l e .

Cur ren t ly the f ina l phas e o f the r enova t ion i s u nde r way in the ar t and h is tory gal ler ies housed in a bui lding o r ig ina l ly des igned by G unnar B i rke r t s in 1 9 8 1 ."The new des ign opens up the bu i ld ing in te r io r , w h ich

Egg TheaterThe Vessels gallery featuresa dark glazed oval "bottle"

(formed by doubly-curved glasspieces) suspended from the

ceiling. Nicknamed "the Egg,"the 40-ton walk-in container isactually a 17 ,x3 4 i video theater

that seats up to 40 people.

Signage Schem aticCMoGls exhibit signage isconstructed out of five layers

of glass laminated withgraphics in be tween layersand held in place with neo-

prene pads and steel plates.

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I S S U E

w as s ometh ing o f a da rk maze / ' s ays Cas s e t t i . "RAAreal ized that i t was phys ical ly exhaus t ing to move f romdark s pac es to b r igh t back - l i t cas e s , the n to da rkagain . They evened out the l ight level , careful ly darken ing the pe r ime te r and b r igh ten ing the co re . I t hasmade an amaz ing d i f f e r ence . "

Today David Whitehouse, CMoG's execut ive d irector ,c l a ims w i th g rea t p r ide , " I don ' t t h ink the re ' s ano the rmuseum l ike th is , wi th th is marr iage of ar t and h is tory ,s c ience and t echno logy ."

Indeed , even though CM oG i s off-the-beaten t r ackin a town with a populat ion that s t i l l numbers roughly1 4 ,000 , nea r ly a ha l f mi l l ion peop le v i s i t t he mus eumeach year . This has proved grat i fy ing to Corning Inc. ,

which is s t i l l the pr incipal benefactor for the not-for-profit institution.T he mus eum, w h ich s t a r t ed ou t in 1 9 51 w i th abou t2 ,000 ob jec t s , has f a r exceeded in i t i a l expec ta t ions . Not only has i t ra ised apprecia t ion for thecontr ibut ions of the ent i re g lass indus try , i t has had amajor im pac t on the eco nom y and qu al i ty of l i fe inCorn ing w here the Fo r tune 300 company l ikes to ca l li t se l f "the b igges t company in the s mal l e s t tow n inA mer ica . " In an e r a o f s h r ink ing mus eum endow mentsand r is ing operat ional cos ts , corporate benefactors l ikeCorn ing may be the vanguard fo r a new hybr id - typeof cul t ural ins t i tu t ion , one that cel ebr ate s an indu s tryas much as the ar ts .

Hot Glass ShowA performance area was built onto

the Steuben factory so spectatorscould watch a live glassblowingdemonstration. Video monitorsgive spectators a close-up viewof every step, including insidethe 2300 furnace, thanks to

a window made of the same glassused in the Spa ce Shuttle.

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I S S U E

C o l o r A w a r e n e s sColor - wh ich plays a role in every type of design - is arguably themost subliminally persuasive tool in a designer's tool kit. It speaks volumes, sometimes w ith a whisper, sometimes with a shout. It is emotional, visceral, personal, trendy, cultural, symbolic, and easily alteredby proximity to other colors. It can cheer you up, calm you down,make you sick, tire you out or increase your productivity. The verysame color is perceived differently depending on your age, mood andmental health. Savvy packaging designers use color to suggest productattributes like cleanliness, flavor and freshness, and global marketerstread carefully around cultural color biases. That's not to say thatdesigners need to "color within the lines." Color is at the vanguard offashion; consumers clamor for the new and exciting. That said, it's stillimportant to remember that color sensitivity goes beyond aesthetics.There's more to using color than meets the e y e . This color quiz wasprepared with the help of Thome/Guido-Clark, San Francisco-basedcolor consultants who work with automotive, textile, furniture andproduct designers to identify colors that work on many levels.

See if y o u can answer the questions below, using the choicesshown. In som e cases, you'll beselecting mo re than one color, ora combination of colors.1 . Among a du l t s ,what color is free ofcul tura l b ias andl iked wor ldwide?

2 . What is the firsth u e recognized byinfants?

3 . What color isthe first to disappear from a ccrayon box?

hild's

4 . What are twocolors elderly people tend to favor?

5. What color car isoutlawed by Braziland Ecuadorbecause of its highincidence of trafficaccidents?

6. What colorare stop signsin China?

7. What color goesby 100 differentnames in theEskimo language?

8. What food coloris most popularamong adults inWestern nations?

14


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I S S U E

9 . What co lor pu t speople in a badmood if looked attoo long?

1 0 . What two col ors were the first tobe given names inpr imi t ive cu l tu res?

1 1 . On s ignage ,which color combinat ion below is themost vis ible?

O O1 2 . For pr intedmate r i a l s , whichcombinat ion i s themost l egible?

1 3 . What color hasa calming effect onpe op l e ?

1 4 . In a color / I .Q.exper iment , ch i l dren tes ted 12points h igher whenthe ce i l ing waswhat color?

1 5 . Pat ients wi ththroat problemsgravi tate towardwhat color?

1 6 . What color hasproven so effectivein reducing anxie tythat i t has beenused as a de ter rentto suic ide?

1 7 . What color d idt he O c c upa t i ona lSafe ty and Heal thAdmini s t r a t ion(OSHA) choose tor e p r e s e n t N uc l e a rH a z a r d ?

1 8 . What color i sthe most restful onthe eyes?

1 9 . N a me a popu l a rcolor for cleaningp r oduc t s ?

2 0 . What color dot rad i t i ona l b r ideswear in China?

Answers on next page15


18/36

Blue. According to severalstudies, adults prefer blue,followed by red, green,purple, yellow and orange.Nearly 50% of those askedin an American RoperOrganization survey namedblue as their favorite color,followed by red.

Yellow. At first, newbornsonly perceive differencesbetween light and dark, butthen their eyes are drawn tothe most luminous color inthe spectrum - yellow.

Red. Children, even toddlers,universally favor red. A physiologically energizing color, redstimulates and excites.

Blues and greens. Eye lensesyellow (along with everythingelse) with advancing age,which may explain why elderlypeople gravitate toward huesof shorter wavelengths, andsometimes feel starved for

Red. Although insurancerecords from many countriesshow that red cars areinvolved in a higher incidenceof traffic accidents, Brazil andEcuador are the only countriesto forbid individuals fromdriving them. Optically, redadvances, creating theimpression that red objectsare closer than they are. Redalso physiologically gets theadrenaline pumping, so accident-prone red cars may saymore about their drivers thantheir visibility on the road.

Green. China uses green forstop and red for go becausered is the national symbol ofcomm unism. V irtually everyother country recognizes redas a stop signal.

White. To help them describethe nuances of ice and snow,Arctic Eskimos have over 100words for white. Similarly,aboriginal hunters in Africa'sKalihari have many words forgreen and brown, and fishermen in Breton, France, havean unusual number of namesto describe the blue-grayhues of the Atlantic.

Brown. Adults in Westernnations find brown particularlyappetizing because it suggestsa strong flavor and is associated with meats, breads andsauces. Except for dessertsand candy, blue is the leastappetizing since virtually nonatural foods (except blueberries) are that color.

Yellow. Yellow, especiallybright lemon yellow, is themost luminous color in thespectrum and, hence, themost fatiguing color if viewedfor long periods of time.(Conversely, it's the mostcheerful if seen at a glance.)Anecdotal studies have shownthat couples fight more inlemon yellow kitchens andbabies cry more in lemonyellow rooms. On the otherhand, bright yellow makesschool buses very visible.

Black and white. Researchershave found that the mostprimitive languages distinguishonly white and black (lightand dark). If a third color isnamed, it is inevitably red.


19/36

Black type on a yellow background. The strong color contrast and the fact that yellowis the first color the eye seesmakes this combination idealfor warning signs. But sinceyellow tires the eyes, a littlegoes a long way.

Black type on a white background. It is easy to read andnot as tiring on the eyes asyellow. The least legible combination is red type on a bluebackground.

Pink. Interestingly, while redis the most energizing color;passive pink has a calming ,sedating effect. The Californiachildren's probation department found that violent children have fewer outburstswhen placed in a passive pinkroom. Many hospitals andcorrectional institutions havepainted some rooms pink forthe same reason.

Blue. Through color experiments, researchers have foundthat children tested in roomswith blue ceilings tend toscore as much as 12 pointshigher on their IQ tests.

Green. Color therapistsbelieve, and an internationalscientific meeting in New Yorkin 1988 affirmed, that humanskin acts like a prism, converting spectral colors to chemical reactions within the body.In a damaged body, the wavelengths of light absorbed bythe ailing organ are distortedas well. One study showedthat people with a particulardeficiency share the samecolor deficiency, and gravitatetoward room areas of a particular color. People with throatproblems commonly aredrawn to green.

Blue. Blue has been shownto relax the human nervoussystem. In London, theBlackfriar Bridge was paintedblue in an effort to reducethe high incidence of suicides.It apparently worked.

Purple. In 1 9 71 , OSHAmandated a color system toindicate industrial hazardpoints. Purple Orchid 80100was chosen to indicatenuclear hazard. (Purple is alsothe hardest color for the eyeto discriminate.)

Green. It is the most restfulcolor because its light rays fallmost directly on the retina.Considered an unflatteringfashion color, green of subtlehues has risen in popularityas people become more ecology minded.

Blue. Not appealing for foods,blue is popular for cleaningfluids from detergent to beautycleansers because it suggestshygiene and coolness.

Red. In traditional Chineseweddings, the bride wearsa red dress embroidered withdragons and carries a redparasol. The bridal coupledrinks from cups boundtogether by red cord andreceives wedding giftswrapped in red, symbolizingfertility, life and happiness.Paradoxically, in the U.S., redrepresents a "scarlet woman,"and traditional brides wearwh ite - a color of mourning inmany Asian countries.

Primary reference sources: SanFrancisco-based color consultantsThome/Guido-Clark; "The ColorCompendium," Hope and Walch, "Red"and "Blue," Belinda Recio; "Art andVisual Perception," Rudolph Arnheim,"Color Forecasting," Harold Linton;"Color Voodoo," Jill Morton,- "ColorImage Scale," Shigenobu Kobayashi.


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I S S U E

L e s s Is M o r e a t I n t e r fa c eI n t e r f a c e I n c . t h e w o r l d ' s l a r g e s t m a n u f a c t u r e r o f c o m m e r c ia l f loor cover ings i s p rov ing t ha t min imiz ing i t s eco log i ca l impac t on t he env i ronmen t no t on ly s t imu la t e s i nnova t i ved e s i g n , i t boosts the company's b o t t o m l i n e .

R a y C . A n d e r s o n ,Chairman a n d C E O , Interface, I n c .Ray Anderson heads one of the world's largest producersof commercial floor coverings and is co-chair of thePresident's Council on Sustainable Development.

Joyce LaValle, Senior Vice President o f Marketinga n d Communications, Interface AmericasWith Interface for 18 years, Joyce LaValle is currentlyin charge of Interface Americas' marketing, communications and corporate identity functions.

D oes the end ju s t ify the mea ns ? D o es p ro duc ingbeau t i fu l , h igh -qua l i ty ca rpe t s compens a te fo remit t ing toxic pol lu tants , gobbl ing foss i l fuels anddu m pi ng tons of wa s te in to land f i l ls to do i t?In 1994, af ter reading Paul Hawken 's book, "The

Ecology of Commerce," In ter face CEO Ray C. Andersonconcluded with much anguish that i t d id not . Al thoughthe company A nder s on founded in 1 9 73 had becomethe wo r ld ' s larges t mak er of com me rcia l f loor coveri n g s , he made w ha t he ca l l s a "mid -cour s e co r r ec t ion , "vowing to turn In ter face in to " the f i r s t fu l ly sus ta inablei n d u s t r i a l e n t e r p r i s e . "

Th i s w as no s mal l under t ak ing s ince In te r f ace ny lonc a r p e t s a n d p a n e l i n g f a b r i c sa re s pun ou t o f pe t rochemica l s ,then fas tened in f iberglass andP V C , tw o know n ca rc inog ens .In ter face factor ies , by the company ' s ow n ca lcu la t ion , w erespewing out 10,447 tons of solidwas te , 605.3 mil l ion gal lons ofc o n t a m i n a t e d w a t e r , 7 0 4 t o n sof toxic gases and 62 ,800 tons

P a r e n t C o m p a n y : Interface, IncPr in c ip a l O f f i c e r : Ray C. Anderson, founder & CEO1999 Net Sales: $1.2 b i l l ionM a r k e t R e a c h : 110 countr iesM a n u f a c t u r in g S it e s : 26 mil ls on four continentsN u m b e r o f Em p lo y e e s : 7 ,000 wor ldwide

of carbon dioxide a year . In ter face was a lso contr ibut inga hef ty share of the 920 mil l ion square yards of usedcarp ets d isca rde d in U.S . landf i l ls an nual ly .

A nder s on r e f l ec t s , "Fo r the f i r s t 2 1 yea r s o f thecompany ' s ex i s t ence , I never gave one though t to w ha twe were taking f rom the ear th or doing to i t , exceptto be sure we were in [environm ental] co mp lian ce a ndkeep ing ou r s e lves ' c l ean ' in a r egu la to ry s e ns e . "

A n der s o n ' s de te rm ina t i on to go f a r beyon d tha tmean t l i t e r a l ly r e inven t ing the ca rpe t -mak ing bus ines s ,and being respons ib le for the product a t every s tage ofi ts l i fe cycle . I t presented not only an engineer ing andmanufac tu r ing cha l l enge , bu t r equ i r ed a comple te

r e th ink i ng of how p rod uc t sa re des igned and marke ted .

David Oakey, exclus ived e s i g n c o n s u l t a n t f o rIn ter face ' s carpet t i le l ine ,admi t s " I w as a non -be l i eve rw hen Ray A nder s on s t a r t edta lk ing abou t mak ing the company s us ta inab le . I t w as a b i l l ion -do l l a r company tha t took

S H E E T

18


21/36

i* \ IV.J& I n t e r f a c e 's f in eart marketing

approachappeals to theaesthetic sensi

bilities of itsdesigner/architect customers

and positionsits products asworks of art in

themselves.


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I S S U E

Product P review C atalogDesigned by the Valentine Group in New York,Interface's lavish product catalogs showcase itscarpet selections in edgy high-fashion style. Notintended to be a substitute for seeing actualsamples, the 12"xl2" printed promotions aremeant to serve as dramatic teasers, allowingcustomers to preview products and narrow theirchoices before requesting physical swatches.

W E WROTEO N C A R P E T .

Y O U CANT H E B O O KHERE'S H O WU S E IT :

ISquare ImagesInterface plays on the catalog's name,"Square Feet," and reinforces the idea ofinterchangeable carpet tiles by creating acover montage out of photographs featured

inside the book.

. > : ?

Contem porary TypographyA lively advertising tone of voicean d provocative use of typographyreinforce the sophisticated look ofInterface's printed materials.

Swatch Still LifeKnowing that decorators frequentlyjuxtapo se different co lors, surfaces,textures, shapes and objects to seehow they work together, Interfacetreated these objects as art and turnedthem into frame d still life imag es.

Arresting ImagesInterface distinguished itself from othercommercial carpet companies by aligningits visual identity with the fashion andfine arts world. Products are photographedin a sophisticated and compelling m annerto grab the viewer's attention.

20


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S S U E

.,/'UColor Palette

Major photographs showeach Interface carpet style

on the floor with the fullcolor palette and productspecs typically shown on

the facing page.

MagalogueIssued as a supplement

to the first catalog (left), thisvisual magalogue features urban

youth in dreamlike rustic settingsand industrial chic softened byelegant Interface carpets.

Vicki's House of StyleAlong with previews of

carpet samples, productspecifications and order

forms, the website carriesover the fashion mood of

the print catalog with afeaturette called "Vicki's

House of Style."

Huh

most of i t s raw mater ia l f rom petro leum. I d idn ' t knowhow to do i t , except maybe make products f rom wool orcot ton . I k ind of wai ted for exper ts to te l l us , but thatd i d n ' t h a p p e n . "

What d id happen w as tha t O akey ga the red toge the ra group of people f rom dif ferent par ts of the companyt o b r a i n s t o r m a b o u t h o w t o b e c o m e s u s t a i n a b l e . T h egroup b roke the i r ob jec t ives dow n in to fou r s t eps ,beg inn ing w i th w ha t cou ld be done immed ia te ly . "Weconcluded we were very was teful when making a product , so f i r s t we could s tar t des igning products wi th lessf iber ," Oakey says . The second s tep was to f ind waysto e l imina te w as te be t t e r in the manufac tu r ing p roces sby des igning the product in d i f ferent ways . The th i rdw as to de te rmine w ha t ma te r i a l s cou ld be r ecyc led ,and f inal ly how to take thei n d u s t r i a l w a s t e a n d p u t i tb a c k i n t o t h e l o o p .

"We s udden ly came to theconc lus ion tha t w e have beend e s i g n i n g t h e p r o d u c t b a d l yi n t h e f i r st p l a c e , " O a k e yadmi t s . "The p roduc t w as n ' tdes igned to s tay in the loop.I t was des igned with so manyd i f f e r e n t l a y e r s o f m a t e r i a lthat i t cos t too much energyt o s e p a r a t e . If r e c y c l i n grequires a lo t of expens iveenergy, you ' re defeat ing thepurpose of doing i t . We concluded that i f we des ignedthe product d i f ferent ly , we could create a 'zippered'produc t tha t cou ld be d i s man t l ed eas i ly . "O akey ' s ef for t to reduce f iber usage inadver tent lyled to two of the mos t innovat ive brands In ter faceh a s p r o d u c e d i n r e c e n t y e a r s W a b i a n dS o len ium. "What happened w i th Wab i , " O akey r e la t e s ," is I was working with the manufactur ing people andasking i f they could make the p i le lower and lower .O ne t echn ic ian , w ho w as ge t t ing k ind o f ups e t , s a idto me, Tf you want to make the pile that low, why don' tyou ju s t tu rn the ca rpe t up s ide d ow n! ' We d id andi t looked great . Cus tomers love i t . Wabi has a verys imp le , min imal look tha t f i t s today ' s t r end , w h ich i smore tow ard ha rd f in i s hes and aw ay f rom tex t i l e s . "

The idea for Solenium, now being in t roduced as i t s

Reuse, RecycleThe covers for this little 4"x6"booklet on environmental sus-tainability were reprinted onmake-ready pages from the bigcatalog, which is why the background image for each coverlooks slightly different.

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I S S U E

U

ow n ca rpe t l ine , came abou t ju s t a s s e r end ip i tous ly .Joyce LaVal le , senior v ice pres ident of market ing forIn te r f ace A mer icas , r eca l l s tha t du r ing a conver s a t ionabou t the s ucces s o f Wab i , s omeone l a me n ted tha t i twas too bad carpets couldn ' t be made out of recycledpop bot t les jus t l ike Teratex , a panel ing fabr ic made bythe In ter face In ter ior Fabr ic Group. "Teratex has beeninc red ib ly s u cces s fu l , " r epo r t s LaV al le . Tha t l ed thegroup to ask itself, "why no t?" A nd S o len ium w as bo rnWoven on a jac qu ard loom , Solen ium ha s the funct ionality of vinyl and the warm look and feel of fabric. "I ti s a imed a t educa t iona l and hea l th ca re marke t swhere you couldn ' t use carpet inthe pas t becaus e i t w as too d i f f i c u l t t o c l e a n , " s a y s L a V a l l e . Aun ique p roduc t , S o len ium has thep o t e n t i a l to g i v e I n t e r f a c e e n t r yin to markets that were once v ir tually off l imit.

In addition to designing entirelyn e w t y p e s of f l o o r c o v e r i n g ,In te r f ace has been look ing fo rways to enhance the f lexib i l i ty andappeal of i t s s tandard h igher tuf tedca rpe t s . O ne w ay has been to p layup a cha rac te r i s t i c inhe ren t to ca r pet t i le i t s seams. Taking a cuef rom J apanes e tatami mats , O akeytu rned t i l e s eams in to an advan tage by s how ing howt i l e p ieces cou ld be "quarter-turned" w hen l a id dow nto c r ea te va r ious pa t t e rns . N ew des igns a l s o inv i t ecover ing only a por t ion of a room to create an arearugl ike ef fect or to in terchange some t i les wi th anotherpat tern or color to create an ent i re ly d if ferent look."The t i l e s thems e lves a r e ve ry p rac t i ca l , " LaV al l ec l a i m s . " T h e y a r e l a i d w i t h r e l e a s a b l e a d h e s i v e , a n dare eas ie r to pu t dow n and p roduce l e s s s c r ap thanbroad loom. I f a t i l e ge t s damaged o r s t a ined , you canremove i t and r ep lace i t . "

The des ign of products is only par t of In ter face ' ss us ta inab i l i ty e f fo r t . A n equa l ly vex ing concerni s the marke t ing o f the ca rpe t s . Cus tomers , o f

cou r s e , w an t to s ee and touch ac tua l s w a tches be fo reb u y i n g . T h a t m e a n s c o m m e r c i a l c a r p e t m a k e r s m u s tas s emble and d i s t r ibu te thous ands o f s amples , a t con s ide rab le cos t , t o a r ch i t ec t s , deco ra to r s and des igner s .

h e n y o u t h i n ka bo u t h ow m a ny

rpet booksy ou h a ve t o m a ke a n ddel iver, they are extra o r d i n a r i l y i n e f f i c i e n t .By d e s i g n , th e y a r ebad des ign becauset h e y a r e s o w a s t e f u l . "

"When you th ink abou t how many ca rpe t books youhave to make and del iver , they are extraordinar i lyine f f i c i en t , " exp la in s LaV al le . "By des ign , they a r eba d des ign be cau s e they a re so w as te fu l . Bec aus e youhave to des ign them so they have a good color f low,you end up put t ing in too many colors even when youknow tha t on ly a handfu l w i l l ac tua l ly s e l l . "Creat ive d irector Russ Ramage has focused on solv ingth i s p rob lem in s t ages . I n s tead o f b lanke t ing the mar ket wi th hef ty unsol ic i ted carpet books that cus tomerstossed out every 18 months or so when a new col lect ion cam e ou t, Ram age a r r ange d to p rodu ce an u ps ca le

p r in ted ca ta log to l e t cus tomersp rev iew w ha t w as ava i l ab le ini t s th r ee ma in b rands In te r f ace ,B e n t l e y a n d P r i n c e S t r e e t .D es igned by the V a len t ine G roupin New York, the 1 2x1 2 in chmaga logue , ap t ly ca l l ed "S quareFoot ," features luscio us car petstill-lifes and beau ti fu l m ode l s(mos t ly shot f rom the wais t -down)s t a n d i n g o n I n t e r f a c e c a r p e t s ,a long with fu l l co lor pale t tesfo r each p roduc t . The p r imaryimages were shot by fashion photographer Car ter Smith . "We tooka f a s h ion app ro ach bec aus e w e

w an ted to e l eva te ou r s e lves above o the r ca rpe t compan i e s , " explain s Ra ma ge. "T he s ty le brough t a f resh an dnew look to the way people look a t commercia l carpets ."

As success ful as the cata log has be en , it was a lw aysmean t to be an in te r im s t ep to p rev iew ing p roduc t s onthe In te rne t , s ays Ramage . Today t h e s a m p l e c e n t e r . c o mi s on l ine , and cus tomers can b row s e th rough thousands of SKUs, order phys ical samples wi th a c l ick ofa bu t ton , and ge t them overn igh t . Wi th the phys ica ls amples comes a self-addressed s h ipp ing l abe l s o cus tomers can r e tu rn the s w a tches w hen th rough .

Cus tomers have been good abou t r e tu rn ing s amples ."We ge t them back by the thous ands , " s ays LaV al le ."This helps in many ways . I f we don ' t have to remakethose samples , i t accounts for a lo t of expense and was tew e don ' t have anymore . " The company i s inves t iga t ingways to fur ther improve upon th is program by in t roducing a smal ler and more ef f ic ient sh ipping container .

22
http://thesamplecenter.com/http://thesamplecenter.com/


25/36

I S S U E :New Way of Looking at CarpetA new category of carpet thatcombines the comfort of fiberand the resilience of a hardsurface, Solenium needed tointroduce consumers to how itdiffers from any other kind offlooring. The promotionalbrochure, developed by VSAPartners in Chicago, carries aneducational tone, with bargraphs com paring the productto hard surface flooring. 15 years6 principals

SOLEN IUMSolenium Rollout

Solenium promotional m aterialsand carpet sample book are

branded through the use of brilliant yellow solids and a simpleprimer-like typeface. The tagline

message - "Can a floor do that?"-asks customers to compare its

product with traditional productscurrently on the market

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I S S U E :Sus ta inabi l i ty isn ' t an overnight process , LaVal lee m p h a s i z e s . "Everything i s about chipping awayto get there . One th ing we did as a company inthe beginning was cata log everyth ing that we d id thatw as bad . Thes e th ings became t a rge t s . Fo r in s t ance , w ehave 200 or so [emiss ion] s tacks of some sor t or another a t our mil ls . Over the pas t s ix years , we have e l iminate d 4 5 of them . We s t i l l have 15 5 to go . Th at ' s whatI mean by ch ipp ing aw ay ."

The company has ch ipped a t o the r a r eas a s w e l l .A change in tu f t ing me thods has a l low ed i t t o e l imi nate about a four th of the nylon in every carpet t i le .Old fibers are "combed" for recycl ing ra ther thanmel ted . Cer ta in ya rns a r e s ubs t i tu ted w i th hemp andf lax . P ho tovo l t a i c pane l s a r e u s ed to genera tepower for i ts facili ty in California. Processing wateris t reated for golf -course i r r igat ion . Improvements ,b ig and s mal l , a r e made w herever pos s ib le .

" I t i s a huge under tak ing to become s us ta inab le , "s ays O akey . "Y ou can make a 1 00% recyc led p roduc t ,but i f you don ' t manufacture i t in a sus ta inable way,you haven ' t become s us ta inab le . The ques t ion i s howmuch energy d id i t take to make i t? How much was teresul ted f rom the process? How much energy was usedto get i t to you?"

Inter face ' s commitment to sus ta inabi l i ty is more thancosm et ic or an effor t to win publ ic re la t ions "b row nie "points . CEO Ray Anderson a ims for noth ing less thanreeng inee r ing the modern co rpo ra t ion . H e i s cu r r en t lythe co-cha ir of the Pres id ent ' s Co unci l on Sus ta ina bleD eve lopm en t and make s s ome 1 50 ta lk s a yea r a roun dthe country on eco - s ens i t iv i ty . In ter face ' s own f inancia lperformance in recent years refu tes the argument thatsus ta inabi l i ty draws f rom the bot tom l ine . S tock pr ices ,p ro f i t s and annua l s a le s have a l l r i s en phenomena l lys ince the company adop ted i t s s u s ta inab i l i ty p rog ramin 1 9 9 4 . Be tw een 1 9 9 4 and 1 9 9 9 , i t has a l s o managedto r educe emis s ions and s o l id w as tes by 30% and5 0 % , respect ively , and real ize savings of more than$75 mil l ion to date .

F rom a des ign pe r s pec t ive , " s us ta inab i l i ty has beenour dr iver ," says LaVal le . "Frankly that has made usmore creat ive and forced us 'to pus h the enve lope , ' t oth ink outs ide the box. Through that , we have foundmany bet ter ways to do th ings that actual ly , in the end,a r e a l s o cos t - r educ t ive . "

PromotionsInterface's active marketingprogram is calculated to gainmaximum exposure for itsproducts while using the leastamount of energy and naturalresources. Printed promotionsallow the company to targetits sample kits only to potentialbuyers and encourage customersto log on to its website, wherethey can peruse all the carpetstyles and order swatches onthe spot.

Annual ReportInterface's a ward-

winning annual report,designed by VSA

Partners, presents acompelling case for

adopting a program ofsustainability.

^ *

PostcardsInterface's Bentley line sends

customers postcard teasersto announce new style additions.The featured object corresponds

with the name of the carpet style- e.g., English Blue and Seashell.

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I S S U E

New Sample BookHoused in a Q videocassette-type box, new sample booksinclude a Q loose swatch of therequested style that the customer can feel and smallerglued-down swatches of othercolors. The entire folder weighsjust 1 lb., 2.2 oz. an d comeswith a return mailing label.

User EducationTo help customers

appreciate the advantagesof carpet tile, Interface

produces brochures thatshow how tiles can be

mixed an d matched, quarter-turned or accented b y

playing up the seam. Thelenticular cover emphasizes

the word "seam."

WE'RE DEVELOPING NEWSTYLES THAT CELEBRATETILE AS A DESIGN ELEMENT.IT GIVES US THE FREEDOMTO MAKE LARGER PATTERNS,THAT, WHEN INSTALLED,CREATE AN EVEN LARGERRANDOM PATTERN.

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I S S U E

Steve SandstromP r i n c i p a l , S a n ds t r o m D e s i g nFormerly a designer with Nike, Steve Sandstromnow heads a 15-person graphic design agency inPortland, Oregon, that handles a wide variety ofdesign projects for national accounts.

Du r in g t h e ' 80 s , b o t t l e d m in e r a l wa te r s b e c a m e th erage . In the ' 90s , spec ia l ty cof fees caugh t on . Inth e m id - ' 90 s , t e a m a s t e r S t e v e Sm i th d e c id e d i t

was high t ime for tea to takes i ts r ightful place in thist r iumvira te , bu t tha t mean t g iv ing the d r ink a comple teim a g e o v e r h a u l .

As a food ca tegory , tea was s ta le . I t lacked the h ip -ness o f , say , a cappucc ino , and was most ly thought o f

as a d r ink fo r b lue-ha i red lad ies , s ick peop le and thea g in g h ip p i e g r a n o la c r o wd . Sm i th k n e w h e c o u ld d ofor tea what Starbucks did for coffee if only he couldge t peop le to t ry h is innovat ive b lends . At f i r s t , Smi thand h is business par tner , S teve Lee - bo th p rev iouslya s s o c i a t e d w i t h S t a s h T e a t o y e d w i th t h e i d e a o fo p e n in g a n u p sc a l e t e a sa lo n i n Po r t l a n d , Or e g o n ,d e c o r a t e d a r o u n d a "Marco Po lo m e e t s M e r l i n t h eM a g ic i a n " t h e m e . Bu t w i th t h e g r o win g p o p u la r i t y o fb o t t l e d t e a s , t h e y se t t h e i r s i g h t s o n d e v e lo p in g ap r e m i u m b r a n d p r o d u c t i n s t e a d .

Quest ion was, what to ca l l i t? How to ge t peop le tosee tea as youthful and fun? And how to differentiate

T H E R E I N C A R ^

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I S S U E

their prod uct from the s tan dar d of f- the-shelf bra nds ?Smith turned to h is f r iend, S teve Sandoz, creat ivedirector a t Wieden & Kennedy, for help . Sandoz, inturn , brought in des igner S teve Sands trom to col laborate on coming up with a brand ident i ty .

S mith la id out h is "Marco meets Mer l in" idea andexp la ined how tea w as the mos t anc ien t beveragein the wor ld bes ides water . "We w anted a b randthat looked like it wasn' t from here and it wasn' t fromnow," Smith says .

In response to Smith ' s reques t , Sandoz invented then a m e "T a z o , " w hich s ounded to h im k ind o f anc ien tand exot ic . "When I t r ied to come up with a real name,"

Steve SmithC o -Fo u n d e r a n d T e a M a s te r , T a z o T e aAs tea master for Tazo Tea, Steve Smith overseesall aspects of product development, including thepurchase of tea ingredients and development of newbotanical blends.S andoz exp la in s , " I r ecogn ized tha t any r ecogn izab leword car r ied meaning with i t that would e l ic i t somekind of react ion f rom people . But i f I made up a name,i t could m ean an ythin g I wa nted . Tazo sou nde d a l i t t lel ike tea , but not exact ly ."

A f te r concoc t ing the name , S andoz s ays he immed i ate ly wrote out " ten real ly s tupid def in i t ions for i t , andonce I d id that , I was conv ince d we should m ake up a

^ T I O N O F T E A

fBa,t


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I S S U E

his tory . When you th ink of o ther tea companies sayingthey had been making tea for the las t 20 , 30 years ,wel l , Tazo could say we 've been making i t for the las t7 ,0 00. We could app ropr i a te a l l of reco rded h is tory !"

Sandoz tes ted the name and zany concept out onS ands t rom, w ho knew immed ia te ly w ha t S andoz had inmind . H e qu ick ly came back w i th a r ender ing o f thename bas ed on Exoce t ( an Emig re type face des ignedby J ona than Barnb rook) tha t w as vague ly r emin i s cen tof o ld Cel t ic and a lchemy symbols . "The cross-likelower case "t " and the c ros s in the " 0 " made the cha r acters look more l ike symbols than le t ters ,says Sands trom. "You don ' t know whattime period it 's from i t could be from athousand years ago. I knew the face wass ometh ing I cou ld man ipu la te enought o l o o k o ld a n d n o t n e c e s s a r i l y f e e lEuropean o r A s ian . L ike t ea , the logot ype w ou ld f ee l un ive r s a l . "

At f i rs t , Sands trom f ramed the markin a rectangular box that looked as i f i thad bee n s t amp ed from a w oodcu t . Thenext day, he made the logo look evenmore l ike a s ymbo l by tu rn ing the " 0 "i n t o a c i r c l e a n d p l a c i n g t h e l e t t e r saround the " t ," creat ing what the companynow ca l l s " the Tazo Whee l . "

M eanw hi le , S andoz had come up w i ththe tagl ine "Th e Rei nca rnat ion of Tea" toa p t l y e x p r e s s S m i t h ' s g o a l of b r i n g in gabout a rebir th of tea in America . Withthat , the ident i ty e lements fe l l in to p lace . "We hadant iqui ty , mul t icul tural ism and h is tory ," says Sands trom.T hey also had the makings of a great s tory line forthe next "Raiders of the Los t Ark" or for Tazo ' sromant ic ized tea lore . Sandoz had once l ived inIndia and t raveled extens ively through Southeas t As ia ,S r i Lanka and N epa l and s t i l l had v iv id memor ies o fthose years . "That helped me to put myself in thoseplaces and create characters that seem fai r ly bel ieva b l e , " he says . In Tazo ' s cata log , market ing mater ia ls ,webs i te and, to a l imited extent , on the packaging,Sandoz spins amusing yarns about the or ig in of Tazo,weaving in the names of real p laces and th ings so thatthe s tor ies border jus t on the edge of poss ib i l i ty .

One story about the Tazo logo claims it was unearthed

Brand ElementsTazo's brand design vocabularyis consistently expressed on allof its packaging and promotionalmaterials. Key elements include:O Tazo Wh eel; hieroglyphiccharacters made up of variouslanguages; Tazo logo; signature earth color; colortab seal and signature typeface called Tazo Bold (a combination of Nicholas Cochin andGaramond No. 3).

dur ing an a r cheo log ica l d ig . A s ep ia - toned pho tog raphof a rock s lab carved with mys ter ious h ieroglyphs( a c t u a l l y a j u m b l e o f c h a r a c t e r s i n c l u d i n g H i n d i ,Cyr i l l ic , J apa nes e a nd A rab ic ) backs up th i s accou n t .The accompanying text re la tes that i t i s " the TazoS tone , anc ien t r epos i to ry o f mos t Tazo fo rmulas "unc ove red f rom a "cav e on the shores of the Red Seadur ing an abnormal ly low t ide fo l lowing a lunar ecl ipseand ea r thqu ake in 1 9 8 7 ." In te rw oven among thes espoofs is useful (and factual) information about howtea is grown, b lended and brewed. This mixture of fun

with fact keeps people reading, eventhe ve r t i ca l p roduc t ion c r ed i t s , oneof which says it was done by "Muknar& Rav i , A dver t i s ing , D es ign andDent is t ry , Patna, India ."

" I th ink mos t packag ing i s maybetoo funct ional ," says Sandoz. "The re ' s noromance to i t . Or i f there is romance, i ti s done in such a t radi t ional ' ad-y ' way,with the compel l ing aspect being 'buyth is th ing now. ' The not ion that we cameup with is that Tazo as a brand shouldappear as i f i t real ly doesn ' t unders tandt r ad i t iona l Wes te rn marke t ing andshould even be bad at i t . We felt thatwould be not only charming, but d i f fer ent f rom anything e lse out there . I twould make Tazo seem more exot ic andforeign , jus t l ike we didn ' t get i t ."

Sandoz was so in tent on achievingthis effect that he says, "I 've done some stuff for Tazowhere I 've wr i t ten a p iece of copy and then I 've t ransla ted i t in to another language and then t rans la ted i tback in to Engl ish to make i t more awkward. I th inkthere is something about that awkwardness , that i t i snot s l ick , that makes i t more in teres t ing ."

S t i l l , that ' s not to say that Sandoz and Sands tromdon ' t under s t and the d i f f e r ence be tw een cha rming lyaw kw ard and uncomfor tab ly amateu r i s h . The t ex t anddes ign a r e dec ided ly s oph i s t i ca ted , appea l ing andupscale , but the look is purposely low-tech , pr in tedon kraf t paper wi th muted , ear thy colors .

Packaging for Tazo products a lso cont inue thebra nd ' s uniq ue tone of voice and g ive cus to me rs anemot iona l connec t ion to the p roduc t . "S andoz d idn ' t

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I s s uSelf-DispensingBoxesTazo filter eaf teapackages are printed in the same colorto provide a clean,uniform appearancein cafe dispensingdisplays and onretail shelves. Th ecolor-coded tabsprovide a visualclue to the flavorinside.

PosterTo reinforce the impression that Tazo isproduced in an exotic locale, the brand'spromotional posters aremade to look as if theywere done by som eon e unfamiliarwith slickAmericanadvertising.

Embossed SymbolThe strong graphic styleof the Tazo Wheel makesit easy to emboss onaluminum lids.

Individual FilterbagsAlong with intriguing Aproduct names, the

flavor blend filterbagsinside are quickly identified by color-coded

packets.

*%V tV* A* fo < ^ v V v

Stacked LogoThe rectangular Tazo logo

works well in horizontal andvertical formats. Here, it servesas a closure tab on the plasticsack for its iced tea filterbags.

LuxuryPackaging

The elegant lookof Tazo's flat tincontainer for full

leaf teas proved amixed blessing.

Customers loved itas a gift item, butperceived it to be

"too nice for everydayconsumption."

Tazo Catalogcarried its Tazo Stone

spoof onto the coverof its catalog. Th eactual Stone, made

by Sandstrom Design,is prominently on display

at Tazo's headquarters.29


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I S S U E

want the f i l te rbag tea p roducts to go ou t wi th t rad i t i o n a l n a m e s , " sa y s Sa n d s t r o m . "So in s t e a d o f E n g l i shBr e a k f a s t , h e c a l l e d i t Awa k e . " O th e r s h e c a l l e d O m ,Z e n , P a s s i o n , R e f r e s h , C a l m , Mambo e v o c a t i v e(trademarked) n a m e s t h a t b e c o m e a n e n c h a n t in g p a r to f the Tazo exper ience .

A l l o f th is he lped to in t r igue customers in to recons ider ing what tea was a l l abou t and to conv incethem tha t Tazo was no o rd inary tea . "I t i s oneth ing to make a good product , bu t peop le have go t tof ind ou t abou t i t . The way you do tha t i s by packag ingi t wel l , " says Sandst rom. The appea l o f Tazo ' s packag

in g e n c o u r a g e d so m e r e t a i l e r sto buy the entire f i l terbag l inewi thou t even t ry ing them a l l .Today Tazo ' s 80 o r so p roducts full leaf, f i l te rbag , iced tea ,b o t t l e d ready-to-drink a n d ju i c eb l e n d s a n d Ch a i are sold inmore than 5,000 u p sc a l e r e s t a u ran ts , cafes , r esor ts , spec ia l tyand na tu ra l food s to res in theU .S . , Ca n a d a a n d a b r o a d . T h ecompany i t se l f was recen t lya c q u i r e d b y S t a r b u c k s .

Pa c k a g in g a n d th e b r a n dmessage have he lped Tazo too p e n d o o r s a t h ig h - e n d e s t a b l i s h m e n t s a n d t o e n h a n c e t h e

Sham an BoxTo introduce the new Tazoline to key institutionalcustomers such as deluxehotels, Sandstrom Designmade a limited number of"Shaman Boxes" by handand filled them with intriguing tea-related artifacts.

p r o d u c t ' s a p p e a l i n t a r g e t m a r k e t s . S o m e p r o d u c t sh a v e e v e n so ld we l l i n p l a c e s l i k e h o m e a c c e sso r ys to r e s wh e r e f o o d i t e m s a r e r a r e ly f o u n d . I t s p r e se n c ein such s to res i s obv iously d r iven by the e legan t s ty leof the packag ing , which makes i t a popu lar g i f t i tem.

But Tazo has been carefu l to ensure the packagedesign i s appropr ia te fo r the marke t . Smi th says , "Wedon ' t wan t peop le to look a t the packag ing and say' O o h , tha t looks expensive . ' We want i t to p ro jec t goodvalue . I t ' s impor tan t to s t r ike a ba lance so the packaging doesn ' t look too p rec ious ."

Gr e a t p a c k a g in g a l so i s n o a s su r a n c e o f l o n g - t e r msu c c e ss , Sm i th a d d s . "U l t im a te ly , y o u c a n h a v e t h egrea tes t packag ing in the wor ld and i t can on ly se l lyour p roduct once . [With Tazo , ] we want to de l iver onthe p romise o f making you smi le , making you in t r igued ,and giving you a fulf i l l ing cup of tea."

Leveraging the BrandSince the introduction ofthe first Tazo products sixyears ago, the line has grown to include some 80tea and tea-related products.Consistent application ofTazo's graphic vocabularyhelps customers to associatethe new product with Tazo,and to build greater visibilityfor the overall brand acrossseveral market segments.

Bottle ShapesTazo's search for a unique b ottle shapehad to consider the restrictions o f fillingand labeling machinery. The new profilehas a straight surface in the center toaccommodate labeling equipment.

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I S S U E :Po p s i c le T e aManufacturing difficulties forcedthe discontinuation of Tazo's popular tea popsicles, which revealedfunny messages when people atedown to the stick.

I m p o r te d L o o kPackag e colors identify whether the

tea is herbal, green or black,while the closure (which looksa bit like an import inspection

seal) reveals batchnumber and color-code of flavor.

Lo g o A p p a r e lT-shirts imprintedwith Tazo's hip-look

ing logo are sold in itstea catalog.

C o n s i s te n t B r a n d i n gFrom the hieroglyphicdesign on the screwca p to the logoembossed on theglass, Tazo thoroughlybrands its bottledtea and juice blendproducts.

e > JL . r n o i ih g i n g e rand h e r b a l tea

* . - - > '

f B i r y r*- ju it >* '...:

i aflu Lie tree.

! N 9 : 9 0 6 0 0 ]

.SfLor


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D E S I G N A N D B U S I N E S S C L A S S I C : T H E Z I P P E RF ew products have gone through more iterations thanthe zipper, which took nearly 30 years to catch on.First patented in 1893 by Chicago engineer WhitcombJudson, the sliding clasp was meant to be a godsend forhigh-button shoe wearers, doing away with the need to hook20 or so tiny buttons. Though touted as a breakthrough atthe 1893 World's Fair, the complicated mechanism workedbetter in theory than in reality.

Undeterred, in 1904 Judson unveiled an improved model,the C-Curity. "A pull and it's done. No more open skirts,"the ad promised. Not so. C-Curity tended to popopen and lock shut, sometimes requiring thewearer to be cut out of the garment.

Convinced the concept was stillsound, Judson's backers put engineer Gideon Sundback to work on theproblem and introduced the Plako as"the C-Curity fastener made perfect" in1913. It wasn't.

By then, the firm had downsized to two people -Sundback and a helper. To pay b ills, Sundback took onthe repair of a printing machine. Something about the waythe paper wound around the printing cylinders inspiredhim to invent an automatic paper clip machine and to see thefatal flaw in earlier fastener designs. Instead of trying to imitate

a hook-and-eye, Sundback created a chain of interlockingteeth forced open and closed by a slider. It worked!

With the outbreak of World War I, the U.S. air corpsbought a quantity to make a wind-tight closure for its flyingsuits. Otherwise, the product attracted little interest until the1920s, when B.F. Goodrich Co. embraced it as the main feature for its new rubber galoshes. Proposed ads proclaimed:"The Mystik Boot with the patented Hookless Fastener.Opens with a pull. Closes with a pull." Goodrich salesmenloved the product but hated the name Mystik. Too fancifuland impractical, they complained. They wanted somethingthat sounded fast, like a bullet whizzing through the air.Goodrich's president agreed, "What we need is an actionword...something that w ill dramatize the way the thing

zips." Reflecting further, he exclaimed, "Why not call it theZipper!" The Zipper was an instant hit.Although thrilled by the orders, Hookless Fastener

was chagrined that Goodrich owned the name thathad become the generic for its product. It consid

ered renaming its fasteners Utilok or Bobolinkand finally trademarked Talon, descriptive of an

eagle's sharp claws and sure grip. Today Talonremains a respected brand in the industry,

but Zipper is the name that has truly stuckwith consumers.

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@lssue: The Journal of Business an d Design Is specifically published for business leaders, corporate communicators, the designand printing com munity, and business school students to com municate how design contributes to business success.

P o t l a t c h C o r p o r a t i o nThe sponsor of @lssue, Potlatch Corporation has long been a proponent of the use of quality design to enhance corporate identity,promote products, and establish credibility and distinction am ongkey consumer and business audiences. Its broad line of high-performance coated printing papers - including Potlatch McCoy,Vintage, K arma, Northwest and Mountie - are available in achoice of versatile finishes and shades, with both recycled andvirgin fiber content. Potlatch's manufacturing systems in Minnesotaare also recognized for quality by the International StandardsOrganization (ISO) 9002. For Potlatch, paper is just the beginningof the p artnership.

C o r p o r a t e D e s i g n F o u n d a tio nCorporate Design Foundation is a nonprofit educational and researchorganization whose mission is to improve the quality of life andeffectiveness of organizations through design. The Foundation conducts research, develops teaching material, and collaborates withbusiness school faculty to introduce product design, communicationdesign, and office design into the business school curriculum.Boa rd o f D i re c t orsSara Beckman, Professor, Haas School of Business,University of California, BerkeleyAgnes Bourne, Interior DesignerSam Farber, Founder, 0X0 InternationalClark Ke llogg, ConsultantRobert Potts, Director,Industrial Design & Technical Communications, BayerChris Pullman, Vice President for Design,WGBHFritz Steele, Author and Consultant onOrganizational and Environmental ChangeRichard Teller, Attorney at Law, Sullivan & WorcesterPeter Lawrence, Chairman and Founder,Corporate Design Foundation

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