It’s time to get geared up for the NeoCon contract furniture show in Chicago. This year’s upcoming NeoCon will be an exciting one. Not only is it the 50th anniversary of NeoCon, Formaspace Office is will be unveiling our latest secret (shhhhh!) custom furniture products at the show as well as our expanded line of Weldmarx office furniture. We’ve also greatly expanded our network of independent reps across the USA. We look forward to welcoming you to Booth 7-8042.
It’s a big year for the NeoCon contract furniture show — NeoCon will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year.
We will be there at Booth 7-8042, and we’re going to help celebrate NeoCon’s golden anniversary by introducing 50 new choices to our design palette — one for each year of NeoCon — including exciting material choices, new laminate designs, and powder coat colors.
We look forward to welcoming you to NeoCon Booth 7-8042 at the Chicago Merchandise Mart (same location since 1969!) on dates:
- Monday, June 11, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Tuesday, June 12, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Wednesday, June 13, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Want to set up a specific time to meet with Formaspace Office at NeoCon? Use our online meeting calendar.
NeoCon 2018 Office Design Trends Forecast
What will be revealed this year at NeoCon 2018?
Will NeoCon’s golden anniversary be one of tradition that builds on last year’s trends or will we see something entirely new?
You’ll recall the major trends we identified at NeoCon last year, which included making the office a more fun and healthy place to work, bringing outdoor elements inside, using custom furniture designs to collaborate and work smarter, and the blending of mid-century modern design motifs with industrial-look design elements.
We’ve also been listening to the market to identify emerging office design trends during the past year. In addition to ongoing conversations with our customers, we’ve recently instituted a formal industry survey to better understand current perceptions toward different office layouts/work environments as well as attitudes toward different management styles/policies and internal communication efforts. We encourage you to read the detailed survey results.
But what about NeoCon 2018? As we look into our crystal ball, we predict the following seven trends at NeoCon this year:
1. Millennial and Gen Z Employees in the Workplace are Driving Up Adoption of Campus-Style Open Office Spaces
Now that the Millennial and Gen Z population has graduated college and entered the workforce, we expect to see increased demand for changes to office interior designs in order to make them feel more welcomed at work. These generations became accustomed to open, project-based collaborative learning environments during their college and secondary school education. As a result, we predict increased adoption of open workspaces, with areas set aside for collaborative projects — as well as quiet study areas to work in without interruptions.
2. Increased Preference for Multi-Function Furniture with Built-in Technology Components
We predict the trend toward multi-function furniture will continue, particularly in urban environments where there is a great fascination with “tiny homes” and “tiny apartments” that can quickly transform from one function to another (such as a living room into a kitchen) by reconfiguring cleverly designed furniture elements. As an example of this trend, office conference rooms (which can take up a lot of square footage) are increasingly using convertible furniture to allow for multiple use-cases. At NeoCon last year, we presented our Formaspace #NETworking table that converts from a conference table into an attractive ping pong table. (Look for our latest design with a gaming theme at NeoCon 2018!)
Consumers also want access to technology, but they don’t necessarily want to see it — particularly messy cables and connectors. Consequently, we forecast a more subtle integration of technology with cool touches, such as hidden doors and access panels, which open at the touch of a button.
3. Easy-to-Use Online Furniture Purchasing Tools, Even for Custom Products
Given the industry trend toward ancillary (#7) and custom (#6) furniture purchases, it’s become more important than ever for furniture manufacturers to make the ordering process easy-to-use. As furniture dealers and independent reps order a wider range of product SKUs to meet unique customer demands, there is less and less time available to look through printed catalogs and make time-consuming requests for custom furniture quotes and renderings. This process needs to shift to instant response online quoting and ordering systems.
That’s why Formaspace has introduced our new, free Virtual Furniture Designer, which allows dealers and independent reps to “build” their custom workbench orders online. As you design your order, all the materials, finishes, and accessories are rendered on-screen in real-time, using the same graphics technology used in browser-based gaming apps.
4. Preference for Custom Furniture with a Unique Signature Look that Supports Individual Corporate Brands
In the ongoing battle for hiring the best talent for the job, companies are increasingly aware that interior office designs can be a serious competitive advantage when recruiting candidates from college campuses — or from their competitors. Appearances matter. As a result, more and more companies are seeking to differentiate themselves from the competition by purchasing custom furniture that’s not available anywhere else.
Dealers and independent reps have turned to Formaspace and our ability to produce custom furniture designs in quantity, such as recent orders for hundreds of one-of-a-kind custom desks for Parabola and Capitol One. In celebration of 50 Years of NeoCon, we are also introducing 50 new customizable materials, shades, and finishes. Check it out at NeoCon 2018 Booth 7-8042.
5. Further Blending of Hospitality, Residential, and Commercial Elements in Interior Office Designs
As you’ve undoubtedly noticed, top among office design trends is the collision of design elements found in the hospitality sector, residential interior design, and commercial office interiors. This trend, known by some as “resimertial,” brings casual elements from home (from overstuffed sofas and pillows to large table lamps) and spa-like elements from resort hotels (such as soothing lighting and outdoor style plantings in atrium spaces) into commercial office interior designs. Look for more of these “resimertial” design influences at NeoCon 2018.
6. Increased Adoption of Mixed Materials and Live Edge Details in Furniture Designs
We also expect to see an increased use of mixed materials and live edge wood furniture details at NeoCon 2018. It seems that the fascination with live edge wood furniture is part of an overall trend in recent years to revive the mid-century, modern design language (in particular the works of master craftsman George Nakashima) as well as an ongoing trend toward biophilic design that brings in the outside world.
7. Continued Increase in Ancillary Furniture Sales as a Percentage of Overall Project/Floorplate Spend
The shift toward purchases of ancillary furniture at the expense of traditional mainline primary furniture systems will continue. Two trends are working together to reinforce this shift. The first is the rise of campus-style open office spaces, which have non-traditional interior design elements, such as touch-down zones, collaborative work areas, and more private quiet zones. The second trend is the increasing preference for one-of-a-kind “curated” furniture selections. In other words, architects and interior designers are moving away from specifying furniture systems that are duplicated multiple times within a single office environment in favor of a wide range of custom ancillary furniture elements that support each their client’s unique brand messages.
Formaspace Office is On the Move with New Custom Product Offerings and a Major Channel Expansion
From our Weldmarx product line to our 3D Virtual furniture designer, our large-scale studio is committed to the finest level of custom craftsmanship. So, let’s Design it. Build it. Hack it…. Deconstruct it. Reconstruct it. Let’s get to work. Formaspace Office – You imagine it. We build it.
At NeoCon 2018, we are showing off our design and manufacturing capabilities with entries into the Best of NeoCon Competition, which is sponsored by Contract magazine and co-sponsored by The McMorrow Reports Facility Management & Design Insights.
Formaspace is entering the Best of NeoCon Competition in the following two categories:
Best of NeoCon Category: Space Dividers/Partitions/Screens
New at NeoCon 2018 is our expanded Weldmarx office line, which now includes a full offering of furniture desks and accessories, including privacy and modesty panels, power, and cable management systems. We are entering the new Gallery Panels from the expanded Weldmarx line into the Best of NeoCon Competition.
Best of NeoCon Category: Tables — Height-Adjustable
Formaspace Office has long been recognized as a leader in Height-Adjustable desks, with our unique offering that moves the entire work surface, including above and below storage elements, up and down as a unit at the touch of the button. We will be entering our latest version of the Formaspace Height-Adjustable desks from the expanded Weldmarx line into the Best of NeoCon Competition.
Another Formaspace news item at NeoCon 2018 is our expanded network of independent reps across the USA. According to Frank Bucher, Formaspace’s EVP of Sales, “this will be the first year Formaspace Office will have our full complement of independent reps on board, covering the entire country. This is good news for the end users, dealers, and A&D firms from across the country who will be touring our booth at NeoCon.”
Formaspace Reveals a Sneak Peak of Our NeoCon 2018 Furniture Announcements
Want a sneak peek of what we have in store for you at NeoCon?
Here are a couple of mystery photos to pique your interest:
If you can’t guess what the final product is, we’ll give you a little hint: like last year, when we brought a custom executive conference table that converted into a ping pong table, we’re creating another gaming concept. Come to NeoCon 2018 to find out what it is!
We’ll be introducing a few other new and exciting products when you visit the Formaspace Booth 7-8042:
- We will be bringing our most requested products from Weldmarx line of office furniture, including the Weldmarx One height-adjustable desk, the Weldmarx Seven training table, and the Weldmarx Thirteen credenza.
- As part of our expanded Weldmarx office furniture line (which now adds a full line of accessories, including privacy and modesty panels, power, and cable management systems), we will be bringing a new Weldmarx C-shaped side table to NeoCon.
- Also new at NeoCon is a mobile communication board with a dry-erase writing surface.
- We are going to show off our latest live edge furniture projects as well.
See You at Formaspace Booth 7-8042 at NeoCon 2018 in Chicago June 11 – 13, 2018
It’s hard to believe that NeoCon 2018 is just around the corner. Since last year’s event, we’ve been hard at work growing our network of independent reps across the USA, expanding our line of Weldmarx office furniture, and creating new bespoke custom furniture designs to unveil at this year’s event.
If you can imagine it, we can build it.
We welcome our end users, dealers, and A&D firms from across the country (and across the world) to meet us at the NeoCon 2018 booth 7-8042.
You’ll soon discover why leading companies choose Formaspace — including famous names such as SpaceX, Oculus, Capital One, Parabola, Twitter, Busch, and Toyota.
We’re looking forward to meeting with you at NeoCon very soon.
If you’d like to set up a meeting with Formaspace Office at NeoCon, indicate your preferred date and time on our online meeting calendar.
