Better Ways to Work™

 Back in 2004 Intereum was impacted by a book written by Jim Collins called, ‘From Good to Great.’  This book held many little golden nuggets in it that molded our culture.  So much so, that each new employee is given a copy of this book at his or her start date.  One of the concepts that has established its mainstay here in the office is the story about two small creatures.  Cozy up for a quick story about the fox vs the hedgehog.  The fox in his cunning and sneaky ways is always trying to come up with the next great idea.  The hedgehog on the other hand does one thing…and he does it really really well.  In the midst of a prowl, when the fox is using his most sly abilities, the hedgehog rolls himself into a ball to outwit the fox in attack.  Time and time again, despite all the different ways the fox will create to attack the hedgehog, the hedgehog will do his one and only trick over and over again.  A Greek quote about these two goes a little like this, “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”

Hedgehog Concept Diagram

From this story came Intereum’s mascot, Hedgie the Hedgehog.  Hedgie made his appearances at all sort of company events and we all even got emails from the guy.  In 2008 Hedgie’s role changed around here and he started giving out awards to people who went above and beyond their job to surpass client’s expectations of Intereum. 

Intereum's mascot Hedgie and some of his appearances througout the years!

We’ve seen him wear many different hats and capes around here and we just went through another revamp to him.  During this makeover we have tried to create an award process that is easier and more fun!  We now have added an online form making it easy for coworkers to give Hedgie awards to their colleagues and the givers will also be rewarded and encouraged with a gift.  We have also blocked out an hour each month where we have a little work party to celebrate the Hedgies if the month and pick three winners who receive $50 and a ‘Rock-Star’ parking spot!  We all know it’s nice to have a little somethin-something for that extra motivation and through all this we hope to create an even better working environment with even better service and results!  Thanks to all of the employees at Intereum for going above and beyond and thank you to Hedgie for our moments of recognition!

Intereum's Hedgie Award Wall

Intereum's Hedgie Award Wall

Hi there and welcome to our 100th Blog post!  We’d like to celebrate this milestone with you in style…YOUR style.  So we created this fun little competition where you get to pick what you win.  And it’s easy.  All you have to do is jump onto Facebook and go to Intereum’s page and ‘Like’ us.  After that open up our photo album called ’100th Blog Contest Photo Album,’ and take a ganter through the pictures we’ve posted of products.  When you see a picture of something you like tag yourself in it.  The photo album will be updated throughout the cometition, which lasts from February 23 to March 16,  so check back often to see what’s new!  We will announce the randomly picked winner on March 16.

Here’s a little sneak peak of the first 3 contestants..

SAYL Chair

Eames Molded Plastic Rocker

Eames Walnut Stool (1 of3)

When Yves Behar set out to design a chair for Herman Miller his inspiration became his concept, that became his design, that became a wider lens to view the progression of human potential.  Whoa, and we just thought it was a chair.

Early on in the design process his inspiration came from the infamous suspension bridge of San Francisco.  He noticed that the structural towers and cable system of the Golden Gate Bridge carried a tremendous amount of weight day-in and day-out.  From this realization he began to play with the idea and possibility that a chair could be engineered with a similar frame of mind…where vertical support and a cable back creates tension and comfort, all while eliminating the need for a traditional frame.  Unframed.  This beautiful foundation of the SAYL chair created a wider view not only on design, but on the view of humanity, what Yves describes as, ‘An amusing parallel between the SAYL’s literally ‘unframed’ suspension back, and my belief that we humans progress by ‘unframed’ expressions of our potential – by taking on bigger challenges, defying convention, and going beyond work or social expectations.  Somewhere along the way, SAYL started to feel just like the beginning of a bigger idea, ‘life unframed’ being accessible to more of us…’

The final and tangeable product from this deep exploration gave the world a chair that demonstrates the comfort and beauty that can be embraced by living unframed.  We know we have a wonderful product and story to share, thanks to Yves and all those that helped create the SAYL, and we at Intereum would love to offer this story and way of life with you.  Our 100th blog is coming up and we want you to stay tuned via Facebook and Twitter with how to win a free custom SAYL chair from Intereum!

Our family at Intereum is made up of many talented and unique individuals that separates us from other furniture dealers around the Twin Cities.  We are proud of and value each of us that make Intereum a whole.  We want to show ‘em off and tell ya about them!

 The first employee we want to introduce you to and get to know is Kim.  She is our own in-house certified Ergonomic Technician, which means that Kim has the best knowledge and know-how of the way people can work the most comfortably and healthiest in their office space. 

Kim works mostly with several of our large customers, but upon request of any client, Kim will come out to their office for a meeting to discuss their current aches, pains, or general concerns.  Depending on the aconcerns of the client she will suggest alternatives such as chair adjustments; keyboard and mouse trays; sit to stand surfaces; and other ergonomic solutions for the space.  Kim will also educate the client on the best positions for the body to be in throughout the day. 

Turns out if we just listen to our bodies we will find that it is best for the body to be in different positions throughout the day.  But did you know there are two ergonomically accepted positions to sit in?  Kim does.  In fact she told me the first way is to have your feet flat on the floor and legs and arms at a 90 degree angle with your head facing straight.  As ergonomically correct as the first position is, we know it is pretty hard to hold this position the whole day and that it is not good for you body to do so.  The second accepted position is lounging in a chair.  The upper body is leaned back in the chair and the arms and legs are still at 90 degrees.  Still, with these two healthy ways to sit, don’t forget to get up and move throughout the day..give your body a rest! 

I asked Kim what the most common errors she sees when she assesses how people work in their spaces and she filled me in that the most common error people make is sitting with their chair too far back from their key boards, causing them to stretch their arms and in doing so, stretching just about the whole rest of their body to reach.  Also, she sees a lot of people perching on the end of the chairs so they aren’t using all the potential benefits of the seat and back of their chairs for comfort.  An easy fix for these common errors is to sit back in your chair, making the proper adjustments for the 90 degrees of the arms and legs, move it closer to your desk and slide monitors to about arms length awat, so there isn’t any additional strain on the eyes or body.

Kim’s enthusiasm and cheerfulness combined with her knowledge of ergonomics makes her an outstanding individual in a specialized niche of design.  What she loves about her job is making a positive impact on the health of people’s lives at work and the catalyst effect that has on their lives after 5pm and on the weekends.  If you find yourself needing a special ergonomic assessment, please feel free to contact us and Kim would be more than happy to come out and help you create a healthy and happy work environment for you and your body.  After all, we are all about Better Ways to Work!

The collaboration between Herman Miller and the Italian furniture companies Magis (meaning, ‘more than’ in Latin) and Mattiazzi has created a beautiful array of choices for the indoors and out, the lounge, the cafe, the classroom, the lobby, and any sort of meeting area. 

Magis combines craft and industrial processes to produce some of the most stunning and affordable designs.  The process which Magis stands by uses less material and less energy and thus naturally reflects Herman Millers commitment to the environment and a quality product.

Mattiazzi’s focus is also on the beautiful craft of furniture making.  An interesting take on their process though, is that Mattiazzi allows for each one of their mills to have a focus passion..from milling to lacquering and each one of those processes belongs to a specific park of town.  They have highly specialized craftsman that use some of the most sophisticated machinery available to the industry all while never missing to show the artisan of any tool used.   

Recently all of this hard work and vision of the furniture companies and their joint venture with Herman Miller has paid off in a way that the San Francisco MOMA has decided to accept 3 chairs between the two companies into their collection!

SFMOMA

The first chair is Branca from Mattiazzi.  Stemming it’s name from its concept, the Branca was inspired by the form of tree branches.  The seat and back are carved from a single piece of wood and the joints are seamless..see the beautiful process in the video below. 

Branca is stackable and it’s simple and beautiful design in made for every day use.  This chair come in a Matte black anilin beech, white anilin ash, matte black anilin ash, green wax ash, natural wax ash, and chocolate with natural ash seat.  For another aesthetic the Branca is also offered upholstered with a Nordic wool seat in black/dark grey, grey/white, lime/dark green, and orange/white threads. 

The next chair is made by Magis and is called the Steelwood chair.  The chair is both handsome and friendly as it combines the warmth of wood and the strength and durability of steel.  The designers of the chair, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, say that; “If the chair could talk it would say, ‘I am a well-constructed, comfortable chair, one that will last a long time and will grow old quite nicely with you.”‘

This dapper chair is available in red, black, white and in natural wood choices of beech and white, beech and black. 

The last of the three chairs making its debut at the San Francisico MOMA is the sleek and versatile Deja-vu Chair.  This chair is simple and smart with its ultramodern simple lines and has an almost endless amount of options for finishes..it really does have the availability to fit in any space!

The finishes of the Deja-vu include a plastic outer back in black or white.  Or a wooden outer back in oak veneer or oak stained wenge wood.  You can have a painted aluminum outer back in black or white and have the legs and seat in black or white! 

With three unique and beautiful chairs that uphold a tradition of craftmanship and innovation it is no wonder that these chairs would end up in a museum.  If you’d like to purchase or learn more about one of these lovely chairs contact us here!

It seems like a lot of the Better Ways to Work blog posts have been about new and exciting products lately and this weeks blog post, my dear, is no different!  There are just so many new and exciting products coming down the turn pike at us right now, it’s hard to choose just one to write about this week.  But we did and this week I am going to tell you about the new member to our famous Canvas Office Landscape  system and that is a little something like to call Group-Based.

This is Herman Miller staying competitive and meeting clients needs with the here-to-stay trend of collaboration and technology.  The Group-Based gives people choices about how and where they want to work all while maintaining an aesthetic and functional harmony throughout the space.  Technology options with in the Group-Based wall help people stay connected and supports the sharing of ideas and flow of communication.

The Group-Based products includes standing screens, team walls, and a team wall/technology module.  These elements were design specifically for small group settings and provides more choice and variety in ways to work.

The Canvas Group-Based really helps create a successful space where community and technology can come together for the greater good of idea-generation.  Now, lets give credit where credit is due for such an innovative and supportive product.  Canvas is at cumulation of designers work, most recently including Jeffrey Bernett and Nicholas Dodziuk of CDS in New York who both branched off the connected work of Douglas Ball and Joey Ruiter.

Jeffery BernettNicolas DodziukNicholas Dodziuk

 If you are interested in learning more about the Group-Based wall feel free to contact us and we’d be more than happy to help!

We have another new and exciting product that we are introducing to our family line at Intereum…the Luxo Light 360!  Luxo has a way of designing and producing some of the best quality and some of the most iconic task lights in the world, but the 360 is not another Luxo light famed by Pixar..

Pixar's famous animaton of Luxo light..but NOT the 360.

But by an American industrial designer named Stephan Copeland who was inspired by the motion of a flying disc to make the 360 Light. 

Stephen Copeland

And this inspired flying disc light literally has everything you could want in illuminating your work area.  But we’ll start at the beginning of the long list of great characteristics for this new guy…

360 Pivot and Reach

 First, as the name suggests, the Luxo 360 has the ability to adjust and pivot at any degree and the long length of the flexible spring balanced pivoting arm will ensure light in any direction at any place.  This provides an asymmetric and ergonomically correct workstation lighting. 

 Also, the 360 light has a 6.5 Watt LED module is placed in a horizontal lamp head, which gives a broad directional light that is soft on the eyes and strong on the shedding light on the worksurface without any ‘peacocking’ or excessive shadowing.  The Luxo 360 is dimmable and saves energy by automatically shutting itself off after 9 hours! The dimmable LED module has a life span of 50,000 hours…that’s 6,250 business days! Whoa-dang.

360 Movement

 Finally, the task light is made of aluminum and comes in 3 classic colors including black, white, and silver.  This light is definitely worth taking a look at, so c’mon over to Intereum and we’d love to show off another one of our awesome products!

Breathe Living Wall is among the newest and latest innovations to the  modular wall solutions by DIRTT.  The idea behind the Breathe Wall is to incorporate plants and all of their natural benefits into the work environment.  The positive influences surrounding the Breathe wall stems from studies and research done on the effects of plants in spaces, such as their ability to clean the harmful VOC and other toxic elements out of the air by 75%…even better than any HVAC system!  With that in mind, it’s obviously doesn’t give off any other harmful compounds into the air to generate clean air the way a HVAC system would. 

Aside from cleaning the air, plantscapes naturally have a way to create healing and pleasant spaces, creating an even deeper space built on the wellbeing of the occupants.  The options that you can have through DIRTT of plants vary from size, color, and texture are just about endless so the wall can easily become a beautiful one of a kind art installations

Breathe Wall is built on the same ideas of modularity as the rest of the DIRTT systems.  It has box-type plant modulars and a different type of watering system depending on the size of the installation.  The pots are discrete and the watering system is separate unit for ease of maintenance.  The soil used isn’t even purely soil, but is combined with a biofungicide to prevent root diseases.  The compound is airier than dirt and minimizes soil born insects.  All of these components combined create a beautiful, smart, and clean living and Breathing Wall!

Want more information??  Contact our DIRTT bags here at Intereum!

Intereum proudly participated in the 15th year of We Care!  Dozens of people from the design community in Minneapolis came together  in North Minneapolis at the Boys and Girls Club to serve and celebrate the holidays with children frome the neighnborhood.   

We celebrated the eve with several different craft stations making scarfs, ornaments, jewelry boxes, and jelly bean trees!  We also had some artists displaying their wintery wonders at the face painting station.  Not to mention the free mitten and hat station and at the end of the chaos were the gift wrapping elves, busy at getting the freshly made gifts ready to give!  

Did I mention GOLDY AAAAND SANTA was there too?!?!  Talk about two popular guys!

This night was such a success not only for the awesome turn out of kids and volunteers, but for how we all came together to serve and celebrate with the children; we have all been touched in the deepest part of our hearts.  We were honored to be part of such an event and we thank all who made this happen..Boys and Girls Club and the wonderful Volunteers!!  

Oh, and then there was the after party!  Hosted by the crew from Herman Miller at Gustaf’s in NE Minneapolis…what a way to end the night…just take a look for yourself!

Have you heard of DIRTT?? Not the stuff the kids and dog always seem to drag in despite all efforts to ‘TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES!’  DIRTT stands for Do It Right This Time and refers to an overall-one-of-a-kind, creative and sustainable solution to modular walls and access floors. 

No, but seriously it really embodies all of those characteristics because DIRTT never does the same project twice, every day is a different story.  The multi layer solution of structure, aesthetic, technology, and application helps create endless possibilities to fit your needs just right.  The wall system can seamlessly support work surfaces, overheads, displays, and any other mounted object that you need!  And because the walls are pre-engineered, pre-manufactured and has endless possibilities as far as function and aesthetics..your wish really is DIRTT‘s command and they wouldn’t have it any other way! 

Because DIRTT doesn’t abide to the ol’ fashioned way of making walls-using among other things endless amounts of gypsum board, tape, nails, it can pretty much eliminate construction waste, future renovation waste.  There is no demolition, dumping, procuring, or re-building which makes for a beautiful environmental story…not to mention a nice bottom line for you!

These walls create such a valuable and forward thinking solution to interiors that Intereum has our own DIRTT team!  If you’d like to see this system for yourself, swing by our showroom.  And if you want to chat with an expert in this DIRTT field contact us to get a hold of our DIRTT Bag staff at Intereum!