IHA News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Deborah A.Teschke
Manager, Media Relations & Communications
847-692-0110

Design: One Little Word A Huge Part of Today’s Housewares Industry

To Design or Design Even More, That Is the Question

ROSEMONT, Ill (January 2007) – One walk through a big-box retailer will tell volumes about the critical importance of design in housewares. Everything from broom handles to high-end coffee machines are being designed with the modern, sophisticated consumer in mind. That trend is well represented at the 2007 International Home and Housewares Show, March 11-13 at McCormick Place, where design will be front and center, off to the side and in back.

Why is it everywhere? Because in an increasingly consolidated and competitive market, innovative design can be the difference between big sales and big flops. Leading design experts speaking at the Show give a lot of the credit for the design trend to consumers, who are better than ever at discerning the difference between good and bad design.

Several avenues of design are featured at the 2007 Show, each with a particular focus. They include the Housewares Design Theater, Design Defined, The Designed Table, Design ALIVE,  the Student Design Competition and the ColorWatch by Pantone Display.

Based on the theme that great ideas foster great products, 22 experts from the world of product creation will offer their insights during three days of continuous presentations at the Housewares Design Theater. Presentations will begin on Sunday, March 11 at 9:30 a.m. and conclude on Tuesday, March 13 at 1:30 p.m. The theater is located in the Level 3 Lobby of the Lakeside Center.

Topics include global lifestyle trends, eco design, emerging markets like China, India and Africa, kitchen trends, affluence in a future of climate change, the impact of culture and tradition on current housewares trends and many more.
Of special interest to the attendees will be IDSA Housewares Section Panel Discussion on design highlights at the Show, on Monday, March 12 at 3:30 p.m. During this presentation, leading product designers will talk about what they’ve seen on the exhibit floors this year and which products serve as examples of innovative design that will attract consumers.
A complete listing of Design Theater presentations is available at www.housewares.org.

This special area of the Show is another way to get a snapshot of products on the exhibit floors that reflect the design trend. Focusing on products for cleaning, storage, outdoor spaces and home décor, teams of design professionals and design students will walk the Clean, Contain & Outdoor Domain Expo and the home décor category in the Dine & Design Expo on the lookout for quality-designed products. The teams will select products that they feel represent “Design Defined.”

Selections from 2006 will be featured in a display in the Grand Concourse Lobby, Level 3 of the North Building. Honorees for 2007 will be announced Monday, March 12 at the exhibit. The exhibit includes the popular “Power of Design” film, in which 30 of the industry’s top designers share their philosophy on the importance of design.

Don’t miss a rare chance to find out which housewares products impress the people who design them.

Ever wonder how you really set a table? Students from four competing colleges will show you how in four breath-taking tablescapes assembled from products on the Show floor.
The Designed Table on Sunday, March 11 is the best opportunity at the Show to get some great ideas for tabletop displays, whether they are in a store or in your home. The enthusiastic students put long hours into the project, while their individual aspirations offer great stories in themselves.  The display is located in the South Building near Booth S2225.
Students come from four Chicago-area design schools, where they study hospitality management, interior design and merchandising principles. Participating this year are College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Ill.; International Academy of Design & Technology, Chicago; Illinois Institute of Art, Chicago; and Joliet Junior College, Joliet, Ill.

This is the place to be for breakthrough design concepts. Design ALIVE is a TV studio setting on the Show floor, located near the home décor category (Booth S4477) in the South Building, where professional designers and exhibitors share their insights on the growing importance of design and how they apply design in their businesses.
               
On Sunday, March 11 and Monday, March 12, listen in as professional designers and
exhibitors share their insights on design. On Tuesday, March 13, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., inventors with new housewares products will pitch their product ideas to a panel of “As Seen on TV” experts during the Invention Revue. These direct marketing experts will provide on-the-spot insight and constructive feedback to the inventors. Fans of American Idol or American Inventors should not miss this event.

Every year, the Show becomes a showcase for some of the best and brightest student product designers from across the U.S. This year, for the first time, the contest was open to colleges and universities in Canada as well.

Each winner has an amazing story, from the seed of their idea to the long months of work that go into testing, schematics, feedback and prototypes. You can meet the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners on the Show floor and see a display that describes their products.
Sponsored by the International Housewares Association in cooperation with the Industrial Designers of America and representing more than 50 of North America’s great universities, this annual contest celebrates the future of design by recognizing these innovative undergraduates. Don’t be surprised if you see one or more of these products on a store shelf in the near future. Many of the contest winners have gone on to prominent design positions at major companies.

ColorWatch by Pantone, Inc.

Another lynchpin of the Show, the ColorWatch exhibit designed by Pantone, Inc. focuses on eight color palettes reflecting the strongest home furnishing trends for 2008. This look into the future includes individual Pantone colors, the philosophy of the color palette and Show products that bring the palettes to life.

This heavily visited display is in tune with consumers discovering that color is the essence of self-expression in the home. Research indicates that product color evokes a strong emotional response from consumers and is a key factor in more than 60 percent of purchases. 

The future of color is right now when you attend the 2007 International Home & Housewares Show.