IHA News Release

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

CRITICAL IMPORTANCE OF DESIGN FRONT AND CENTER AT 2006 INTERNATIONAL HOME & HOUSEWARES SHOW

Design Concepts and Education Woven Throughout This Year’s Show

ROSEMONT, Ill. (January 2006)—To say that design is the center of the International Home & Housewares Show is to state the obvious. One tour of McCormick Place from Jan. 12-14 will confirm that design is hotter than ever in housewares and home goods.

One big reason, say leading design experts speaking at the Show, is the increased sophistication of consumers, who are better at discerning the difference between good and poor design. “Companies are using design as the chief measure of differentiation from their competition,” says John Schaffeld, vice president of product development at Proteus Design, a strategic design consulting firm. “As a manufacturer, you might have low cost and high margins, but without a compelling design story behind your product, you don’t really have anything.”

There are several avenues of design to explore at the 2006 Show, each with its own focus.

Housewares Design Theater
Choose from 19 design seminars as leading experts share their secrets on topics ranging from turning product flirtation into a lasting brand commitment to protecting intellectual property in a highly competitive field and adding the “Ahh Haa!” to products through color, materials and finishes. Learn about the big trend toward design “personalization” that augments escapism in the home with spa-like or boutique hotel spaces that carve out a haven for every homeowner. Or, hear how new materials are driving more exciting and distinctive products. You’ll also learn that the kitchen is the hot spot for housewares design for the way it functions as a space in people’s minds. It’s where people always want to be.

Design Theatre presentations will begin on Sunday, March 12 at 9:30 a.m. and conclude on Tuesday, March 14 with a presentation at 1:30 p.m. The Theatre is located in the Level 3 Lobby of the Lakeside Center.

Design Defined
Back for a second year after being well-received in 2005 is “Designed Defined,” which features teams of professionals and young designers who will scour the exhibit floor in the Clean, Contain & Outdoor Domain Expo (North Building) and the Home Décor category in the Dine & Design Expo (South Building) for quality designed products, and select honorees that best represent the essence of design.

In 2005, about 40 products from 25 companies were chosen. Those will be featured this year in a display in the Grand Concourse Lobby in the North Building.

The 2006 honorees will be announced Monday, March 13, and featured in a presentation that will play continuously at the Design Defined exhibit from Monday afternoon through the end of the Show. The exhibit also will include the popular “Designers Speak!” videos, in which 30 of the industry’s top designers share their views on the importance of design in our homes.

Student Design Competition
Great designers might be born, but there’s a lot of hard work that goes into molding a student into a force to be reckoned with. See some of tomorrow’s top housewares designers at the annual Student Design Competition. The event begins well before the Show with hundreds of submissions from students across the U.S., which an expert panel condenses to a handful of winners after careful deliberation. The first, second and third place winners are featured in the Housewares Design Center in the Level 3 Lobby of the Lakeside Center throughout the Show, where they are happy to answers questions about their award-winning designs – and their dreams of having them marketed. The amount of work that goes into the development of one prototype will make you want to stop for a rest. Their stories are inspirational.

The competition is sponsored by the International Housewares Association in cooperation with the Industrial Designers Society of America and more than 50 American universities.

The Designed Table
Employing the products of Show exhibitors – from dinnerware to cookware and home décor – students in hospitality management, culinary and merchandising programs at four Chicago-area design schools will each design a tablescape and its surrounding environment.

Although a competition for the students, everybody wins. Students get exposure and experience, and sometimes job leads, while Show attendees see exhibitors’ products in settings that reflect real home life and use, as well as the tastes of the important youth market.

The enthusiastic students put long hours into the project, which results in breath-taking tablescapes and inspirational ideas for home décor and store displays. The students’ varied, individual aspirations are a great story in themselves. Find out how they got there and where they want to go.

Design Alive
Designers will take the stage, literally, in Design ALIVE, a TV studio on the Show floor near the Home Décor category in the South Building. Breakthrough design concepts will find their voice as professional designers and cutting-edge retailers share their insights on the growing importance of design. Designer interviews will take place at various times and be replayed on a video monitor at the exhibit.

ColorWatch Display
Color also is an element of design and the housewares industry’s love affair with color continues as consumers are 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. This special exhibit designed by Pantone, Inc., focuses on eight color palettes representing the strongest home furnishings trends for 2007 and beyond. Within the ColorWatch display, each story includes the individual Pantone colors, philosophy behind the color palette and actual housewares products illustrating each palette. In addition, ColorWatch complements the popular color trends seminar by color guru Lee Eiseman on Monday, March 13.

Further information about the design exhibits and all the events at the Show is available at www.housewares.org/ihshow/about.asp.