Tricycle Inc.

Tricycle Inc. is a sustainable design company founded in 2002 to serve the creative product lifecycle of the interior design and architecture professions and their suppliers. According to Tricycle co-founder Michael Hendrix, "…sustainable design is a new category in the professional world, in which a design company is defined not by its output but by its objectives." [ [http://tricycleinc.blogspot.com/2006/07/sound-off-1-hendrix-on-sustainable.html "Hendrix on 'Sustainable Design'"] , Tricycle's official blog, July 2006]

The company primarily works with carpet manufacturers, such as Shaw Industries, Interface Inc. and Mohawk Industries, to reduce the waste involved in developing products and getting them to market. The company's headquarters are in Chattanooga, Tennessee with an R&D center in Leeds, England.

Services

Tricycle has a service called the "Factory" that sets up carpet mill products in a "virtual mill" showroom and distributes them as simulations to interior designers and architects.

Tricycle has a marketing services group that provides graphic design and web development for customers with Tryk programs. Work includes trade show design, sample book design, web site ordering portals, product and program identity and brand development.

Products

Tryk (formerly called SIM) digitally models carpet for manufacturers prototyping new designs and architects or designers reviewing samples in the early stages of a project. Tryk produces color-accurate renderings by capturing the yarn color under a specific light source and includes a representation of the design's pattern by simulating the carpet machine manufacturing. The samples are recyclable into new paper products and available on 100% post consumer waste paper. Produced on-demand, there is no excess inventory, and wait times for designers are reduced to only 24 hours. Tricycle operates this service as the Factory.

Apso is Tricycle's CAD software brand. The carpet design suite is called Jet Set. There are also a number of fabric design applications such as Dobby Designer.

Activities

In 2006, Tricycle designed, edited and published "REVERB", an "anthology of the moment" about sustainability in the interiors industry, with articles written by eco-consultants, commercial interior designers and editors of industry magazines. Sponsorships allow half of the book's sales go to support Architecture for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that enlists the help of architects and designers in areas devastated by natural disasters and AIDS. [ [http://www.tricycleinc.com/reverb "REVERB"] ]

REVERB's writers are Holley Henderson, chair of LEED for Commercial Interiors, Mairi Beautyman of "Interior Design" magazine and Treehugger.com, Melissa Mizell of Gensler, a report from a Saturday Education Seminar at the Color Marketing Group's spring international meeting, MK Timme of InteriorDesign.net, Katie Weeks of "Contract" magazine, Bill Grant of Grant Design Collaborative and current president of AIGA, Nadav Malin of "Environmental Building News", Carlie Bullock-Jones of Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates, and Cameron Sinclair of Architecture for Humanity.

Recognition & Awards

Tricycle has been recognized internationally for leadership in green design through the Green Apple Award and Green Heroes Award (UK) for environmental best practices in the United States; an American Institute of Architects, CoreNet and International Interior Design Association Special Recognition for Global Sustainable Leadership; an INDEX:2005 shortlist nomination for Design to Improve Life (Denmark); a 2006 nomination for a National Design Award for Corporate Achievement from the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum; and a 2006 Gold IDEA award from the Industrial Designers Society of America and "Business Week" for EcoDesign.Fact|date=August 2007

External links

* [http://www.tricycleinc.com Tricycle corporate site]
* [http://www.tricycleink.com Tricycle public blog]
* [http://www.tryk.us Tryk product page]

References