Designers

Populous is a global architecture and design firm that designs the places where people love to be together, like Yankee Stadium, the London Olympics, and the Super Bowl. Over the last 37 years, the firm has designed more than 3,000 projects worth $40 billion across emerging and established markets. Populous’ comprehensive services include architecture, interior design, event planning and overlay, branded environments, wayfinding and graphics, planning and urban design, landscape architecture, aviation and transport design, hotels and hospitality, and sustainable design consulting. Populous has 18 offices on four continents and more than 700 employees with regional centers in Kansas City, London and Brisbane.

Product: Pleat Collection, Draped, Melvin Stools

Our studio designs furniture and interior systems for companies in Europe, North America, Middle and Far East. It also explores and recruits industrial and artisan excellence operating within European territory, ensuring the supervision of the supply chain and the management of business strategy. The term design means creating and managing projects, and each one of our projects bears the stamp of industrial innovation. The logic behind our furniture elements is always developed with meticulous attention to engineering. Metrica elicits the process of design that must face constraints and incentives imposed by manufacturing process, the market and the client: we call this educated design.

Product: Duende Tables

Internationally renowned, II BY IV DESIGN was founded in 1990 by partners Dan Menchions and Keith Rushbrook. Both Dan and Keith dreamed of a creative firm that was deeply rooted in design and guided by a passion for constant innovation. Continually travelling the world, we seek out art, architecture, fashion, theatre, food and culture to fuel our imaginations, while inspiring globally celebrated designs. Credited with countless awards and esteemed publications II BY IV DESIGN is distinguished by our balanced approach that captures the essence of each client’s vision. From concept to execution our entire team believes in delivering the highest level of design excellence.

Product: Ren Lounge & Table Collections

fig40 is an industrial design firm that makes interesting products, and makes products interesting. Combining the design and engineering talents of Lee Fletcher and Terence Woodside, fig40 has earned a reputation for producing award-winning objects that are both relevant and responsible. Our process spans research and concept development to refinement and testing, mechanical design and implementation, promotional support and product education. From our studio in Toronto, we’ve collaborated with some of the world’s most innovative organizations to not only design insightful product concepts, but also give those ideas dimension and meaning.

Product: Rhoi Tables

As the creative executive for Environetics New York office, Annie Lee gives shape to the needs and ideas of clients. Working through the process of discovering each individual taste, budget and project schedule, she achieves the desired results without sacrificing either client values or aspirations. Annie enables design solutions that show how each client can be related to their space and how they can work within it. Certified as a LEED AP, Annie has designed sustainable solutions for many clients. David Rush is an Architect and Managing Principal of the Environetics’ New York office. With his well-known facility for designing space in ways that are simultaneously unique, functional, and creative for both commercial and private clients, David is a registered architect with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from The University of Michigan and a Masters Degree in Architecture from Yale University.

Product: Andavi Collection

Matthew Plumstead designs smartly focused, modern furniture and products for the home and office. He believes that good design is predicated, in part, on being attuned to evolving trends and behaviors. Through the processes of data collection and research, rigorous form making, materials exploration, and prototyping, Matthew has designed products that are desirable and seemingly inevitable. Matthew graduated with an M.F.A. in design from Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he was a Knoll scholar. His work has been seen in numerous publications and has won awards including a Red Dot Design Award, and an ICFF Editor’s Award. Matthew currently practices industrial design at his studio, McCarty Quinn Design, in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Product: Leit System

5D Studio’s work has been recognized with numerous design industry awards and has been featured in exhibits at the Cooper Hewitt National Museum and the Pasadena Museum of California Design. David Ritch studied Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Cincinnati before receiving a BS in Industrial Design. Ritch has 24 years of experience including work with Henry Dreyfuss, Rubbermaid and Donald Chadwick. Mark Saffell is a graduate of Ringling College of Art and Design, where he received a BFA in Interior Architecture. Saffell has 22 years of experience including work with Sussman/Prejza and Donald Chadwick.

Product: Aim Collection, Prato Collection, Salone Collection, Domino Collection

Throughout his 44 year career and while President of NELSON, design excellence and quality have always been in the forefront of his leadership. John’s body of work is uniquely diverse. The breadth of his experience spans all types of projects, including corporate and executive offices, call centers, trading rooms, conference centers, educational facilities, hospitals, restaurants, retail space, branch banks, and showrooms. His achievements also include a strong portfolio in product design for manufacturers in the commercial industry.

Product: Bau Tables/Benches, Genevieve Collection, International & International-II Collections, Prima Collection

This talented industrial design team were winners of five Best of NeoCon 2016 Awards, including Best-of- Competition, as well as a 2016 Best of Year Award, for their WorkStyles Collection with TUOHY. WorkStyles offers a provocative alternative to the typical private office by creating inspired spaces for both individual work and collaborative interactions. Instead of a single workwall expression for the entire collection, WorkStyles offers a range of “statement-making” elements as centerpieces to a universal workplace platform designed for use in private office and open plan areas equally.

Product: WorkStyles Collection

Jess Sorel’s career has spanned nearly twenty years in the contract furniture industry. His time as a designer and design director at Metro Furniture, along with a number of projects in recent years, has resulted in a portfolio that demonstrates his passion for questioning the status quo. Jess has an intense curiosity about the context in which objects are made and used. His primary focus is on understanding and interpreting the world around him – with an eye on where culture and technology are heading and how it impacts the way we live, work and play. Based in Oakland, CA, Jess holds holds numerous design and utility patents. His work has been featured in major domestic and international design publications.

Product: Coda Collection, Edo Collection, Uk Casegoods

In 1992, Bill Raftery started his new design firm: Raftery Design, Inc. Since then, his body of work has come to include Executive, Manager and Ergonomic Task Seating designs for companies such as TUOHY, Councill, Novikoff, HBF, Superior, Paoli, JOFCO, Taylor and HAG. Between Design and Utility Patents Bill has well over 40 total. Other honors include the NeoCon / Best of Show Awards in 1991, 1993 and 1995 and two ADEX Awards. Other products developed by Raftery Design, Inc. are the Quest Underwater Writing Boards for Innovative Scuba Concepts and the Wedgie Air Chair, which was patented in 1996

Product: 902 Seating

Alan Dandron is a Design Principal with Mancini•Duffy/TSC. Over the past twenty-five years, Alan has designed millions of square feet of space for his clients, and he has significant experience in the programming, planning, and design of large-scale corporate projects. As a leader in the firm’s workplace strategy consultancy, Alan holds particular expertise in developing planning concepts based on the strategic intent of the user. He graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial & Interior Design from the University of Michigan’s School of Art, and is past President of the New York Chapter of the IIDA which, during his leadership, was voted Large Chapter of the Year at the 2011 IIDA Annual Meeting. In addition, Alan has designed awardwinning casegoods lines for HALCON and TUOHY.

Product: Geneva Collection

Laura Kirar is the founder and creative director of Laura Kirar Design. Under her direction the teams in New York and Miami work in tandem to create elegant, innovative interiors and product for the home with timeless sensibility. Laura has shaped the design of an array of interesting projects – from high-end residences to awardwinning commercial interiors of restaurants, showrooms and hotels. A designer with the soul of an artist, Laura completed her degree in sculpture and interior architecture at the prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her passion for artistic exploration in numerous mediums has continued to infuse her work with originality and thoughtful attention to detail.

Product: Arcelle Collection

Clockwork was founded by Christian Arnold and Neil Sommers in 2004 as a design studio concentrating on architecture, interior design, branding and industrial design. The two partners have a working relationship that extends back 13 years where they met at a small architectural studio. The two entrepreneurs then formed a photography studio and solidified their desire for capturing and sharing beautiful compositions with the masses. Each of Clockwork’s designers bring unique talents, ranging from fine art painting and sculpting to welding and carpentry. This diverse point of view yields unexpected approaches and innovative solutions that directly support their client’s business goals. A reputation of precision and passion has allowed the studio to create designs for hundreds of clients including General Electric, Barkley, American Apparel, Executive Beechcraft, Garmin, Houlihan’s Restaurant, The Cordish Company, and TUOHY. Their design work has been recognized by prestigious organizations including the Society of Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD), The International Interior Design Association (IIDA), and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and has been published in Interior Design, Architectural Record, I.D., World Architecture, Contract and Inc.

Product: Kaesi Lounge and Occasional Tables

Tim deFiebre joined Brickel Associates after working at their frame facility in Long Island City, NY, where Ward Bennett’s chairs were produced. He then became a design assistant and model maker for Ward Bennett and subsequently became the Director of Design for the furniture division, responsible for all furniture development. He later joined the ICF Group in New York as Vice President of Design. After creating several award winning designs he then worked and consulted for Geiger Brickel in Atlanta creating updates of his earlier Brickel work and a number of new table and seating designs. In 2004 Mr. deFiebre introduced two major product lines for Harter based in Middlebury, Indiana. Also in 2004 he curated and updated The Ward Bennett Business Classics Collection for Geiger. Tim founded Timothy deFiebre designs in 1998 and lives in New York City.

Product: Bryant Park Lounge

Andrew Gower is an award-winning Industrial Designer. His wide variety of work has appeared in several publications and he has received numerous awards for product design. Andrew started his career at the architectural firm DMSAS, and continued to practice architecture when he opened and ran a production furniture company in Baltimore, MD. The early years of his career were invaluable in gaining the knowledge to venture out professionally as an industrial designer. He attended the University of Colorado and the Corcoran School of Art in Washington DC. Currently Andrew resides in Ashland, OR where he works independently on his new company Zoose Design, LLC.

Product: Bay Forms Occasional Tables

David Pesso has a degree in industrial design from Rochester Institute of Technology and was initially influenced by the work of Wendell Castle (known as the “originator of art furniture”). Later, as a designer at Vinick Associates, he focused on interior design, retail storefront design, architectural millwork and signage. He served as a partner at Advent Studio, where he was able to concentrate on design and development for the contract furniture industry. Pesso founded New Studio in 1989 as an industrial design consulting firm specializing in product design & development, architectural millwork, exhibit design, and brand development. His work has garnered recognition throughout the design world. He holds licenses for more than 300+ furniture designs, and has been awarded 18 design patents.

Product: Atheneum Collection