Teknion CMF Design - Emote Private Office
Teknion is a Canadian commercial furniture company that was founded in 1983. Since its founding, the office space has changed drastically, and with this change has come a change in relevant and fresh colours for the office space. In 2018 Teknion required a palette update for their product to align with the market demand for colour. This update was driven initially by the Emote Private Office collection - a collaboration with Spanish designer Mario Ruiz, but the extensive colour research would go on to expand past this collection to also inform an overall Teknion palette refresh.
How do we create a refreshed palette that would survive minimal updates long term for the Teknion Brand?
Process
Brand Analysis
Teknion consists of 3 brands: Teknion; the high end commercial brand, Luum; the textiles brand used on all upholstered furniture, and Studio TK; the mid-level seating and casual commercial furniture brand. While this palette was to be created for Teknion, it was also important to ensure it would compliment Luum and studio TK CMF, since it would likely sit withthe same space in real life settings.
Research
Application Analysis
Before narrowing the colours, each piece in the collection was examined to explore which materials & finishes could be applied to which elements. Application opportunities for colour was also evaluated, which included metal, MDF, wood, and laminated surfaces. This exercise helped identify colours that best complimented existing materials, finishes, and textiles in real office settings.
Pantone Selection
Pantone options documented during research were narrowed based on the the following: alignment with the Teknion brand, colour longevity, & cohesiveness within the palette and existing materials and finishes. This narrowing process was repeated until a final palette was created.
Emote Office - Final Palette
Emote™ is a collection of distinct furniture elements, bringing an expressive quality to the workspace through a palette of paint colors applied to wood. Lighter in scale, this simple yet versatile offering − well-suited to smaller spaces − enables today’s agile worker to move with ease from focused tasks to brainstorming, and transition comfortably from seated to standing postures.
Emote is available in a range of unique finishes that span the spectrum from cool, quiet neutrals to rich, warm tones. The palette surprises and inspires through colored woods while maintaining the natural, tactile appeal of the wood grain. Emote’s color palette allows creative expressions of mood and tone, applied to reflect the user personality and company culture.
Mario Ruiz
“These [palettes] are meant to serve as guidelines for companies, architects and interior designers, so they can better navigate the possibilities that the collection offers, allowing them to create a color story that embodies and highlights their unique identity”
Emote Private Office received a Good Design Award in the 2019 international “Best of the Best” competition in the Furniture category. The award program is organized annually by The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design in cooperation with the European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies.
