Although NeoCon 2017 is now behind us, so much of the visual stimuli stays with us for months. One thing I like to do every year before day-to-day responsibilities take over is to capture key trends that span all the tremendous showrooms, products and conversations. Here are five takeaways from the world’s leading commercial design trade show in Chicago:
Workplace connectivity is key.
While this can be interpreted as ensuring the Wi-Fi always works, it is more about how every product in every space must flow from one to another. Disjointed spaces create visual noise that negatively impact effectiveness, while connected and coordinated spaces inspire and help drive innovation. This means that products should work together in supporting both the visual goal and the physical employee usage. Transitions should be smooth and almost seamless with no sharp or hard breaks between spaces.