Cozy Seat Pad.
Designing product accessories for a twentieth-century American design icon.
Client: Emeco Industries Inc.
Industry: Contract Furniture
Services: Product & Service Design, Experiential and Visual Design, Sourcing and Manufacturing
Design Brief.
Inspired by a wool felt bowl made by FutureTogether’s sister company MIO, Emeco reached out to develop a seating pad for their signature Navy Chair. The goal was to create a sustainable, colorful and inviting solution that prioritized users’ comfort while sitting.
Outcome.
In close collaboration with Emeco, we provided a one stop turnkey design solution—designing, developing, and manufacturing a line of seat pads to improve warmth and add color to their aluminum seating family.
Social Impact.
Emeco has a long and storied history of making more with less and creating products that last lifetimes. Through our work, we wanted to support and extend their brand legacy of environmental impact—showing customers worldwide that sustainability should be synonymous with beauty, quality, and comfort.
Environmental Impact.
We share Emeco’s sustainable values—especially their commitment to local manufacturing and environmentally preferable sourcing. The chair pads were made from recycled rPET (plastic bottles) so that they, too, could be recycled at end of life. The product was manufactured in the US by a factory with responsible manufacturing and social practices.
Tried & True.
A variety of material combinations were trialed to ensure durability and manufacturing consistency. The pads were ultimately constructed in two variations; residential pads that were easily removable and commercial pads that could be more permanently adhered to the chairs with a technical adhesive.
A Unique Profile.
The seat pads were conceived around Emeco’s patented seat design, making them interchangeable across product lines that share seat contours. This was achieved with the use of cutting dies in varying profiles. The resulting patterns are consistently offset from the seat perimeter and designed to complement each chairs personality.
Emeco Dressed.
The Cozy Seat Pad offers customers the opportunity to dress up their Emeco chairs with a layer of comfort and color that enhances the original design’s beauty and utility. Our team offered Emeco a turnkey solution that aligns with their values and vision for making products that last from responsible materials.