Local video production company, Taproot Pictures, recently chose Flatgoods for their tradeshow backdrop! We designed the backdrop to hang vertically rather than stand horizontally.
We think it looks pretty darn sweet!
They plan reuse this backdrop, and they hang part of the backdrop on display in their office.
Way to reuse, Taproot!
Check out their website. They do beautiful work right out of Grand Rapids, MI!
Taproot was a pleasure to work with.
The Next Generation, or NGEN for short (pronounced “engine”), is a young, family-owned company that sells auto performance chemicals. For their tradeshows, they were looking to bring a light, sunny feel to their booth–a refreshing contrast to the often dark and masculine auto brands.
NGEN Marketing Specialist, Cate, tells us this:
These fit our vision perfectly and we got so much attention from passerby’s! We passed your name onto those who asked and we look forward to using the pieces again. When people doubted the chairs could hold them, I joked with them that I trust sitting in them 6 months pregnant- they’re sturdy!
That’s what we like to hear! Also, we love that our customers have taken creative liberty and added cushions to their Flatgoods! Why not add some color and comfort?
Thank you, Ngen for choosing Flatgoods.
Some of you may know this from word of mouth or Facebook, but this spring, the owner and originator of Flatgoods passed away.
It was unexpected.
Very unexpected.
James was 38, healthy, active, and exuberant. Little did we know, his heart had some hidden problems. A heart valve failed, and he died quickly on a sunny Saturday morning.
Flatgoods has changed since he left. He was the visionary. The engine. But thanks to James’s hard work and planning, Flatgoods will continue! We can all expect some changes, but Flatgoods is still sailing.
Here at Flatgoods, we ask that anyone who reads this would keep James’s family, friends, and co-workers in your hearts. It’s been several weeks since he passed, but losses like this take time to heal.
We miss him dearly.
Thank you to all Flatgoods customers and cardboard believers.
James would be proud.
Read James’s obituary (written by his lovely wife) here.
Also, let’s not forget James’s awesome sense of humor.
We recently had the privilege of working with some local coffee experts at Paramount Coffee. These energetic coffee-gurus wanted to do something new and unique at some upcoming tradeshows.
We designed a backdrop with custom, inset shelving for their coffee bags. We also made some cardboard furniture–a high table, and some bar-height stools. We finished it off with a custom-designed display unit for some coffee gift sets. Yes–that’s all cardboard. 100% recyclable.
Check out our pictures below, and imagine the magnificent smell of freshly roasted coffee.
Thank you for working with us, Paramount!
Here at Flatgoods, we are enjoying the growing process.
We launched our website about a year ago, and we’re already receiving some fun recognition online.
Here are some articles that have featured our products:
Our home town of Grand Rapids, MI is giving us a shout-out for the cool stuff we’re doing!
Flatgoods recently launched a new website that allows consumers to purchase more than 25 home furniture, storage and tradeshow items.
James Mikrut, developer of Flatgoods, said the venture uses a honeycomb cardboard material that is structured similar to plywood but is lighter and custom printable.
“We can print different stock patterns on the furniture or displays, or we can print custom displays,” said Mikrut. “Right now it is a brand new venture for us and we plan to keep adding to the number of products that we are going to sell.”
The Flatgoods website features assembly instructions, a catalog of products and a blog with event information. With initial development of the website beginning roughly a year ago, Mikrut said small changes have been made to increase efficiency, user friendliness and order capacity.
This article features a few other brands entering the cardboard furniture business and the advantages of each.
Let me say. We’re the only ones who will print on your items. And we offer oh-so-handy dry-erase finish on all of our table-tops.
Cardboard furniture for the dorm room and beyond
The cardboard furniture from Flatgoods includes chairs, tables and storage pieces. What especially caught my attention were two notable features I’m not seeing elsewhere. The first is the optional dry-erase surface on the tabletops—making this a dual-purpose item, great for small spaces where having a whiteboard would be nice, but isn’t feasible.
The second is the ability to have the furniture printed with one of the company’s stock patterns (another feature being added to the website shortly) or one of the customer’s own designs. For customized products, the company provides a template which the customer then completes with Adobe Creative Suite.
A site that provides up-and-coming news for the global traders and marketers, hailed Flatgoods as a creative new product.
Flatgoods Launches Furniture And Tradeshow Displays That Are Versatile, Affordable & Eco-friendly
Developed by James Mikrut, owner and operator of ICON Sign in Grand Rapids, Flatgoods uses high-quality, incredibly durable cardboard as a means of making products equally suited for use in the office or the home. The material’s light weight and ability to be shipped flat for assembly makes for a cost-effective product that is also completely recyclable. All Flatgoods furniture is made exclusively from materials certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI).
Customers also have the ability to completely customize any Flatgoods product with graphics they submit themselves. Using templates that work with Adobe Creative Suite, any of the chairs, tables, and other pieces the company produces can be branded with images reflecting the needs of the user. From trade show booths to play rooms, Flatgoods can be made to order for any situation.
Check out this beautiful booth! With amazing artwork designed by brand strategists at Deksia, an slick new archway designed by Jackson Martin of Zoomer Display, and a display case fabricated by Brian Krueger (also of Zoomer Display) we created a visually scrumptious tradeshow booth for StaFast cycling components.
That’s right, folks. Minus the acrylic case topper and some hot glue used to hold the archway together, this entire booth is made of cardboard. Surfaces and connectors are cardboard and fully recyclable. How cool is that? Because they’re cardboard, they’re also more lightweight to ship from one tradeshow to the next than other materials. Winning.
As you have seen on our Facebook page, Flatgoods is partnering with Stocking Elementary’s Camp Fire LOOP program. This is an after-school program serving children and youth on the West Side of Grand Rapids.
Camp Fire West MI. is a non-profit organization that facilitates after school programs for children and youth at 11 of the Grand Rapids Public Schools 21st Century Community Learning Center sites which are federally funded.
About the program
Camp Fire West Mi. was founded in 1919, (you probable remember it as Camp Fire Girls and Boys.) Over time Camp Fire has changed, to meet the needs of children, youth and families. They provide educational enrichment and fun activities for children and youth. Their activities are shaped around the Camp Fire Promise. They also provide events for families to come together and spend time together while learning and having fun. They shape their activities around the Camp Fire Promise:
Young people want to shape the world.
Camp Fire provides the opportunity to find their spark, lift their voice and discover who they are.
In Camp Fire, it begins now.
Light the fire within.
How cool is that!? Find out more information on their website: www.campfirewestmi.org
Every day after school, around 50 students line up for attendance, wash their hands, and receive a snack. Then, the kids do “opening circle,” which includes a tradition called the “I can” poem–an inspirational activity where students share about all the capabilities they have to do good and be kind. Then, the teachers draw names of two students who will be the leaders for that day. The leaders choose game and lead the other students in participation.
After the games, the students split up by grade, go to separate rooms, and do homework–all with certified teachers around to assist them. When an hour of homework time is up, they participate in a variety of activities from computer classes to drama lessons to art classes. The day wraps up with a closing circle where everyone answers the questions What was the best thing about today? and What would you change about it if you could? At 6pm, they all go home. Some by foot, some by car, and a majority by bus.
We’re planning on making partnership last for a little while! We’ll donate chairs to the after school program, which will divvy up the chairs to the students who are most enthusiastic about their art classes. For a couple of months, these kids will have free reign to decorate their chairs until the big April Showcase. Students from the Grand Rapids Public Schools will get together for a youth fair at Creston High School. This year, the theme is “Our Story.” That means, these chairs will be decorated with each kids’ story–their successes, their struggles, their hopes.
We are so excited to partner with these kids in our neighborhood and a program that encourages creativity, hard work, and fun for our school district.
Please support us by liking our Facebook page and sharing it with your friends so they do the same!
The founder of Flatgoods, James, started with an interest in graphics, signage, and colorful printing. He also founder and president of a signage company, Icon Sign–that means he is a long-time expert in industrial printers and routers. Because he already had this equipment available (and had a dream to do something better for the environment), James explored the possibilities of cardboard: the recyclable, bio-degradable, and printable building block of Flatgoods. Using some of the coolest cardboard out there (Falconboard, read more about it here), he and a few others began tinkering and designing, and decided to start Flatgoods: a brand specializing in printed cardboard furniture and displays.
You might think that the leap from sign-making to furniture-making is a big one, but we’ve found an awesome overlap between the two realms. We’ve taken custom-printing from the sign world, and combined it with modern furniture shapes to make printable, sustainable, cardboard furniture.
Our furniture is great for your home, your dorm room, your kids’ rooms, your office, or your tradeshow with your brand printed all over it. Seriously. Flatgoods perform beautifully in tradeshow and commercial settings. We make custom tradeshow backdrops, custom display racks or shelves, custom signs, custom… lots of things!
Our goals are to
With the right type of cardboard and smart engineering, cardboard can be as strong as wood. But it’s printable and recyclable. What more could you want?
Fun craft idea
Unlike your walls, Flatgoods love to be colored on! our cardboard takes paint and marker like a charm, and can foster creativity for your kids. Plus, the result is still practical, usable, and now unique to that child.
Safety First
You may have heard about all the scary chemicals that are put into furniture these days. You don’t have to worry about that with Flatgoods! It’s all clean, it’s all paper, and still plenty sturdy for your kids!
Valuable Lessons
Your can start your kids young, and teach them lessons on sustainability. Someday, when the life of your flatgood comes to an end, you can recycle it together. Then, this chair of theirs might become a paper egg carton, or a newspaper, or even a notebook for a famous author.
Good Deal
We work hard to keep our prices a low. With cheap shipping, sustainable practices, and inexpensive options, you’re getting a darn good deal.
Support us and our community
At Flatgoods, we’re pouring back into our community. In March 2013, Flatgoods donated chairs to the East Grand Rapids School District for students to decorate. These chairs were then auctioned off to raise money for furthering the arts in the EGR school district.
We’re also planning a donation to our community in just a few weeks, so stay posted!
Each of our furniture items is named after a famous furniture designer. Our medium (cardboard) is a bit unconventional, so we admire these past designers who thought outside the box.
Here are some examples:Adult and Kids’ Ettore Chair: Ettore Sottsass
Cobb Square Table: John Cobb
Jens Backdrops: Jens Risom (no, we didn’t just forget an apostrophe for Jen’s backdrop… Jens is a man. A nice Danish-American furniture designer).
Isamu Kids’ Table (coming soon!): Isamu Noguchi and here!
Milo Coffee Table: Milo Baughman
Ray Conference Table: Charles and Ray Eames
The items we use to furnish our homes speak much about us. These items hold our belongings, our loved ones, our tired bodies after a hard day’s work. Through Flatgoods, you have the opportunity to furnish your life with unique, sustainable, and inexpensive furniture.
