Tag: creative furniture

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The Flatgoods Story

The Flatgoods Story Grand Rapids Mi

How did Flatgoods begin?

FlatgoodsThe 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.

Guy Assembling

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 tokid on table

      • Sell items that are affordable
      • Design items for flat, inexpensive shipping
      • Create a product that solves environmental problems

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?

Watch our video here to see and hear more about us!

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Falconboard: The Building Block of Cardboard Furniture

Falconboard Cardboard Furniture Grand Rapids Mi

Environmentally Responsible Corrugate Is How We Roll.

56248When I tell people that we make furniture out of cardboard, the typical response is a skeptical eyebrow. Sure, it sounds crazy at first, but with an awesome material like Falconboard, we can take cardboard to a whole new level. This is the material we use for all our “Flatgoodies.”

A product of Hexacomb, Falconboard calls itself “the environmentally responsible graphic display board.” For efficiency’s sake, we’ll call it cardboard.

Why is Falconboard so awesome?4DudesCropped

  • It is extremely rigid and stable.
  • It’s surface is clean and smooth–great for printing.
  • It can be cut or folded into a variety of shapes and maintain strength.

Also, it’s sustainable. This deserves a list all its own:

  • It’s 100% recyclable.
  • It’s made from renewable forest resources (even certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative! Woot!).
  • It capitalizes on smart engineering to make sturdy material with less tree material than solid wood.
  • All components are chemically and biologically safe, even if burned.
  • Hexacomb is a patron of the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP), which promotes social responsibility in the graphic communications industry.

Through Falconboard, Hexacomb is making strong moves in the green direction. Go Hexacomb!

Now you know a little more about Flatgoods and why they are so strong (not to mention sustainable)! It’s all in the honeycomb.

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Works of Art, in No Time Flat.

Work Of Art Flatgoods Grand Rapids Mi

Flatgoods customizable furniture used in student art fundraiser

Products made by Flatgoods, a Deksia client that creates eco-friendly, affordable, and completely customizable cardboard furniture, were showcased last weekend at an event benefiting art education for local youth.

DEKflatgoods

HURRAH!, an annual fundraiser hosted by the East Grand Rapids Schools Foundation and Alumni Association, was held Saturday, March 22 at the Urban Institute Of Contemporary Art (UICA) in downtown Grand Rapids. The event included food, a cash bar, live music, and a raffle, with proceeds going toward furthering the arts within the East Grand Rapids school district.

Holly Lampen, a middle school art teacher for the district, was introduced to Flatgoods while working with founder James Mikrut’s other company, ICON Sign. The school received a grant from the East Grand Rapids Schools Foundation to design twelve giant flags for its campus; while developing the flags with Mikrut, Lampen was shown his work with Flatgoods.

“It seemed like a really cool fit for a student artwork auction, where the kids could design the chairs, and we could use them to raise some money,” Lampen said.

Lampen utilized grant money from the Foundation to purchase six blank white chairs and four blank white stools from Flatgoods to use for the HURRAH! event. Students from Lampen’s art class drew on one of the chairs, using the blank canvas to create a unique art piece.

“We have three elementary buildings, one middle school, and one high school, and each building received a chair to decorate. We also have a couple extra chairs that were printed with sponsor names,” Lampen said.

SONY DSC

The student-designed Flatgoods furniture was among the raffle prizes auctioned off at this year’s HURRAH! event. The money raised from these pieces will be used to purchase new art supplies and equipment, as well as to bring in artists to work with East Grand Rapids youth.

“(The students) loved it. They thought it was a really different project from ones we’ve done before. They all wanted them for their bedrooms,” Lampen said. “They’re like ‘oh my gosh, where can I get one of these?’”

Flatgoods currently offers kids chairs, cubbies, end tables, square tables, adult chairs, coffee tables and more in natural stock, white stock, or with a printed design. To purchase a Flatgoods custom furniture display piece for your home or business, head over to the company’s Kickstarter page to pledge.

“It’s such a cool product,” Lampen said. “I’m excited about it. I want some in our classrooms.”