Posts Tagged ‘design’

Houston Area Commercial Printer Goes GREEN!

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

Green Commercial Printing

Houston printing firm Catdi, Inc. has recently expanded its eco-friendly printing options into a full division of green commercial printing services. This expansion has been the result of two critical factors. The first of these factors was increasing awareness of environmental concerns in large segments of the Houston marketplace. Many energy companies in Houston have come under increasing social pressure to improve their environmental image. New companies as well have moved into Houston from other cities that were already pursuing green initiatives, bringing their environmentally friendly focus into the Gulf Coast marketplace. Over the last 18 months, orders for recycled paper and printing with soy ink have risen exponentially.

President and founder of Catdi, Inc., Carlos de Santos is also an ardent supporter of environmental initiatives, has proactively responded to this new community interest in green printing. Rather than simply taking green printing orders on a case by case basis, Alonso has segmented his duplicated his entire service offerings with eco-friendly equivalents. As of now, all products and services offered by Catdi can be obtained on recycled paper and soy ink. To be cost competitive for smaller clients on a budget, the paper can be a blend of as little as 10% recycled pulp, or it can range all the way to 100% recycled content.

Alonso took a risk when he calculated that the marginally higher price of soy ink and 100% paper would be something that public relations consultants and Earth conscious clients would be willing to pay. He was right. Since so many organizations are now using green printing services as a form of branding, marketing, and public relations, they actually come to the table already aware that the price point they pay carries with it a return on investment. Because the quality of both recycled paper and soy ink now rivals that of new paper and petroleum-based ink, the differentiation is determined by product benefits, not product image.

The most obvious benefit that green commercial printing offers is reduced clearing of forests. As the quality of recycled paper rises, the need to cut down existing trees diminishes. Recycling also greatly reduces the amount of paper going into landfills. However, Alonso is quick to point out that people often forget to recycle and throw print media into the trash without thinking. If and when this does happen, however, the soy base of the ink and the water coating used to give print media a

Hardscape Installation, Patio Design, Pool Decking, Retaining Walls, Fireplaces in Houston Texas

Sunday, December 21st, 2008

Hardscapes

Houston Landscaping and Design

Sunday, December 21st, 2008

Just as the right frame showcases your favorite work of art, a well-designed landscape shows off your house to its best effect.

The green, growing garden surrounding your home

Prominent Furniture Designs

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008

There are various types of furniture designs available in today’s competitive world. You can choose from a wide range of designs.

Apothecary Furniture Design:

Physicians and pharmacists to store medicines use these types of furniture designs cabinets. Numerous drawers hold medicine spoons and scales, mortar and pestle. These furnishing designs include secret drawers behind the cabinet to store poisons securely. Apothecary furniture designs are great fixtures that suit all kinds of room and can store all kinds of stuffs.

Features of Apothecary Furniture Designs:

Apothecary furniture is fabricated with the help of solid pinewood and is finished with paint types as per the customer preference. Apothecary furniture designs are twirled and are counted as unique furniture pieces. It has 2 doors of faux apothecary and 12 single drawer storage units. The faux apothecary can store stuffs and the other related objects. If tainted with the espresso finish, it can complement well with other furniture designs in the house.

The drawers, sides, front part of drawers, knobs and pegs and top portions can be mix-matched with woods to get a variety of different designs. The finishing of Apothecary furniture design is done with the help of urethane and is later on waxed for a smooth shine.

Apothecary furniture designs are available in four distinctive finishing. Among the four, one is of antique red color finishing covered by charcoal, second is rich, natural oak stained and highlighted with glaze, third has a finishing of an eggshell white color and last one has the finishing of antique black color.

Aluminum Patio Furniture Design:

Aluminum Patio Furniture design is popular due to its discriminating features such as lightweight, less maintenance, no rusting and its capacity to stand upright below the sun. The options of unremarkable refinement of cast aluminum and great comfort can be found in Aluminum Patio furniture designs. In places, where people witness cold winter, Patio furniture designs made of aluminum is best suited for them due to their lightweight feature. To the contrary, the Wood Patio furniture designs are very heavy. However, Aluminum Patio furniture designs are cheaper and some are even stronger as compared to the Wood aluminum patio furniture designs. The maintenance expense is also quite cheap. It can bear any climate such as rain, heat and sun. Aluminum patio furniture is available in traditional as well as modern styles.

Care for Aluminum Patio Furniture Designs

Aluminum patio furniture is very innovative and attractive. Suntan oils should be used to wax this furniture. Pollution and human perspiration can cause rust on the coating of this furniture and can damage the furniture. Pods, pollens of tropical shrubs and trees, and fumes hailing from cars and planes can damage the aluminum patio furnishings. Mild detergent free from alkaline and ammonia are best to clean and maintain the longevity of aluminum patio furniture designs. Next, use a non-abrasive brush for cleaning the aluminum patio furniture to avoid any scratches on its surface. In case the finish is scratched, the furniture needs to be repainted.

The Smart Way of Choosing Your Own Dinnerware Set

Thursday, December 4th, 2008

A Dinnerware set is one of the most important things in a table setting. Choosing the best dinnerware set entails some variables to consider.

A dinnerware set is used when serving and eating food. It comprises mainly of 4 or more pieces of the following:

Piet Hein Furniture Design

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

Piet Hein was a Danish Universalist who is well known for his designs and his Grooks. Grooks are small poems that you

Terrific Tattoos

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008

The history of tattoos goes way back thousands of years. And there was a time when tattoos were associated with criminals and people on the dark side of society. Not any more. Since the 1990s tattoos have become cool. Tattoos today are mainstream. They have become a fashion statement with girls being tattooed as much as guys.

You can wear your tattoo in easy to see parts of your body or in those more private places as well. You can have one small tattoo or many. You can have whole areas of your body tattooed or just a tiny spot like your ankle. Tattoos are in.

But unlike clothes or hairstyles or jewels, tattoos are permanent so when choosing your design, it

Italian Designer: Osvaldo Borsani

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

It is said that design and architectural spirit were in Osvaldo Borsani

Furniture Design by Josef Hoffmann

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

The legacy of Josef Hoffmann, even after his passing on in May 7th 1956, still lives on throughout Europe especially in Vienna and the world over. His exemplary contributions have inspired upcoming artists and will continue to inspire many for ages to come.

In decorative arts, Josef Hoffmann left indelible prints in almost all branches of applied arts. He used simple patterns and simple materials to masterfully and skilfully design his sparkling imagination. These materials ranged from porcelain, metalwork, jewellery, textiles to glass.

Most of Josef Hoffmann

Furniture Designers - Job Portrayal

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

Furniture designers are the people, who create an inimitable piece or collection of designs by working on new designs or innovating from the existing designs in correspondence with a customer or design associate. The designs have an operational requirement and an artistic appeal. Furniture designers may design the furniture items for household article, industrial use or commercial purpose. They mainly use the Computer Aided Design (CAD) to make models and paradigms.

The factors considered by furniture designers are the expense to be incurred, safety and durableness. Though traditional designs still exist, the modern use of computer technology has taken away the importance of traditional furniture designers. Thus, there are professional courses available for such furniture designers that help them to become familiar with the designing principles and the CAD technology.

Need for all-rounder furniture designers:

Furniture Designers need to be all-rounder, especially if they are self-employed. They have to be well aware of their business activities and market trends. The knowledge of sales, manufacturing and promotion is very much needed in this profession. They have to play the role of service engineers, accountant, and ought to know the functions of material purchase and sales. They also need to have good communication skills, strong visual awareness and creativity, as they need to do delicate artistic work.

Work Activities:

Self-employed furniture designers may work on their own along with a group a couple of experienced furniture designers. A furniture manufacturing company may employ them on salary basis, wherein they have to create their own innovative designs to create unique furniture designs. On the other hand, a self-employed furniture designer needs to do self-promotion by advertising his/her services or attending various furnishing fairs and exhibitions. Here, you may seek help of consultants, who will the job done for you.

Apart from this, Furniture Designers need to bring in clients, sample designs (CAD tested) card models, sketches or hard prototypes. They also need to organize their plans and schedules with respect to the availability of resources. Finally, the designers have to recheck their designs, as they need to be up-to-date complementing local as well global furniture market trends.

In today