24 TRICYCLE
In Chattanooga, Tenn., carpet is king. “It’s a really old, saturated market,”explains Michael Hendrix, cofounder and chief brand officer of Tricycle, a design company promoting sustainable practices in the interior surface industry. Tricycle cuts unnecessary waste by replacing tufted carpet sam­ples—destined sooner or later for the landfill—with realistic paper ones, computer-generated by a trademarked program called Tryk.

In this case, Tricycle embraced an opportunity to work with Nood Fashions, a new-ish, smaller mill dedicated to greening not only samples, but every level of its business. As Hendrix contends, “It was a great chance for us to systematically apply what we had learned by designing their entire marketing plan.” With Nood’s small sales force and publication budget in mind, Tricycle produced Brand Nood World, a manifesto with a lo-fi approach. The booklet is printed on donated, 100-percent post-consumer waste paper, and its pages bear perforated French folds that tear open to reveal more detailed text … mimicking the format of a slideshow found on the company’s website. To capture Nood’s street-smart aesthetic, snapshots were staged throughout Tricycle’s office. Both the brochure’s design and Nood’s product attract “a particular kind of client,” says Hendrix, one “interested in sustainability and contemporary design”—a perfect match for a time when green design should be the only way to practice design. by Stephanie Greene

Tricycle | Creative Director: Michael Hendrix | Designers, Photographers: Ben Horner, Nick Du Pey | Writer: Caleb Ludwick | Agency Collaborator: Widgets & Stone | Client: Nood Fashions | Contact: www.tricycleinc.com