Shade market basics that deliver

November 9, 2018  |  News

The shade market keeps growing, according to Marc Shellshear, general manager of Value Vinyls Inc., and customers are more concerned than ever about preventing skin cancer. Shellshear was among the first presenters October 15 at IFAI’s 2018 Pre-Expo Conference in Dallas, Texas. Shellshear explaine…
Shade sails clinic

November 9, 2018  |  News

On October 17 at IFAI Expo 2018 in Dallas, Texas, Brydon Roe from Shade Sails Canada Inc., Revelstoke, British Columbia, led a shade sails campfire session where he shared his business’s top dos and don’ts for installing shade sails. When it comes to shade sail fabric options, Roe recommended po…
2018 Fabric Structures Student Design Competition Winners Announced

November 9, 2018  |  News

The Fabric Structures Association (FSA), a division of the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI), recently announced the recipients of the 2018 Fabric Structures Student Design Competition awards. The winners were announced at IFAI Expo 2018, held Oct. 15-18 in Dallas, Texas. First Pla…
Transparent, self-adhesive textile shades windows

November 1, 2018  |  Case Studies, Interiors

As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention—or in this case, it’s the father. Specifically, Philippe Lampe, owner of Lampe Textiles in Tielt, Belgium, was looking for a way to provide his son some privacy in his college room. Lampe’s son wanted curtains for his window, but he wasn…
Strategies for how and when to grow your company

November 1, 2018  |  Features

They’re called “growing pains” for a reason. You’ve put in the blood, sweat and tears (and a few bucks) necessary to make your business a success. You’ve made your customers happy, and they’ve told their friends. There’s never been enough time in the day, but now … it’s getting tou…
Fabrics create comfortable shelters

November 1, 2018  |  Case Studies, Exteriors

A group of designers at Bora Architects, a Portland, Ore., firm, had an interesting idea they wanted to explore. The group considered the way in which modern American life, with all its comforts, creates a barrier to the natural world. Increasingly, the buildings we inhabit no longer reflect the reg…
Curtains for 3-D holograms at the Museum of Applied Art Cologne

November 1, 2018  |  Case Studies, Interiors

The annual IMM Cologne International Interiors Show, held each January, offers a first peek at the trends in interior design for the coming year. More than 1,300 exhibitors from around the world display an exciting and diverse variety of furniture and designs. At the 2018 show, Stylepark AG, the Fra…
Finland’s glare-free West Port terminal

November 1, 2018  |  Case Studies, Exteriors

The Port of Helsinki, located on the Baltic Sea, is a bustling gateway from Finland to the rest of Europe. In 2017, 12.3 million passengers traveled through the harbor, making it Europe’s busiest. It’s also Finland’s top port for foreign trade, with 14.3 million tons of goods transported throu…
To sew or to seal: expanding the toolbox

November 1, 2018  |  Features

To sew or to seal is a question that some fabricators have answered by gearing their offerings toward products that utilize either the former or the latter, but not both. While this kind of specialization can be a viable and lucrative strategy, expanding the toolbox to incorporate both sewing and se…
Safety Components puts its business acumen to work for charity

November 1, 2018  |  Features

Following the events of 9/11, Joey Underwood, senior vice president of Safety Components in Greenville, S.C., witnessed several neighborhood efforts to raise money for families of the fallen firefighters in New York City. “I remember driving past a bake sale and thinking, ‘We’re in that busine…