Ceres by The HON Company

              It seems that I have become obsessed with seats. I am continually fascinated with how designers are working to make those overlooked boxes we have been torturing our bodies with, into pieces of furniture that fit our lives. We are all aware that the human body is unique, we are not cookie cutter people which makes designing on an industrial scale rather difficult. However, it is possible, if studied properly the body is not so hard to accommodate. The HON Company has been providing the masses with comfortable office furniture that fits their needs and is comfortable but this simply wasn’t enough. They have decided to go even further. With the help of Wolfgang Deisig they have created Ceres, a chair comprised of the necessary functions of sitting.

            NeoCon East in Baltimore MD will be the first public appearance of Ceres after its lengthy development behind closed doors. The first step in designing this chair was not a chair at all. Deisig studied the movement of the human body to better understand what it needed, no matter what the position. Reclining, weight shifting, and sitting straight up, all taking into consideration. Length of sitting was also a key ingredient. The average office worker spends about 8hrs in their chair a day. The entire chair is “genuinely purposeful” creating the perfect balance of form and function.

            Even though function was the driving force, form followed beautifully. Ceres has even been honored with the Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) Indoor Advantage Gold certification for indoor air quality. This means the materials used don’t off-gas. It also earned the SCS level 2 certification for sustainability; of the product, materials used, energy cost, atmospheric affects, ecosystem health and social responsibility. For an office chair these are great achievements. One unique product used is the ilira-stretch M4 material. It is a knit mesh that stretches in four directions so that it is always responding to movement. As if this wasn’t enough, this magic fabric comes in some great colors that work well with just about every office. Customers also benefit from the HON history, the chairs are available with any of the upholstery lines offered by HON. The frame resembles those of other chairs but it is the perfect tough of utilitarian familiarity that this needs. The five prong foot with casters is a time tested, safe and reliable addition to the office chair. This only enhances the uniqueness of the seat it supports. 

            The usability is also magnificent. An intuitive chair, is that possible? Ceres has fit the bill. Continuous, full back support was the goal and that is exactly what is provided. No matter how you like to sit the chair is there to support you. The curves take into consideration how the body is aligned during all changes of pivot points, from shoulders to hips. Customization is possible as with many other office chair but this is different. Tilt tension is controlled by a simple slide bar at the side of the seat. The reclined position is also a favorite innovation with Ceres, other chairs create a gap between the chair back and the lower back of the user during reclining, but that is not true of Ceres. There was of course a target audience for this chair but users from the 5^th to the 95^th percentiles were satisfied and felt the chair met their needs. This is a sign of a good design. It also exceeds standard weight accommodations, it was tested and approved for up to 300lbs for a 40hr work week. This is considerably higher than regulations.

Sorry this is not the best image, I had to take a picture of a magazine add to get a full image of the chair.

            Aesthetically speaking this chair is still a chair, but it is something beautiful. The versatility in color and options in upholstery add to the visual appeal. So many mass produced products loose their individuality first, it costs more to have more options. But HON chooses to give users what they want. Something that works well with their body during the long work day, and denies the hum drum condition so many cubicles suffer from.

            The advertising tagline for the Ceres is “Purposely Innovative. Incidentally Beautiful.” This should be the tagline for everything. So many have said that design should be something that shouldn’t be recognizable design. It should work so well and be so pleasing to look at, that no one stop to question why it is the way it is.

Here is the press release

http://honforlearning.com/About-HON/Press---Media/Press-Releases/Ceres™-Will-Officially-Debut-At-NeoCon-East.aspx