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Do you live in Cleveland Heights?

Saturday, July 9th, 2011

 

If you know me, then you know that I am not big on supporting political candidates.  However, I met Jeff Coryell at the Coventry Street Fair and had a long talk with him.  Now, I can’t vote for him, as I am a Cleveland resident.  But for those of you in the Heights, you should really check this guy out.

A couple of the things that he talked about with me that I found so intriguing were surrounding technology and sustainability.  He firmly believes that arts and culture are an important part of any city.  In order to attract new residents and families to Cleveland Heights, the city needs to be making things like public WI-Fi, and renewable energy primary goals for the coming decade.

What do you think about this candidate?

Here is his announcement letter:

Dear friends:

 

It is with great pleasure that I announce my candidacy for Cleveland Heights City Council for the term beginning January 1, 2012.  The election will be held on November 8, 2011.

 

Many of you know me as a progressive political writer, activist and consultant, including serving as President of the Cleveland Heights Democrats, working as the New Media Director for a campaign for the U.S. Senate, and founding a successful statewide political web site. In addition, I’m a former attorney who represented government agencies as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Assistant Attorney General, and a successful artist and art teacher who operated my painting studio as a small business. I have a passion for public service and I care deeply about our community and its future.

 

I encourage you to visit my website at CoryellForCouncil.com to read more about me and the issues on which I am running, but want to highlight a few of my beliefs.

 

  • ·         Cleveland Heights must develop new ways to build up and renew our reputation as an exciting, innovative, diverse and beautiful place to live, including making use of cutting edge internet-based communication strategies, and at the same time must aggressively attack the problem of vacant houses and storefronts while promoting the development of housing stock that meets contemporary green standards and suits the needs of younger and empty-nest residents.

 

  • ·         Our city must affirmatively seek out best practices and the best new ideas in economic development and implement them in a forward-thinking manner. Our efforts should be directed especially toward the growth economy of the future, which includes high-tech and internet-based entrepreneurship and the green economy.

 

  • ·         I am running as a champion of public schools that serve our children well and attract residents to our city. I will advocate zealously for a shared vision of academic excellence in our public schools between city council, the school board, and the community, supporting the school district’s planning for further improvement of public education.
  • ·         Our city is home to the largest concentration of artists in Cuyahoga County and our lively arts and culture community is one of our greatest assets. Art accelerates economic development because it is a magnet for retail businesses, entrepreneurs, and new residents. As an artist on city council I will advocate for recognition and institutional support for our artistic community and promotion of our city’s unique legacy as a home to the arts.

 

I have the integrity, ideas and commitment to do this job well and I would be honored to have your support. You can help by making a contribution, participating in campaign activities, sending information to your contacts, or showing your support with a campaign endorsement. Please join the campaign by returning the enclosed envelope at your earliest convenience.

 

Your support in this exciting endeavor is much appreciated.  I look forward to hearing from you and seeing you on the campaign trail.

 

                                                                                Very truly yours,

 

                                                                                Jeff Coryell

                                                                                Candidate for Cleveland Heights City Council

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What are you famous for?

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011

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Film Festival Preview in Akron…

Monday, March 7th, 2011

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Total Greenwash Batman!

Sunday, March 6th, 2011

A while ago I wrote a post called “marketing mistakes” and mentioned how a wallpaper company called Astek Inc. had sent me a plethora of wallpaper sample binders, at great expense, but without any paperwork, card, labels, etc.  When I finally tracked them down via Google and called their headquarters in Van Nuys, California, they told me, “just throw them away”.  These binders are outrageously expensive to produce, and they are chock full of off-gassing vinyl.  You can definitely tell when one of them is in a room by the distinctive new-car-smell.

I ended up giving the binders to my sister who used the samples in her home-made greeting cards.  I remember telling the saleswoman at Astek “we’re a green company and don’t like vinyl” to which she replied, “the wood collection is made from natural materials, and you can recycle it”.  Of course they don’t have a recycling program themselves, and the ‘natural’ materials have been treated with chemicals.  She just didn’t get it.

Well, round two!

Astek just sent us three giant boxes containing more binders.  I didn’t ask for them, but they sent it anyway.  We’re on some kind of list with them evidently.  Robert called and complained and they said again, “just throw them away”.  He explained that we are a zero waste company, so they begrudgingly said they’d send a UPS pick up to our office…but they never did.

Looking through the materials, this time a salesperson actually included a card and a fly sheet.  The sheet was labeled “Astek Inc. GOES GREEN”.  The only thing green on the sheet was the fact they use uv-cured inks which can print on any substrate.  These inks don’t release VOCs (volitile organic compounds).  That’s it.  Inks.  Nothing else.  Still vinyl.  This is Green Washing, pure and simple.

Now here’s the big one:  the salesperson, Jeff Dey is listed as Account Manager and Green AP.

Let that sink in for a second:  Green AP.   Green AP?  There’s LEED AP and GREEN ASSOCIATE, but there’s no such thing as a Green AP.

 

Get with the program Astek, and quit trying to claim your toxic (but very beautiful) products are anything but stinky landfill fodder.

 

GOSH!!!!

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Lighting, Color and Sound

Sunday, November 28th, 2010

Form is always supposed to follow function; that’s the maxim.  When design gets in the way of the actual function of the space, then the design is poor.

We were once at a restaurant that was so dark at the tables, the waiter actually carried a small pen light so we could actually read the menus.  Here, the owner/operator or designer wanted the restaurant to be extremely moody, dramatic, or maybe romantic, but forgot the maxim.  The function of a restaurant is to have customers choose their food, then eat it.  We couldn’t see the menus, and I’m pretty sure we had trouble discerning what our food looked like. Perhaps that was really the goal of the restaurant – we couldn’t see what we were eating.

The same goes for any retail establishment; they are trying to sell stuff.  If a customer can’t see the stuff they’re supposed to buy, what good is the store?  Of course lighting levels can create a mood, which can support the brand name.  Abercrombie & Fitch makes sure the stores have warm, lower levels of lighting, but there are always spot lights or down lights where the product needs it.  Conversely, most drug stores will have high levels of lighting which help give a more “medical”, clean feel as well as making every product highly visible.

Lighting is one of the most important and expensive factors in the design of a retail space or restaurant.  It is important to get it just right.  In a retail store, the lighting serves to light the product but it also lights the floor so customers won’t trip, or so they can find their way around better.  The lighting should also highlight signage around the store, making sure its readable.  One important factor which impacts lighting levels is color.  If the space has dark, matte paint colors or materials, then the light will be absorbed, possibly requiring more light fixtures to get the same affect.  Conversely if the space has bright, shiny colors or materials, the light will bounce around and fewer fixtures may be required.  Using the least number of fixtures to obtain the desired effect is the least expensive way of designing lighting.  I have had many client’s jaws drop when they see how much the lighting package for their store costs.  They rarely have budgeted enough.  This usually means we have to remove something else in the design to make up the balance.

When it comes to restaurants in particular, the trend in the nineties was to have extremely loud spaces.  Some restaurants were a cacophony of human voices interlaced with flatware against porcelain.  The louder a space got, the more people had to raise their voices to be heard.  My hearing is excellent, however when I have a lot of background noise I have trouble making out what the person right next to me is saying.  It’s sometimes called “nerve deafness” and is extremely common.  These loud restaurants were not places I liked to go.  When I go out to dine, I also go for conversation.

Looking at some of these restaurants it is easy to see how they became so loud.  The floors were polished wood, concrete, or ceramic tile.  The ceilings were hard painted gypsum board, or exposed decking.  The walls were either just painted, smooth walls, or had ceramic tile.  Every surface was designed to bounce, echo, reverberate and drown the space in sound.  The floors could have been carpeted, but that can be a maintenance challenge.  The walls could have cloth, tapestry or some drapery but it may not have matched the look and feel the restaurant was going for and again, can collect dust or food particles from sticky fingers or splashes.  The only real option was the ceiling where small cloth baffles could have been hung to absorb some of the sound.  If there’s not enough room for baffles, there are a variety of materials including beautiful wood panels which are designed for their acoustic properties, usually with small slots or holes and a blanket backer.

Just keep in mind what the function of the space is and then make sure the lighting, color and sound all work to fulfill that goal.

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From GE

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010
GE uses jet engine coolant technology in LED bulb.
Scientists from GE Global Research, the technology development arm for the General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), GE Lighting, and the University of Maryland—as part of a two-year solid-state lighting program with the U.S. Department of Energy—have announced the successful demonstration of a 1,500-lumen LED bulb (a standard 100-watt halogen PAR38 bulb produces 1,500 lumens) that addresses key barriers to more widespread adoption of LED bulbs for general lighting.

The prototype provides a snapshot of the future: “The scientists and technology leaders involved in this collaboration are dissolving some major barriers to the commercialization of general lighting LED bulbs,” says John Strainic, global product general manager for GE Lighting. “We’re taking swings at issues such as higher light output options, thermal management, and bulb size and weight. This kicks open the door to the solid-state age that is upon us.”

As part of the DOE project, GE and the research team of Professors Bongtae Han and Avram Bar-Cohen at the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering have developed and demonstrated novel cooling technologies that effectively manage the heat and promote lower system costs by reducing the number of LED chips required, when compared to conventional cooling technologies.

Mehmet Arik, a mechanical engineer at GE Global Research and principal investigator on the LED project, says, “This is a revolutionary cooling technology with great promise. It has the potential to help us take LED lighting performance and efficiency to new heights. Through further research and improvements, we may be able to increase performance without compromising the efficiency or lifetime of an LED bulb.”
GE’s patented “dual cool jets” technology solves thermal challenges, enables lamp design that is half the size and weight of a 600-lumen LED downlight available today

Aviation and Energy roots
GE’s cooling solution is based on technology the company now uses in its Aviation and Energy businesses. GE Global Research has a world-class team of fluidics experts who specialize in technologies that manage flow. They are developing innovative ways to control airflow and combustion to dramatically reduce the amount of pressure losses and loading characteristics in aircraft engines and power generation in gas and wind turbines.

Arik adds, “Just one floor down in the same research building, I have colleagues using our dual cool jets technology to improve both the power and efficiency of GE’s jet engines and power generation turbines. With wind turbines, for example, we’re manipulating airflow to increase wind energy production. With LEDs, we’re using dual cool jets to improve the heat transfer rate and reduce the number of chips in the lamp.”

How GE’s dual cool jets technology works
GE dual cool jets are very small micro-fluidic bellows type devices that provide high-velocity jets of air, which impinge on the LED heat sink. These jets of air increase the heat transfer rate to more than 10 times that of natural convection. The improved cooling enables LED operation at high drive currents without losses in efficiency or lifetime. For a given lumen output, the dual cool jets’ improved thermal management reduces the necessary LED chip count. This, in turn, can dramatically lower the cost of the lamp. In addition to performance and cost advantages, this cooling technology enables reductions in LED lamp size and weight.

GE and the University of Maryland are in the final stages of the DOE project. The organizations are now studying ways to improve the reliability and lifetime of LED lighting systems.

About GE Global Research
GE Global Research is one of the world’s most diversified industrial research labs, providing innovative technology for all of GE’s businesses. Global Research has been the cornerstone of GE technology for more than 100 years, developing breakthrough innovations in areas such as medical imaging, energy generation technology, jet engines and lighting. GE Global Research is headquartered in Niskayuna, New York and has facilities in Bangalore, India, Shanghai, China and Munich, Germany. Visit GE Global Research at www.ge.com/research.

About the A. James Clark School of Engineering
The Clark School of Engineering, situated on the rolling, 1,500-acre University of Maryland campus in College Park, Md., just outside Washington, D.C., is one of the premier engineering schools in the U.S., with graduate and undergraduate education programs ranked in or near the Top 20. This year, three faculty members affiliated with the Clark School were inducted into the National Academy of Engineering; the Clark School was ranked 13th in the world by the Institute of Higher Education and Center for World-Class Universities in its Academic Ranking of World Universities; and the Wall Street Journal survey of large employers ranked the Clark School 3rd in the nation as a source of entry-level engineers.

The school, which offers 13 graduate programs and 12 undergraduate programs, including degree and certification programs tailored for working professionals, is home to one of the most vibrant research programs in the country. The Clark School garnered research awards of $171 million in the last year. With emphasis in key areas – such as energy, nanotechnology and materials, bioengineering, robotics, communications and networking, life cycle and reliability engineering, project management, intelligent transportation systems and aerospace – the Clark School is leading the way toward the next generations of engineering advances.

Through its Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute, the Clark School helps bring such advances to the marketplace, providing incubator, support, and educational services to technology entrepreneurs. Visit the Clark School homepage at www.eng.umd.edu..

About GE Appliances & Lighting
GE Appliances & Lighting spans the globe as an industry leader in major appliances, lighting, systems and services for commercial, industrial and residential use. Technology innovation and the company’s ecomagination(SM) initiative enable GE Appliances & Lighting to aggressively bring to market products and solutions that help customers meet pressing environmental challenges. General Electric (NYSE: GE), imagination at work, sells products under the Monogram®, Profile™, GE®, Hotpoint®, Reveal® and Energy Smart® consumer brands, and Tetra®, Vio™ and Immersion® commercial brands. For more information, consumers may visit www.ge.com.

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Meijer stores adding electric vehicle charging stations

Monday, November 8th, 2010

Meijer grocery stores is installing electric vehicle charging stations at three of its Michigan stores (its headquarters is in Grand Rapids).  It will cost them close to $100,000 to install the three stations, but it plans to install between ten and twenty additional ones throughout its Midwest stores.  The three Michigan stores in Warren, Allen Park and Holland will get two stations which will be free to Meijer customers.

Julie Croll, Senior Vice President of Properties and Real Estate for Meijer said: “Whether we are providing our customers with reusable bags, placing rooftop wind turbines on stores or offering charging stations for the electric vehicles, we are committed to searching for innovative ways to be green”.

The charging stations are purchased from Shocking Solutions of Roseville, Michigan, and are made by Coulomb Technologies of Campbell, California.

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Grocery Decor and Color

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010
(excerpt from my book “Grocery Store Planning”)

Like signage, décor delivers a message to customers. A clean, utilitarian design can tell customers a store is focusing on low prices and not spending a lot of money on fancy signage and décor. However, cheap, flimsy, or dirty décor can tell customers the store is not very focused on freshness or quality. Likewise, an elaborate or fancy décor can tell customers the store is high quality, but may be expensive. As in all factors of store design, a delicate balance must be maintained in order to send the most appropriate message to customers.

Décor can be very noticeable, or subtle, depending on the desired effect. Sophisticated décor can be very effective in creating a comfortable shopping mood for customers. Garish colors, too many faux finishes, or a multitude of props can cheapen the overall look of a store’s décor; customers are no longer amused by a net with dust-laden plastic sea creatures draped over the seafood department.

A designer must avoid falling into décor stereotypes. A modern décor does not have to be sterile, white, and devoid of warmth, just as a traditional décor does not have to be filled with antiques or old-fashioned lettering.  Color plays a very important role in setting a mood. Using an abundance of oranges, browns and yellows may increase the overall warmth of the store, but it may also feel retro, like a return to the seventies. A designer may want to refer to one of the many color palette guides available in book stores in order to better coordinate a store’s décor. Dairy departments traditionally have used the colors blue, white or yellow for signage. Red would resemble the sanguinity of the meat department and is best for stimulating an appetite, but can also be too fiery for a cool department. Green is of course a traditional produce color, but so are wood tones and most earth-tones. Orange is typically too warm of a color for dairy, but it could refer to juice. Blue and white are cold colors, frequently associated with the frozen food department, but clearly refer to a cooler, fresher product. Yellow, although a warm color, can be crisp and fresh feeling.

Earth-toned colors are mutations of the traditional “jewel-tone” color palette. They specifically refer to colors found on, in or near the ground such as soil browns, clay reds, mossy greens, ochre yellows, and slate blues. These colors create a warm, subdued atmosphere but their overuse can create a rich, expensive décor. Jewel-toned colors like emerald green, sapphire blue, topaz yellow, garnet and ruby red, are rich, bright colors which can generate excitement and stimulate appetites. However, using too many of these colors together may cause over-stimulation or look too primary & childlike. The best way to integrate jewel-tones is to pick one and paint (or tile, or wallpaper, etc.) a single focus wall, leaving the surrounding/adjacent walls neutral or white.

Lamb's Palisades Market in Lake Oswego, Oregon

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UQANNHFJ5XQG

Monday, October 18th, 2010

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IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY TO GET A DESIGNER INVOLVED!

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

A few years ago an associate and I met an inventive woman who wanted to open a small delicatessen featuring assorted soups.  She had come up with a budget on her own and had found a wonderful location in a bustling community.  We went to check out the space.  The first thing we noticed was that the main entrance door was less than thirty inches wide.  In order for a wheelchair to get through the door it needed to be an additional six inches clear.  A delicatessen serves the public, and part of that public is disabled, therefore the door would have to be widened.  he second thing we noticed was that there was only one small restroom in the far back and it wasn’t handicap accessible either.  Again, she was going to be serving food to the public; she needed a larger restroom, and even better if she provided two restrooms, one for each gender.  Rounding out the necessary construction was a ventilation hood for the kitchen and an upgrade to the electrical.

The woman was panicked.  ”How much is all this going to cost?”, she asked.  We gave her some budgetary figures and she flipped out.  She had not planned for any of these expenditures in her budget.  Now she was going to have to go back to her bank and try and get a larger loan.  I tried to assuage some of her fears by suggesting that she negotiate some of these costs with the landlord.  You see, in order for the landlord to rent to anyone he or she would have to make some of these necessary upgrades.  The woman shook her head.  ”It’s too late”, she said, “I’ve already signed the lease and everything is on my dime”.  I was flabbergasted.

The next question she asked was, “how long will this remodel take?”.  Again, we threw out some figures based on typical construction time and permitting time for that area.  And yet again she flipped.  ”I’ve already started paying on my lease”, she explained.  She was already paying a monthly lease for a space she wouldn’t be occupying (and generating income in) for at least three to six months.

This is a real story and I still tell it to clients today.  The woman may have had the best idea for a retail space since The Olsons opened their General Store in Walnut Grove (obscure Ingalls-Wilder reference), but she really needed to have a designer on board from the get-go.  A good designer could have told her how much this whole she-bang was really going to cost.  A good designer could have given her tips on how to deal with a landlord on a space that was not really lease-able in its current condition.

Here’s another quick example:  A client wanted to open a spa, but also wanted to sell wine to her customers wine and fruit smoothies.  If she was just providing these items to her customers free of charge, she could probably get around most health and legal requirements, but she wanted to SELL these things.  She would need a wine license (beer & wine license) and would need to find out if the area allowed sales on Sundays, etc.  She would also need a health license to serve the smoothies, since they count as food.  This would require a three compartment sanitary sink, and a separate hand-wash sink, a refrigerator, and many other space-eating items.  Once all of the requirements were laid out on the plan, nearly half of her spa space was taken up by non-income-generating items.  Besides, no one wants to relax in a spa with a blender chopping pineapple and ice nearby.

Another client wanted to sell groceries out of a tiny shop space.  This was very do-able until they decided to cut and sell meat.  Now you’re talking USDA regulations and requirements which eat up tons of floor space.

Okay, so let’s say you’re looking at a space for your retail business.  You’ve already covered such items as location, foot traffic, demographics, square footage needs, etc.  Get your designer in there ASAP!  They can help you determine:

1.  Are there upgrades the landlord should be responsible for?

2.  Are there upgrades that you could negotiate with the landlord for, especially if you’re willing to sign a long-term lease?

3.  Never pay a lease for pre-construction time.  Your payments should start the day you open the establishment to customers.  You may pay some kind of initial payment.

4.  Make sure you have adequate electrical, water and HVAC (heating and ventilation) in the space.

5.  Make sure your budget has adequate amounts for all of the work to be done, including permits, fees, and insurance.  Also include a healthy contingency fund for cost overruns, unexpected delays, and those little things that always end up getting missed.

6.  Is the space really the right size for your operation?  Does the addition of health department regulations take up more space than you’ve allotted?  Are you allowing for adequate foot traffic and exiting space?

7.  Will the space meet the fire code?  What about the Universal Building Code?  There are many codes and regulations that you simply CANNOT have waived or obtain a variance for!  Even if you somehow overlook or avoid a necessary code infraction, years later you can be sued or fined for the infraction!

8.  Are there opportunities for artistic features in the space?

Alright, one final story and then I’ll leave you alone!  This client had an ingenious idea for her retail establishment.  She already had her business plan written up MBA-style complete with mission statement and long-term financial analyses. She had located a space and signed the lease (without any conditions for the landlord to help with the upgrades).  She called me in and I loved both her concept and her fortitude.  She was a very proactive do-er!  So much in fact that when I mentioned flooring she immediately volunteered that she “had a friend in the flooring business” with whom she’d be working.  I started discussing a budget for lighting and she quickly said, “I have a friend I’ll be working with in the lighting business”.  I threw out some colors for painting the walls and she hurriedly stated, “I already have my color scheme picked out”.  I decided to concentrate on the layout of the space, but she drew in chalk on the floor where everything including the walls were going to be placed.  Turns out, all she wanted me for was to put everything onto paper.  I was just a facilitator for her.  I probably could have made a few bucks, but not having anything to do with the actual design of the space is one of the worst things you can do to a designer.  It’s great for a client to know what they want and to have a clear idea of how they want the space to look, but this was overkill or micro-management at its worst.

The only thing that could have been worse is if she called me a “decorator”.

I’ll have some useful leasing terms in an upcoming post.

The End.

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