Renewable energy: what’s your business plan?

March 1, 2020  |  Editorial

By Galynn Nordstrom Doing some recent reading on entrepreneurship, I came across an article in Forbes magazine, in which the author, Dr. Steven Berglas, gives some tips to budding businesspeople, beginning with: 1. Marry a June Bride (or Be One). He explains that the concept of, or preference for, a…
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Stylish sun protection collection

March 1, 2020  |  Products

The innovative Sauleda New Generation collection is comprised of 90 exclusive designs in fabrics for sun protection. The collection includes the fabric GREEN, which purifies the air by means of photocatalysis, with a reduction in pollution around 55%, mold reduction of 60% and a self-cleaning effect…
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Fun and funky fabric murals

March 1, 2020  |  Swatches

The latest outpost of the cool, contemporary London restaurant Chotto Matte opened last year in Toronto, Ont., Canada. Known for Japanese-Peruvian fusion cuisine, the restaurant offers a playful dining experience with luxury bento boxes, signature cocktails, a robata grill and a sushi bar. The color…
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Flexible colors for carpets

March 1, 2020  |  Products

Multicolored carpets are now easier with the development of the BCF S8 platform. The core component in the carpet yarn system is the patent-pending Color Pop Compacting Unit (CPC-T) designed for flexible and even color separation. Individually controllable air pressures per color in the CPC-T provid…
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From Bauhaus to your house

March 1, 2020  |  Swatches

The Bauhaus was an art school founded in Germany in 1919 with a vision to reunite fine art and functional design in an increasingly industrialized world. Many female artists who attended the school were disappointed to find that the options available to them were the weaving shed and ceramics studio…
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Cutter support with 64-bit compatibility

March 1, 2020  |  Products

Easy Cut Studio version 5 includes 64-bit support, which allows the program to process significantly larger design files quickly. The new version includes additional enhanced functions, support for more vinyl cutters, and is optimized to be fully compliant with Apple’s latest operating system, mac…
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Technical textiles go bananas

March 1, 2020  |  Swatches

When designing a more sustainable future, sometimes the solution lies in unexpected places. That’s the idea behind Bananatex®, a durable, waterproof fabric made from banana plants.  The textile is derived from Abacá, also known as banana hemp, a member of the banana tree family. The brainchild …
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Future History: IFAI Expo 1940-1949

March 1, 2020  |  Expo News

Substitute awnings and Their Effect on the Industry An Address Given by J. J. O’Connor, Our First Vice President, at the Recent Roanoke Convention In the year just past, the world was shocked by the collapse of France in just four weeks, and the whole world started expressing fear. In our own indu…
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An exosuit for any gait

March 1, 2020  |  Swatches

When walking, a person’s center of mass is like a pendulum that is highest at midstance, when the leg is straight. The opposite happens when running. The body moves like a spring-mass system and is lowest at midstance when the hip, knee and ankle are flexed.  This reality of how the body works pr…
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Fabric frustrations for great white sharks

March 1, 2020  |  Swatches

While rare, shark bites can be a serious, dangerous reality for surfers and divers in some parts of the world. Shark bites classically are crescent shaped or result in a series of parallel cuts if the shark rakes its serrated triangular teeth on the person under attack. Blood loss is the leading cau…
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