NeoCon 2025 Report [ CMF Design Series Vol. 6 ]

Every year in June, I visit NeoCon, an office furniture exhibition held in Chicago, to conduct CMF trend research.

Office furniture design is not only about superficial trends in colors and materials, but also about how spaces are conceived and perceived in relation to people. From this perspective, there are many commonalities with vehicle design, particularly interior design, and it helps us gain new insights and discoveries. This time, we observed unique designs and CMF trends from this viewpoint, so we’d like to introduce some highlights.

Design Point: “Sense of Well-being”

Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, office furniture design has been fundamentally grounded in an approach that supports workers’ mental and physical health, focusing on both concentration and relaxation. This has led to continued use of gentle forms and soft colors and materials. This year, that trend has evolved, with many designs showing even more refinement and a greater focus on “psychological well-being.”

Approaches to “Well-being”

This theme of “well-being” has gradually become a major concern for people since the global COVID-19 pandemic. At this year’s event, office furniture manufacturers are actively creating office spaces that reduce worker stress, provide resilient environments, or foster motivating spaces.

This “sense of well-being” is expressed in design through roundness, generosity, and stability in both form and CMF design. What I feel every time at this show is that office design is spatial design—while individual pieces of furniture as products are central, they are ultimately part of a space, and what’s important is creating the overall atmosphere and character of that entire space as a unified design. If we become fixated only on superficial elements like individual shapes, colors, and material details, we miss the crucial overall atmosphere of the space. Office spaces are functional spaces for working, thinking, and discussing, and now there’s an added requirement for emotional support for people’s mental and physical well-being. The way the overall impression (atmosphere) that creates the space becomes crucial. Isn’t this also true for vehicle interior spaces?

Connected Open Spaces

For work efficiency and worker activation, it’s important to create spaces where people can feel “connection” and “motivation.” This year, many new semi-private, open meeting spaces appeared—naturally accessible with minimal sense of isolation from surroundings. This seems to follow from last year’s prevalent use of ambiguous partition expressions, but this time, while maintaining office-appropriate forms, the presentation creates a harmonious atmosphere with suppressed sensations of “partitioning” and “blocking.”

Security and Well-being Through “Roundness”

The round, charming forms that have been trending for several years evoke happy times that heal the heart. Even in offices, such shapes and colors create an atmosphere for calm, peaceful conversation.

Additionally, shapes with a sense of weight at the base were frequently seen in desks and meeting tables. Solid bases create a sense of stability—of being “supported.” Also impressive were elegant office furniture pieces with a rounded, retro aesthetic. Somehow familiar, nostalgic designs seem to generate fresh emotional resonance.

Upholstery Materials: Warmth and Softness

For office chairs, stools, and sofas, upholstery materials continue from last year to be predominantly loosely woven, wool-like fabrics using thick-count yarn. These are gentle, warm-textured surfaces that don’t disrupt the atmosphere of the trending round-shaped designs. Above all, soft tactile feel is essential, and particularly in the North American market, the requirement for delicate, soft touch in upholstery materials is exactly the same as in automotive applications.

Handcrafted Finishes

At this year’s show, there was an increasing trend toward natural materials (including processed materials with natural-material aesthetics) with simple, rustic surface qualities. Many expressions utilize the inherent characteristics of materials for warmth and simplicity, indicating that people seek healing and security in handcrafted-looking finishes.

Serene “Green, Purple, and Burgundy”

The three colors I paid most attention to at this show were purple, green, and burgundy.

• Purple

First, purple—which was barely seen last year—appeared this year as the most prominent color at the venue. This purple wasn’t limited to being a transient accent color but was adopted as a main color in many products. Rather than aiming for flashiness or eccentricity, it’s characterized by subdued saturation that evokes serenity, with beautiful combinations with light gray and dusty blue, creating a calm atmosphere.

Interestingly, purple has also recently been adopted in automotive body colors with similarly subdued saturation. This hue is frequently seen in Chinese vehicles and is thought to relate to regional preferences, but it’s a completely different color range from high-saturation chemical-looking purples. As felt at NeoCon, purple with an elegant image of serenity and sophistication seems to be particularly favored by women as a vehicle body color.

・Green

Green tones, which have been trending for several years, continued this year but with a more serene image, with impressive subdued saturation in moss green and aqua green with blue undertones. Rather than bright, light natural feelings, the main color range conveys deep, matured quietness.

• Burgundy

Similar to purple tones, this year featured fresh, subdued burgundy red with reduced brightness and saturation. It’s being adopted not only as upholstery color but also expanding to tabletops and floor carpets. With a balanced, not-too-assertive presence, it gives products warmth and appropriate volume.

Advancing Sophistication of Sound-Absorbing Materials

Recently, floors, walls, and ceilings have significantly increased in importance in spatial composition. Furthermore, office spaces require designs with various functions in these areas. In recent years, sound-absorbing functional materials using recycled resin have been expanding their design expression range. Through surface treatments like printing and texturing, and through unit configurations that provide flexibility in office environments, these materials are fulfilling their roles in office spaces as more sophisticated design products that integrate with the space. This time, smart and unique sound-absorbing material designs were also on display.

The Concept of Spatial Design Points in the Same Direction for Vehicles, Offices, and Homes

As digital-centered lifestyles evolve, the boundaries between private residential spaces and public spaces like offices are disappearing, and vehicles have already joined this convergence. With the evolution of devices, the use of vehicle interior spaces is diversifying—changing from “vehicles” as means of transportation to “mobility” that pursues and provides individual ways of enjoyment.

The pursuit of well-being focused on at NeoCon can be said to point in the same direction as a common design point for all three—vehicles, offices, and homes—represented by keywords like “security,” “healing,” and “stress-free.” Beyond material textures and spatial expressions, seeing similar trends in colors as in recent vehicles tells the story of the speed of information and reflects how much people’s desires are shared.

The mental balance of seeking healing in warm and gentle forms and CMF, in inverse proportion to the use of rapidly evolving smart IT technology. We were able to glimpse again at NeoCon something very important to modern lifestyles. Personally, I’m also paying attention to the newly observed trends of somewhat nostalgic retro styles and luxurious handcrafted aesthetics, which I believe will influence mainstream vehicle design in the future.