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Office props: Propaganda Inc. founders David Tyreman and KeithWalton, both 35, have taken the "bored" out of boardroom.Say goodbye to swivel chairs and formal meeting tables. For theseentrepreneurs, whose company supplies props for department stores,restaurants and retailers such as Banana Republic and Nautica,it's all about beanbag chairs, fabric walls, a cinematicpull-down screen and the ultimate office essential: a faceted discoball. "The idea is, you walk in the door and feelrelaxed," says Tyreman of the company's San Franciscoheadquarters. "We want people to feel sort of giddy,excited."
With core values like "Certainty, Fun and Respect,"it's no surprise Tyreman and Walton don't confine their 17employees to cubicles. To illustrate the company's playfulattitude, the entrepreneurs encouraged their staff to create amural. Using an under-the-sea theme, the staff painted fish on thewalls and superimposed their faces. "We're not an uptightcompany," explains Tyreman. "You get a lot more frompeople when they feel relaxed and safe."
"When we moved in, there were no walls--it was just one bigshell," says Tyreman of Propaganda's 27,000-square-footlive/work space. The next addition for what Tyreman and Waltondescribe as a "work in progress"? A scrapbook wall forthe entryway that includes photographs, newsletters and clientorders dating back to the company's June 1988 launch.
Vintage leather suitcases imported from England are one of themost popular items Propaganda supplies to retailers. Used fordisplays in men's sections at many department stores, as wellas the company's biggest client, Polo by Ralph Lauren, thesuitcases provide customers with a visual "story" thathelps market their products.
Something old, something new: You might say Seattle's LeadPencil Studio is a working model for its founders' ideology ofdesign. The beauty of the former newspaper production facility, nowheadquarters for an architecture practice, lies in its blending ofthe antique and abandoned with the new and restored. "When wesaw this little storage room, it was covered in old plywoodshelving and newspapers," says company co-founder DanielMihalyo, 28. "Anybody else would've thought `Nothanks.' We saw an opportunity to make it our own."
In 1996, after four months of renovations, which includedsandblasting the ceiling and refinishing the floor from its sootyblack state, Mihalyo and partner Annie Han, 31, moved into thecentury-old building in Pioneer's Square. "The windows,wood floors, beams and columns speak for [the building] and itsage," says Han. "[Clients] comment on how comfortable andwarm [the space] is. The response has been very positive."
"It's sort of a religious or spiritualexperience," says Han of the morning light that filtersthrough the room's fused glass window. "Everything is sonatural and tactile. It inspires me to contemplate."
As sole employees of their architecture practice, Han andMihalyo have creative control of their office decor. "We madeit more relaxed and less corporate than the places we've workedin the past," explains Mihalyo. "A lot of architectureoffices are very sterile and made to impress the client, not to becomfortable. Ours has a used, worn look."
Contact Sources
Lead Pencil Studio, dna@leadpencilstudio.com
Propaganda Inc., 450 Ninth St., San Francisco, CA 94103,http://www.4propaganda.com
