IdeaPaint’s street-level space combines its namesake product—which turns any smooth surface into an erasable canvas—with Herman Miller furnishings for an exceptionally interactive office.

The idea that led to the invention of IdeaPaint—a paint that can transform any surface into a dry-erase board—came during a brainstorming session among college students at Babson College, just outside of Boston. The moment one of them started taping sheets of paper to the wall to create a space to capture their ideas, the rest stood up and became actively engaged in the process. Turns out, it was more than a phenomenon—it was an inspiration.

“If you think about it, there’s something interesting about your ability to brainstorm, collaborate, and communicate effectively with people, and the space that you’re in,” says Jeff Avallon, IdeaPaint’s VP of Business Development.

IdeaPaintBoston, Mass., USA

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Once the idea became a product, the product became a business—one that needed an office to support the day-to-day work.

“The space can either be a deterrent and add friction to the process, or the space can enhance and help you move fluidly, communicate freely, and share your ideas.”

Though the name clearly articulates the company’s primary product offer, Jeff points out that the IdeaPaint brand is less about the “paint” and more about the “idea.”

“When we launched, it was not about becoming a paint (company),” he says. “It was about a collaboration technology and enhancing the creative thought process. You’ll rarely, if ever, hear us talk about our product as paint.”

Once the idea became a product, the product became a business—one that needed an office to support the day-to-day work. The team found one 30 miles west of Boston in an industrial strip mall. “Awful” is how Jeff describes the nondescript location. “It could have been anyone’s office.”

Moving into the city became a priority as the company sought

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to establish a stronger identity, but Jeff wanted to make sure the move was done right. So did IdeaPaint President and CEO John Stephans. “Whether it’s the space, the design of it, the furniture, etc., relocation tends to be a hurry-up process to get things done, versus thinking through how a space can really impact the culture of the company, the team, and the actual work that they do,” John says.

With goals of showcasing their products, enhancing their culture and embracing the neighborhood, John, Jeff, and others got on the same page regarding what the new IdeaPaint space should look like.

Part office, part showroom, and part community gathering space, the IdeaPaint headquarters is located in the heart of downtown Boston. From the welcoming entryway to the bustling hive of workspaces, practically every vertical surface—and quite a few horizontal ones—is alive with day-to-day doodles, meeting notes and art.

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boost from Canvas Office Landscape, a Herman Miller system that provides a simple way to create varied settings for individuals and groups. “We can create [settings] that are six-person stations or eight-person stations very easily,” John adds.

According to Jeff, creating opportunities for casual collisions was important, too. “When you have people mixing and colliding and getting comfortable with each other, that’s when the true power of collaboration actually ends up coming out,” he says. “Ideas are not scheduled. Ideas happen all the time and we’ve designed a space that we believe allows that to happen.”

By choosing a street-level space, IdeaPaint’s space also extended a welcome to the community. The company leverages the space to host events on a frequent basis, including, happy hours, off-site brainstorming sessions for other businesses, and, most recently an initiative called Studio Sessions, where artists and illustrators use the space’s walls as a canvas for their art. “We have people sharing ideas, sharing energy, creating activity in the space, and it’s good for our team,” Jeff says.

Shifting from talking with colleagues to doing focused work gets a boost from Canvas Office Landscape, a Herman Miller system that provides a simple way to create varied settings for individuals and groups.

With Design Yard principles in mind, IdeaPaint and Herman Miller made a plan—one that supported everyone from finance, to operations, to marketing. Open collaboration was important.

In September of 2014, IdeaPaint launched a bi-monthly event series called the Studio Sessions, where local illustrators were invited to the office to create “temporary art” on walls of their choosing. As (almost) every wall in the space is covered with IdeaPaint, each artist has the freedom to create on a large scale.

But the seed of inspiration that prompted Jeff and John to work with Herman Miller to create the space was found more than 800 miles away. “As we were planning the space, Jeff happened to be visiting Herman Miller, and he took a picture of the coffee bar at their Design Yard building,” John says. “He sent it to us, and we showed it to the architects. We were in the middle of our design process, and everyone loved what they saw because that space was such an effective demonstration of how to build community and bring people together. That’s exactly what we wanted to replicate.”

With Design Yard principles in mind, IdeaPaint and Herman Miller made a plan—one that supported everyone from finance, to operations, to marketing. Open collaboration was important. “A space in a company only works well when their people talk and people communicate and collaborate,” Jeff says. “We’re in the business of one plus one equals three and you only get there by having people communicating.” Shifting from talking with colleagues to doing focused work gets a

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Creating a community meeting ground has been a key to IdeaPaint’s growth. Another was attracting the best talent in a city where there’s no shortage of up-and-coming companies. “We’re very conscious of our employment brand because we do constantly have to recruit and retain great talent,” Jeff says, nodding to the collaborative dynamic made possible by the combination of functional walls and collaborative settings for work. “Part of your employment brand is the space you live in—a place where people want to come every day and the type of place that practices what you preach,” he adds. “I think we accomplish both of those things here.”

“We have people sharing ideas, sharing energy, creating activity in the space, and it’s good for our team.”– Jeff Avallon

Now with 165,000 installations across 50 countries, IdeaPaint looks forward to growing even more. Doing that, as Jeff knows, starts with people and the work they do every day. “We provided them with a great space, a great solution, a great experience that ends up enhancing what they are doing,” he says.

IndustryIndustrial DesignTechnology

TopicBrandCollaborationSmall and Medium Business

ApplicationCollaborationConferenceGeneral OfficingOpen Office

Project Scope7,600 square feet

Herman Miller ProductsCanvas Office Landscape®Caper® Stacking ChairCaper Stacking StoolSayl® ChairSwoop™ Lounge FurnitureEverywhere™ Tables

Program/ServiceSmall and Medium Business Program

Year Completed 2014

© 2015 Herman Miller, Inc. Zeeland, Michigan Herman Miller, Y and Canvas Office Landscape, Caper, and Sayl, are among the

registered trademarks of Herman Miller, Inc. Everywhere and Swoop are among the trademarks of Herman Miller, Inc.

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