3.12.10 | New York, NY | Humanscale’s Diffrient World chair has received the world-renowned Red Dot: Best of the Best award for Product Design from the 2010 Red Dot Awards. Among a field of more than 4,200 entries from more than 57 countries, the Diffrient World chair stood out as a striking example of efficiency, functionality and design simplicity.

Presented annually by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany, the Red Dot Awards are the largest and most renowned design competition in the world. Each year an international panel of experts reviews and evaluates the submitted products according to criteria such as degree of innovation, functionality and formal quality. The Red Dot has been a universally recognized symbol for design excellence since 1955 and marks only the most outstanding product designs.

“The Red Dot is a very prestigious award,” says Niels Diffrient, designer of the Diffrient World chair. “The Germans are very competent when it comes to running a good design competition, and they have a very focused attention to functional design. I consider it an extremely valuable award.”

Only one product in each category receives a Red Dot: Best of the Best award, and The Diffrient World chair was honored with that distinction in the Office Furniture category.

“This is a great honor for Humanscale,” Founder and CEO Robert King said. “The Diffrient World chair was designed to be a truly universal chair, and the Red Dot Award recognizes this, so being named the ‘Best of the Best’ is an affirmation of everything we’ve tried to accomplish with this chair.”

The Diffrient World chair sets an exciting new standard in sustainable, high-performance task seating.  Made from just eight major parts, it achieves Humanscale’s signature weight-sensitive recline through an innovative new design that functions without a mechanism. The sitter’s body weight, the laws of physics and the interaction between the seat and the frame combine to automatically create perfect recline resistance and back support for every user without manual controls or user training.

The chair also features Form-Sensing Mesh Technology that ensures perfect lumbar support for every user without the external, manually adjusted lumbar devices found on all other mesh chairs. Additionally, a mesh seat pan with a frameless front edge provides all-day comfort with soft support under the thighs.

By achieving high levels of performance and functionality with just 80 parts overall—less than one-third the parts of traditional task chairs—the Diffrient World chair is assured of long-term durability that far exceeds traditional designs. Quite simply, fewer parts, controls and mechanisms translate into fewer things that can go wrong over time. As such, the Diffrient World chair is backed by an industry-best 15-year 24/7 warranty.

In earning the Red Dot: Best of the Best award, the Diffrient World chair adds to its growing list of industry accolades, which includes a Gold IIDEX Innovation Award from IIDEX/NeoCon Canada, an FX Award from IIDA, and a Best of Year Merit Award from Interior Design magazine.

For more information about Humanscale and its full range of ergonomic solutions, visit www.humanscale.com or call 800-400-0625.

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About Humanscale

Humanscale is the premier designer and manufacturer of ergonomic tools for a more comfortable workplace. Our innovative seating, monitor arms, lighting, keyboard supports, and other ergonomic solutions are designed to improve the health, efficiency and quality of work life.

Humanscale products are based on the belief that when design solves a functional problem as simply and elegantly as possible, the resulting form will be honest and timeless. This philosophy has served us well: Humanscale was the only contract furniture manufacturer named among I.D. Magazine's top ten “enterprises that help push design forward” along with other design-driven companies including Nike and BMW. And our Liberty chair was the only task seating solution featured in the 2007 National Design Triennial at the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Liberty joined the Apple iPod and Boeing's 787 Dreamliner jet, among others, as one of the most important design innovations in America.

Environmental Statement

Humanscale is committed to environmental sustainability and continually strives to design, engineer and manufacture products that:

• Weigh less, requiring less raw material
• Use fewer parts and manufacturing processes
• Contain a high percentage of recycled content
• Contain a high percentage of recyclable content

Humanscale is also a proud supporter of World Wildlife Fund, and our founder and CEO, Robert King, has served on WWF’s National Council since 1999.