Rico's Week with the Generation Chair, Day Five

The seat cushion doesn’t get talked about very much, because of the Generation’s Main Big Deal, which is the back and arms being so innovative and awesome. I’d rather it not get left behind, though, because my rear end is feeling very comfy and has been so all week. I don’t ever feel like I’m sliding out of the chair when I lean back, the seat pan adjusts deep enough for me (I’m 6’1”), and it seems to breathe well even though it’s a cushion and not space-age like some other chairs. Let’s see, have I left out anything? Oh yeah, design. Other than mentioning that the arms look different, I haven’t really discussed the chair’s design features. When you look at it from the side, you notice that the back curves in towards the lumbar region, then back out again and seems to even curl over forwards at the top. That seems a bit unlike what you would expect in a chair, until you think about this chair’s purpose and construction. Each of the curves accentuates the back’s supportive ability, while still enabling it to flex and move just about any way you want it to. From the back, it looks awesome because of the way the back is made – colored rubber with holes in it, with a great profile and contrasting colored frame – I mean, you can see the pictures shot from the back. I think that, although the side profile looks a little goofy, the back is stunning enough to more than make up for it. So my conclusion is: because I prefer to sit still, I wouldn’t go for a Generation, but I love the way it looks. However, having moved around in it for a week, I would be able to honestly recommend it to my sister, who Can’t Ever Sit Still. She’d be very comfortable in this chair long-term.

Rico's Week with the Generation Chair, Day Two

Day Two Today, I was mildly surprised when I walked up to my desk and found the Generation chair still waiting behind it. I think I really like the color – it’s not so much of a shock as it was when it was sent over from our Studio in the first place. It’s true that Lemongrass isn’t really that color, but I’ve decided that it sounds neat, so what the heck. As I look at the arms of the chair, they seem aesthetically different than most chairs, and I think that’s because they were designed to not be in the way while still being there for your arms to rest on if you want them to be. This chair has the Height Adjustable arms, rather than the High Performance version. Having not used the High Performance arms, I’m not sure what the main difference is, but these have enough cushion, go up and down easily and lock into place just fine. While they move around a lot and feel loosely connected to the frame, they actually stay locked in place better than most of the performance task chairs I’ve sat in recently. One of my pet peeves is when I put the arm where I want it to be and it decides that it wants to move somewhere else when I lean on it. These feel like they were meant to be leaned on, both by my arm and (if I feel so inclined) by my back when I’m sitting sideways in my chair. That does bring me back to what I started talking about (regarding why the arms look aesthetically different than most chairs); they are designed to be out of my way when I’m sitting sideways with my legs under one arm and my back against another. They are successful at that job and do not infringe on my leg’s personal space, and while my arm-backrest isn’t super comfortable, it doesn’t cause me pain. I find that, rather than sit sideways, a more comfortable position is to turn about a quarter of the way around, counter-clockwise, and use both the back of the chair and the armrest for support. It’s actually surprisingly comfortable to sit like that while typing this.