One Year and Growing, Web Site Provides Designers With Inspiration and Innovation Resource

KINGSPORT, Tenn., April 12, 2005 – Nearly 124,000 hits and counting. Since the Eastman Innovation Lab (www.EastmanInnovationLab.com) premiered at the end of March 2004, nearly 14,000 designers, design engineers and other professionals have visited the site, approximately half from outside the United States.

“With this site, we set out to inspire and help designers in their quest for innovation and product optimization,” said Gaylon White, manager, design industry programs, at Eastman. “Major design firms continue to register, and the brand owner visitors reads like a Fortune 50 list. And the hits for the entire site are accelerating, 43,000 in just three months this year, compared to 80,000 for all of last year. The Eastman Innovation Lab is the first step toward realizing our vision of a creative resource to connect brand owners and designers with inspirational and innovative material solutions.”

Over the first year, designer reaction like that of Lindam Ltd.'s Paul Salem is typical. “It (the Eastman Innovation Lab) is an excellent source of info that has filled a gap in resources available for us mere designers. It is now firmly lodged in my favorites.”

According to Fabricio Magalhães of Packaging Design & Marketing, Sao Paulo, Brazil, "I am always searching for info about materials and technology. This Web site is amazing."

The Eastman Innovation Lab Web site is an interactive, community-based resource intended to inspire designers to develop new products and services, while improving existing products and opening new market categories. The site offers a means for materials advancing design and reduced project duration, resulting in better and quicker decisions.

“The development of the Web site is a credible response to the realization that we can create a win-win situation?designers can benefit from our materials knowledge, and we learn the value of design in product development,” adds White. “Through ongoing dialogue with designers, we can develop this into a valuable resource that they will use time and again.”