Hi Eric,
I agree with you that the second one does look flatter although it is made from an image of the upholstery in the first shot. I think it would work for a quick look though and when used as part of a more complex model, the savings in file size would probably be welcome.
I don't have the model here at work but I made a section view this morning before leaving the house.
3814594640_4d0c45ea13_o.jpg
As I indicated, each 'pillow' is an instance of a component. I used the same numbers for each in the SSB plugin.
I'll do an image of the mesh this evening and post it.