Herman Miller's popular Mirra work chair has received a "Silver" in this year's Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA), an international competition sponsored by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and BusinessWeek magazine.
The IDEA awards program advances business and public understanding of the impact of industrial design excellence on society.
Mirra is among 130 award-winners chosen from 1,294 entries from around the world.
The complete news release follows.
HERMAN MILLER'S MIRRA CHAIR EARNS INTERNATIONAL DESIGN EXCELLENCE AWARD
Herman Miller, Inc., a global leader in office furnishings, workplace consulting, and related services, today announced that its Mirra work chair has earned a "Silver" in the 2004 Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA), a prestigious international competition presented by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and sponsored by BusinessWeek magazine.
"We are honored that the Industrial Designers Society of America once again has selected a Herman Miller product for this distinction," said Andy Otteman, director, Seating, at Herman Miller. "We feel that the Mirra chair, much like the similarly recognized Resolve system and Aeron chair, represents a breakthrough in user performance, ergonomics, and environmentally sustainable design. We are pleased that the IDSA likewise acknowledges Mirra as a standout achievement in design."
Herman Miller has received numerous IDEA Awards over the years, including a Gold Award for the Resolve office system in 2000, and Silver honors for the Aeron chair in 1995. In 1999, the Aeron chair was awarded the coveted Design of the Decade Gold Award, which is also sponsored by IDSA and BusinessWeek. And, Aeron co-designer and longtime Herman Miller associate Bill Stumpf received the IDSA's Personal Recognition Award in 2001.
The Mirra chair, which has achieved significant market acceptance and continues to be recognized for its innovativeness, is a high-performing, environmentally advanced work chair designed to provide a new reference point for ergonomic comfort, performance, aesthetics, sustainability, and value. Its unique blend of passive and active adjustments allow Mirra to automatically shape itself to each user; a few simple adjustments fine-tune the fit and feel. The chair's next-generation innovations, including a new optional upholstered backrest, all work together in a fresh-looking chair that's easy to use. Herman Miller teamed with German design firm Studio 7.5 to create Mirra.
The IDEA awards program fosters business and public understanding about the impact of industrial design excellence on the quality of life and the economy. IDSA is the nonprofit association that represents the profession of industrial design to education, business, government and the public and serves the profession's needs for information and networking.
"The IDSA is certainly well-respected as the premier affiliation for practicing designers, and BusinessWeek has been a long-term advocate for design, even before that became in vogue as a critical business strategy," said Don Goeman, vice president of Design Development at Herman Miller. "To be recognized in this manner is truly an honor for Herman Miller and its creative partnership with Studio 7.5 of Berlin. For the hardworking and dedicated Mirra Project Team, this award again reinforces the merits of purposefully blending the science of ergonomics with the art of good design."
Mirra is among 130 award-winners cited by a juried panel as among the year's best, most exciting product designs. The annual competition, which this year received 1,294 entries, includes everything from small desk accessories to giant mechanical equipment. For the first time the competition was open to all international entries, which resulted in 345 submissions from 25 countries. Thirty-three designs from 14 countries outside the U.S. earned awards.
The complete IDEA Awards report, including an in-depth analysis of the winning entries, appears in BusinessWeek editions on newsstands July 5. The IDSA monthly newsletter, Design Perspectives, also will have a wrap-up in its July 2004 issue. Detailed descriptions and photos of all 130 award-winners are featured on the IDSA Web site at www.idsa.org.
Herman Miller provides complete solutions that help create great places to work. Through research, design, manufacture, and distribution of innovative interior furnishings, complemented by furniture management and strategic consulting services, the company serves organizations and individuals around the world. During fiscal 2004, Herman Miller's award-winning products and services generated $1.34 billion in revenue. The company was also again named among Business Ethics magazine's "100 Best Corporate Citizens" and was the recipient of the prestigious National Design Award for product design from the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. In 2004, Herman Miller was cited in Fortune magazine as the "Most Admired" company in its industry--the 16th time in the 18 years the industry has been included in the annual survey of industry executives, board members and independent analysts. Notably, for the key attribute of "innovation," the company was ranked fourth among all companies surveyed. Herman Miller trades on the NASDAQ stock market under the symbol MLHR. For additional information visit HermanMiller.com.
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