For celebrated designers, Charles and Ray Eames, it was toys. They considered playtime productive time. Charles once noted, “Toys and games are preludes to serious ideas.” Fittingly, the Eameses had a diverse and lively collection of toys from all corners of the globe. They recognized the connection between playful exploration and meaningful innovation.
So, what inspires you? Do you have an office toy collection? A collection of classic lunch boxes in your kitchen? A crate of vintage vinyl 45s? Take us for a photographic spin around your collection and if it’s cool and creative enough, you could win a set of Herman Miller Select Walnut Spinning Tops.
Snap a photo (.jpegs are perfect) of your collection, include a one or two-sentence description with it, and email it to: tops@hermanmiller.com. Put “Contest” in the subject line. You have until December 14th to enter. Good luck!
Last summer, I was walking through the plant at Herman Miller’s GreenHouse facility and spotted a twin-drum Mantis composter. Being an avid gardener, I was thrilled to see that our environmental team was considering a composting system for the cafeteria.
As it sat unused, I began inquiring: What’s up with the composter? The answer, it turned out, was that the cafeteria would indeed be composting, but through an outsourced vendor. So the staff was looking for an organization that would benefit from a composter loan and provide feedback on its use. Read more
As a rule, not very often. Here’s one that breaks the rule: the level certification for furnishings. It’s something all members of the industry trade group BIFMA agreed on and published as the e3 sustainability standard. The standard’s goal is to give everyone a consistent, easy way to compare the sustainability of furniture products. Watch the video for more about level and why Herman Miller’s CEO Brian Walker thinks it’s so important. By the way, 80% of Herman Miller’s products are certified under the new standard.
Last week, the National Ergonomic Conference and Expo (NECE) took place in Las Vegas, attracting safety and ergonomic gurus from across the nation. NECE attendees have access to a wealth of information, from finding new ways to reduce workplace related injuries to improving productivity. The conference is also a great place to discover new products and build relationships.
Herman Miller featured several products, including this year’s NECE Attendees’ Choice Award winner, the Envelop desk. Also on display were: the Embody chair (last year’s Attendees’ Choice Award winner), the Setu chair, Sense desking system, Intent furniture, keyboard and mouse support products, the Flute personal light, and the Twist LED task light. Read more
Herman Miller enjoyed a great showing at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Phoenix, Arizona earlier this month. In addition to the collective sighs of relief from weary attendees enjoying our comfortable seating, many also engaged our staff about Cradle to Cradle certification and our commitment to our “Perfect Vision” goals–a zero operational footprint by 2020. Our networking gardens and VIP lounge provided ample opportunities for attendees to take a breather and experience our furniture first-hand. Read more
If you visit Herman Miller’s Design Yard facility in November or December, you’ll notice the “Stocking Workshop” signs that lead to the warehouse where, for the fourth consecutive year, employees are volunteering their time to make 150 Christmas stockings for the Holland Rescue Mission. Make that 350 stockings—since Love, INC just requested 200 more. Both organizations work toward meeting unmet needs of individuals and families.
These volunteers are spending lunch hours, evenings, and even weekends cutting, sewing, and decorating the stockings, which are made from Herman Miller’s roll-end fabrics or materials used in testing. Some people even sew stockings throughout the year in anticipation of this event.
The Holland Rescue Mission and Love INC give residents stockings for their families, as well as access to donated items to fill them. It’s one way to make the holiday season a little brighter for local families.
Metropolis Magazine’s 2010 Next Generation® Design Competition, “ONE Design FIX for the FUTURE” is calling for entries. With this year’s theme, they’re looking for one design fix – in a product, a workplace, a city, a building, a landscape or wherever – that “in scale or as inspiration, can improve our future.”
So if you’re a designer who has been in business less than 10 years – or a design student – why not enter? Just think: Your idea might not only win, but with the $10,000 prize in seed money, you might actually watch it come to fruition. Read more
Yesterday when my son and resident IT expert was showing me how to perform some supposedly simple computer task involving a cute little cloud icon, he made a rather disparaging comment about my organizational skills. My desktop, he informed me, was “a mess.”
This from someone whose bedroom floor has not been seen since 2005. Read more
Herman Miller is broadening its presence in social media platforms. With our recently launched official Facebook page, we’re offering you another way to interface with our organization. Watch for real-time updates about products, services, events, and behind-the-scenes stories from our extensive archives on Facebook.
You can also join over 2,000 people who are already following Herman Miller on Twitter. We’re tweeting company news updates and events, as well as responding to questions you have.
Interested in stories about design, products, or the Herman Miller community? Check out our videos on the Herman Miller YouTube channel. Or peruse the stories in this blog, where we welcome your comments in the conversation that interests you—on topics from design to our products to what makes the world a better place for all of us.
Keynote speeches, round table discussions, hands-on workshops, lecture presentations, exhibit hall displays, awards ceremonies (to honor the Florabella lounge collection, a winner in the Nightingale Awards Competition), and interpersonal conversations shaped the collective Herman Miller Healthcare experience at the Healthcare Design conference held Oct. 31 to Nov. 3 in Orlando, Florida.
What did we learn? What were the major trends we observed and takeaways we will continue to think about? What texture did we take away from the intangible? We synthesized our experience and now we present five takeaway points back to you for consideration:
1. You can apply lean process to any industry. Learn and apply best practices from other fields.
2. Use evidence-based design to drive innovation.
3. Patients, doctors, nurses, furniture, infrastructure, equipment, buildings, and nature are all part of the same ecosystem.
4. Design healthcare products and environments that reference norms but create delight.
5. Listen, ask, test, challenge, and participate in communities that are shaping the future of healthcare.
We’d love to hear your reactions. Do you agree? Understand? Let’s continue the conversation here and on Twitter. Follow @healthcarehm and stream #betterworld.
