Better World, Design, What's Up
April 23, 2012
By David Foster
The cover of Bill Birchard's book Merchant of Vitrue.
What role does design play in sustaining the earth? “The biggest role,” says writer, journalist, and Merchant of Virtue author Bill Birchard. An environmental advocate and proponent of business sustainability, Birchard shared with us his thoughts on caring for the earth, the importance of measuring environmental performance, and of course, design.
There’s always a lot of press coverage around Earth Day. It’s hard to know whether we’re doing better or worse at caring for the earth. What’s your view?
I think it’s useful to distinguish between consumers and companies. As a consumer, it’s sometimes hard to see whether we’re doing much better. On the corporate side, we’re doing a lot better. And that’s significant, because corporations have a huge amount of leverage compared to consumers. A recent Sloan/MIT study showed that 68% of companies had increased their commitment to sustainability in the last year, compared to just 25% doing so two years ago. Companies still have a long way to go, but the trend toward greater responsibility by the most powerful institutions on earth—corporations—appears irreversible. Read more
Design, What's Up
April 17, 2012
By David Foster
If numbers come to mind when you hear the word “mathematics,” you’re not alone. That was the misconception that Charles and Ray Eames sought to undo with their groundbreaking 1961 exhibit designed for IBM: Mathematica: a World of Numbers …and Beyond.
The truth, Charles and Ray realized, is that numbers only represent one percent of the world of mathematics. From a pinball demonstration of celestial movement to a 1,000-year timeline of mathematical discoveries and influential events, Charles, Ray, and the entire Eames Office worked hard to bring mathematics to life without numbers.
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Design, Products, What's Up
April 16, 2012
By David Foster
In the 1950’s George Nelson characterized the ultimate office environment as “a daytime living room where work can be done under less tension with fewer distractions.” Today we work whenever and wherever we are most comfortable—Nelson’s goal is closer to reality than ever before.
Recognizing this, Herman Miller introduces the Herman Miller Collection. The Collection offers you the ability to select, furnish, and create complete environments in myriad settings—from the boardroom to the backyard. We believe that design goes much deeper than styling. Each piece in the Collection represents a solution that is as purposeful as it is beautiful.
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Design, Innovation, Products, What's Up
April 2, 2012
By David Foster
An Aeron chair rolls off our production line every 17 seconds; a number that so impressed FastCompany that they recently recognized Herman Miller as a model of modern American manufacturing.
The secret? Continual improvement. Using a process we call the Herman Miller Performance System, or HMPS, we compound small, incremental improvements into big change. Rearranging a bin of parts to be six inches closer may only save a half second, but when combined with hundreds of other refinements, the results add up. In fact, they add up to more than 260 seconds—or 4 minutes and 20 seconds—of time saved to make an Aeron chair.
Applying the same problem-solving knowhow to the production of our products as we do their design, Herman Miller remains at the cutting-edge. And while the competition is busy exporting manufacturing jobs, we can proudly say our products are made in the United States.
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Design, What's Up
March 26, 2012
By David Foster
The Mad Men offices of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce drip with modern cool. The glass walls, sleek sofas, and leather chairs are exactly what you would expect of a successful New York ad agency in the 1960s.
For fans of the show with an eye for design, classic furniture abounds; but for Don Draper, the digs of his new Time & Life office were anything but classic. Draper and his partners were simply surrounding themselves with items that reflected—or might spur—the creativity of their work. Years later, the consensus is that some of these designs are classics, and not simply because they’ve endured over the decades.
So what makes a classic? A blend of beauty, utility, and a certain sense of inevitability, as though the object is somehow exactly as it is to be? And if Mad Men were set today, what classics might we see in the offices of a modern-day Don Draper?
Design, What's Up
February 13, 2012
By David Foster
Nelson platform bench at the Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University
In a world where design is often an exclamation mark, sometimes, good design is one that complements without calling undue attention to itself. Much like the perfect t-shirt or little black dress that round out one’s wardrobe, a thoughtful interior needs a few basic pieces that do not dominate.
The platform bench, designed by George Nelson in 1945, is one such piece. A stable of museum galleries around the world, and often found at the foot of the bed, the bench has been a durable icon for its ability to play a supporting role. Composed of solid maple slats, it reflects Nelson’s insistence on honest design—making a visual statement that defines an object’s purpose.
Education, What's Up
February 8, 2012
By David Foster
Have an urge to get behind the camera? James Cameron, director of Avatar, may have been speaking to you when he said, “Pick up a camera and shoot something. No matter how small, or cheesy, or whether your friends and your sister star in it. Put your name on it and now you’re a director.” Herman Miller invites you do just that: pick up a camera, gather some friends, and make a video that answers the question “what makes your campus green?”
Commuting to school by bike, campus-wide recycling initiatives, perhaps a zero-waste sporting event. Large or small, it doesn’t matter; show us what your school is doing for the Earth.
A winning entry could earn you up to $2,500 cash in Herman Miller’s third annual Student Video Contest.
Checkout last year’s winner, Fiona Green of the University of Ottawa, and get inspired.
Design, What's Up
February 7, 2012
By David Foster
“Why did you become a designer?” “Because I love building things,” says Konstantin Grcic. Interior Design recently picked the brain of the Chair_One creator with its 10 Questions…. Here are four that we found interesting:
Interior Design: Why did you become a designer?
Because I love building things. When I was 19 years old, I did an apprenticeship for a cabinetmaker and I became intrigued. I discovered that I could create or rethink the things I built. I enrolled at the RCA (Royal Academy of Arts) in London.
What does design mean to you?
That’s an impossible question. You could write a book or say something really stupid.
What do you most like to design?
The physical scale of furniture attracts me. It’s what I’m good at. And it’s what I really like.
Where do you get inspiration?
KG: It comes from everywhere—from daily life.
Visit Interior Design for the rest of Grcic’s answers.
Better World, Products, What's Up
February 6, 2012
By David Foster
Whether it’s an affordable work chair or a textile, we always approach design with a better world in mind.
Enter Gem, a new polyester upholstery fabric that is antimony-free, making it a good choice for the earth. Polyester is one of the world’s most popular polymers; unfortunately making it is harmful to the environment. Designing a better polyester meant replacing antimony, a heavy metal used as a catalyst, with titanium, a much more earth-friendly choice.
Gem is durable, inexpensive, and easy to take care of—and it’s part of Herman Miller’s quest for a Better World.
Design, Healthcare, What's Up
February 1, 2012
By David Foster
Physicians and nurses work through a space planning exercise. Photo: Joint Commission Resources
The design process can be overwhelming if you’re unfamiliar with its various phases, tools, and lingo. A new workshop aims to give healthcare professionals the skills to positively influence patient safety and quality during the design and construction of future healthcare environments.
Learning to read blueprints, articulate a future vision, and design for flexibility, these and other skills are covered in the Safe Health Design Learning Academy. This three-day session is organized by Joint Commission Resources (JCR)—a not-for-profit healthcare accreditation organization—and sponsored by Herman Miller.
Giving physicians, nurses, and healthcare leadership an active voice in the design of healthcare will result in safer spaces, better patient care, and satisfied caregivers—all noble goals.
The next JCR Safe Health Design Learning Academy will be held in April 23-25, 2012; sign up now.