SAYL Chair Voted ‘Best of Green’

When TreeHugger asked its readers to vote online for the 2011 Best of Green in Design and Architecture, our SAYL chair came out on top. The popular blog, which focuses on driving sustainability mainstream, includes the Best of Green Readers’ Choice online voting is part of its annual Best of Green awards.

Designed by Yves Béhar, the SAYL chair is unique for its Eco-Dematerialised design, which means we used fewer materials in inventive ways to make the chair attainable for more people. Fewer parts and less material ultimately mean less cost and a smaller carbon footprint needed to make SAYL chairs. And, we produce them on three continents to cut the distance between factory and buyer.

TreeHugger points out that it’s a great time for green and we agree.

Congratulations to all the Best of Green winners and thank you to everyone who voted for SAYL!

Live Unframed, Win a SAYL Chair

Designer Yves Béhar believes there’s a parallel between the SAYL chair’s unframed suspension back and how we humans progress by unframed expressions of our potential.

“You live unframed when you let ideas define what it is you want to do and who it is you want to be,” he says.

So, how do you live unframed?

If you have a Twitter account, show us in a TwitPic or yfrog image what it means to you to live unframed and tweet it to @hermanmiller for your chance to win a SAYL chair.

For more information, check out the rules and guidelines page. The deadline for entries is February 11, 2011.

SAYL Scores C2C Silver

We’re happy to add MBDC Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Silver certification to the list of “eco-creds” for the new, non-FR, U.S.-produced SAYL work chair. Combined with its GREENGUARD certification and the process of eco-dematerialization that was at the heart of Yves Béhar’s design, SAYL can proudly add “good to the environment” to its other attributes, including good looks, ergonomics, and great price point.

SAYL Makes Its International Debut at Orgatec

Last week our SAYL chairs made their way overseas to Cologne, Germany, for Orgatec 2010. This international trade fair presents integral solutions for all areas of office and facility design—an ideal place to launch our latest seating solution by designer Yves Béhar.

Those working in our booth were pleased with the reaction to the chairs. Most of all, they heard that SAYL is the right chair at the right time—at the right price.

How a Chair Can Be ‘Unframed’

Designing anything is a challenge, let alone a chair. So what did it take for designer Yves Béhar to “grow” the SAYL chair?

Here’s a behind-the-scenes look, from inspiration to final product. And why the connection to unframed? As Yves says, it’s the “parallel between SAYL’s literally ‘unframed’ suspension back and my belief that we humans progress by ‘unframed’ expressions of our potential.”

‘Kick Out the Ladder’: Herman Miller Highlighted in Honda’s Series on Innovation

This post is a contribution to Honda’s “Kick Out the Ladder” thought leadership series. Herman Miller was invited to provide a unique perspective on how our corporate philosophy and culture encourages innovation. During the third week of October 2010, four other organizations also provide their own thoughts on the subject. Details and links to what others are saying about “Kick Out the Ladder” can be found at www.facebook.com/honda

This week, Honda launched its “Kick Out the Ladder” series on innovation and graciously invited us to provide Herman Miller’s perspective on the subject. So we’re using this opportunity to debut our new “Design Values” video. It highlights our culture and how we foster innovation in everything from product design to our people practices.

Our mission is to solve problems. And by thinking outside the box to find solutions, we’ve transformed the ways people think about the comfort, style, and function of furniture and their interior environment.

The new SAYL chair family by designer Yves Béhar is our latest example of taking an innovative approach to solve a problem. By rethinking every part of the chair, Béhar and our development team were able to create a better, smarter chair at a remarkable price, setting a new reference point in its class for performance, quality, and appearance.

Focusing also on the idea that people at their best live ‘unframed,’ we worked together to design and build a chair family that gives form to that spirit. In fact, on October 27, we launched liveunframed.com to celebrate the design approach we took with SAYL.

As the Golden Gate Bridge inspired Béhar, we think everyone has the ability to think outside the box, kick out the ladder, and live unframed.

Herman Miller Unveils SAYL in Chicago

Last week our new SAYL chairs made their public debut at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Designed by Yves Béhar for Herman Miller, this chair has been in the works for the past few years.

Béhar described this chair as one of his toughest design challenges because a chair “leaves nothing to hide.” And judging by the looks of the crowd, they’re glad he didn’t hide a thing.

Béhar and SAYL will make a few more stops in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco before they head to Germany for Orgatec.

You can follow #SAYL, #liveunframed, and @yvesbehar on Twitter for real-time updates about the chair and its launch events.

Chicago Athenaeum Names Good Design Winners

Two lighting products designed by Yves Béhar—the Twist LED task light and the Ardea personal light—were on the winners’ list of the 2009 Good Design awards, sponsored by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

Founded in 1950 by Eero Saarinen, Charles and Ray Eames, and Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., the Good Design award criteria are based on function and aesthetics, with a contemporary emphasis for environmental concerns and green design. Categories include: electronics, medical equipment, transportation, furniture, textiles, energy systems, kitchen/appliances, floor covering, household products, and lighting.

Despite the economic downturn, the 2009 Good Design program was “the strongest program ever with the largest-ever amount of corporate participation and the best and most substantial design awarded,” according to Christian K. Narkiewicz-Laine, president of the Chicago Athenaeum and curator of the awards. “This might be the beginning that signals the start that corporations and designers are changing their direction toward more sustainable and cost-effective design and less the use of flash and extravagance and a new understanding that the global market for consumer products is highly competitive and that only the strong will survive.”

Twist Kindles “Spark!”

Herman Miller’s Twist LED task light, designed by Yves Béhar from fuseproject, has received the “Spark!” award, the pinnacle of recognition among four levels of honors—”Spark!” Gold, Silver and Bronze–in the SparkAwards international design competition.

Watch this video to hear Yves talk about the design and innovation behind Twist.

Inside Ayse Birsel’s and Yves Béhar’s Sketchbooks

Designers Ayse Birsel and Bibi Seck of birsel+seck in New York think and communicate in sketches. “Our language is drawing,” says Ayse. “Sometimes we stay ‘en quarantaine’ in the room and we do some drawing together to exchange our ideas.”
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