Playlist: Music to Begin the Summer By

Throw open the doors and windows, the first long weekend of the summer is upon us. Let’s kick it off with some chill jams from the past few month’s worth of Playlists.

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Six Ways to Daydream

We all hit mental blocks during our work week. Why not take a break and let your imagination run wild and free. You might be surprised at how a little spell of daydreaming will help you solve that tricky problem or clear that seemingly impassible obstacle. Here’s six ways to step outside yourself and daydream.

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Above the High Line: Celebrating NY Design Week 2013

For this year’s New York Design Week, Herman Miller raised a toast — and gave special guests a glimpse of upcoming designs — at the High Line room of the Standard in downtown Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. Read more

Top Ten: Best of the Web This Week

Take a look at our favorite posts from the past seven days.

1. Architect Loïc Picquet’s simple, streamlined renovation of this rural guesthouse in the Alsace region of France (via Dezeen).

2. Design*Sponge’s tour through photographer and blogger Jessie Webster’s home in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles.

3. “Architecture on Repeat: Hypnotic Photos of Seaside Façades” at Architizer.

4. California Museum’s Pinterest page dedicated to its “Ray Eames: A Century of Modern Design” exhibition.

5. Design Milk’s look at the first residential design project — a joining of two neighboring properties into one family home — by London-based design studio Bureau de Change.

6. The impressive collection of Eames Aluminum Group Executive Chairs in the new Infor headquarters in NYC designed by VOA (via Contemporist).

7. The compact and cool Sydney apartment by designer Nicholas Gurney featured at Desire to Inspire.

8. “Elevator B,” an urban habitat for a colony of honeybees designed by architecture students from the University at Buffalo, at eVolo. (Learn why bees are near and dear to Herman Miller in this video.)

9. The 25th annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair begins tomorrow and runs through Tuesday the 21st in New York City. Get details here.

10. Did you commute today via bicycle for Bike to Work Day? If you’re still dreaming of riding two wheels to the office, here’s the top 10 places to do so, according to Co.Exist.

Featured in photo: Nelson Pedestal Table by George Nelson

Bikes in the Office

Warmer weather delivers a few extra excuses for breaking out a bicycle for your work commute — or for just taking a break during a long day in your home office. In honor of tomorrow’s Bike to Work Day, here’s how a few work spaces accommodate the larger, sometimes unwieldy bodies of bicycles into their interior design (something we know a little bit about here at Herman Miller). Read more

Playlist: Christy Lai & Michael John of Colorcubic

Christy Lai and Michael John like the term “multidisciplinary.” We can see why; together, they have a lot going on. First there’s Colorcubic, their interactive studio specializing in UX/UI, 3D modeling, animation, and motion graphics. In addition to the studio, Christy and John run a record label called Nueva Forma. Nueva Forma produces and releases high-caliber records in multiple genres and — channeling their affinity for design — often produces limited-edition packaging as well. Next the duo plan to launch an online shop to sell their design products including music, apparel, and printed goods called The Color Bureau. For this week’s Playlist, they share a few tracks that inspire their multidisciplinary activities.

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Workspace Tour: Photographer Christy Cassano-Meyer & Web Developer Kyle Meyer

The shared home office of photographer Christy Cassano-Meyer and web developer Kyle Meyer is a charming blend of vintage and modern style. Take a look through their creative space in Portland, Oregon, in this tour led by Christy’s words and photographic eye. Read more

Six Great Events at NYCxDESIGN 2013

NYCxDESIGN is New York City’s inaugural event to showcase and promote design of all disciplines. Held through Tuesday, May 21, it will celebrate NYC’s contributions to and embrace of design. Here are six great events you shouldn’t miss if you’re in the Big Apple for this citywide celebration.

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Top Ten: Best of the Web This Week

Here is a look at what we’ve been bookmarking this week.

1. NYCxDESIGN, New York City’s inaugural event to showcase and promote design of all disciplines, starts today and runs through May 21.

2. “12 Homes Made from Shipping Containers” at Design Milk.

3. This piece on the power of co-working spaces by the New York Times.

4. Esoteric Survey’s post on photos of the Eames House from the Aline and Eero Saarinen Papers.

5. Dexinger’s look at our new Mirra 2 work chair by Studio 7.5.

6. This mid-century modern home in Phoenix, Arizona, renovated by John P. Twigg and Steve Watson at Plastolux.

7. The light-filled Berlin home by architectural firm + Quehl Miethe featured at automatism.

8. Inthralld’s look at the loft that houses boutique billboard company Prince Media Co. in New York City.

9. Info on “Michigan Modern: Design that Shaped America,” an exhibit beginning June 14 at Cranbrook Art Museum, on Dwell.com.

10. Another not-to-be-missed exhibition: Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s retrospective show at Les Arts Decoratif in Paris beginning September 1. Details at It’s Nice That.

Featured in photo: Osso Chair by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec

Studio Tour: Artist Will Bryant

How much creativity can be produced within one co-working space? Plenty, if you consider that this personality-packed workspace — courtesy of illustrator, art director, and artist Will Bryant — is within a stone’s throw of the desk of Kate Bingaman-Burt, an illustrator who gave us a look around her office digs just last month. Get a new perspective on their shared studio (also the headquarters for three other illustrators/designers) in this newest tour from Portland, Oregon. Read more