Design, Products
January 26, 2012
By Cerentha Harris
For the past few weeks Susan Lyons, our Materials Creative Director, has covered Herman Miller’s five material design principles over on our Discover blog. We’ve heard about honesty, utility, economy, pleasure, and possibility and the role these principles play in helping us choose the materials for our designs.
One principle is particularly relevant to Lifework readers: It’s the idea of utility. Lyons talks about utility in connection to Embody – a chair that finds its way into many a home office. “When we talk about material utility,” Lyons says, “what we really mean is that we use materials to solve problems.”
To hear Lyons talk about the rest of the principles simply follow these links: honesty, economy, pleasure, possibility.
To find a home office chair check out our tips on how to choose the right one for you. (And FYI – we’re now shipping our most popular office chairs for $29. Read all about that here.)
Design, Products
December 2, 2011
By Cerentha Harris
I met Eames Demetrios at the art collector’s lounge this morning. He’d just checked in and had a chance to take a quick look around the fair. He was amazed at how many Herman Miller pieces were dotted around the vast hall.
“There are so many booths that have Eames pieces in them,” said Demetrios. “You expect the plastic chairs but there are DCMs and they are serious chairs to drag around a big space when you don’t have to…I think it’s great.”
Adam Call (the Herman Miller Collection Lead) and I headed out to the floor to do a bit of furniture spotting ourselves and Eames was absolutely right. We were everywhere. As Call said this may very well be our first year here but it looks like we were at Art Basel even before we were at Art Basel!
Top: Eames Molded Plastic Chairs in white with wire bases and art still waiting to be hung. Above: A Nelson Swag Leg Work Table hard at work.
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Balance, Design, Products
December 1, 2011
By Cerentha Harris
The private art collector’s lounge and both public restaurants at this year’s Art Basel | Miami are populated with over 650 pieces from the Herman Miller Collection. You’ll find our brilliantly upholstered Eames dining chairs in pink and orange, the Eames Lounge Chair in white leather and creamy ash along with Noguchi’s iconic coffee table – with an ash base. Tuxedo sofas have been covered in a luxurious wool Girard fabric and they share the floor with crisp Nelson Coconut Chairs in black and white. And our new Magis pieces – Konstantin Grcic’s sculptural Chair One and Stool One are casting beautiful shadows all over the lounge area. It all feels just right for this buzzy fair – a celebration of the contemporary art scene with 260 galleries from all over the globe representing over 2000 artists.
From a Lifework perspective it is wonderful to see people “work” the fair. One man sank into an Eames Lounge Chair and pulled out his iPad and began furiously typing. A photographer spread out on the Tuxedo sofa and started downloading images to a laptop perched on the Noguchi.
Jack Schreur, Vice President of The Herman Miller Collection wandered the halls with me this morning before the crowds arrived. “The big theme is this - this is not about what used to be. Our presence here is about taking some of the most amazing pieces of furniture in the world and contemporizing them, showing how they live and work today. We arrange our technology around us instead of the other way around - it fundamentally opens up opportunities for all of this great furniture. It didn’t work great when you had to put an IBM Selectric out there to do your work but now … look at this.” Schreur points to a group leaning over a laptop, each perched comfortably on a Setu chair upholstered in deep red.
Look out for more Art Basel and Design Miami coverage over the next few days.
Balance, Design, Products, Technology
November 4, 2011
By Cerentha Harris
Where we’ve been this week…
1. Four – as in four-legged friends. It takes a lot to get me to linger on a pet’s site so this wonderfully designed doggy destination was a surprise. Check out their post on Kuntzel+Deygas who painted the Eames chair below.
2. Designer Alvin Aronson’s site for this cool prototype of a perfectly white digital clock.
3. Design Milk for their post on this pencil holder from Giha Woo.
4. Swissmiss for her post on Instagram – an obsession I share. It’s a lithe little bit of social media perfect for capturing just about everything and now it looks like the pics can be accessed more easily, making it an even better work tool.
5. Cool Hunting for the story on all-natural cleaning porducts. Perfect for getting that desktop sparkling.
6. Wallpaper magazine for their lovely “Letter from Japan” architecture update. Below – House in Seya, Kanagawa, by Suppose Design Office.
7. Design Applause’s coverage of Belkin’s green power strip.
8. Dwell’s excellent “Small Spaces” series (the house below is the most recent addition to the series).
9. A Brief Message for Hugh Graham’s short essay on design – “We have the opportunity and the responsibility to create a world where each object and experience is filled with value, where living with less but better is both joyful and meaningful.” We couldn’t agree more.
10. Field Notes new red notebooks. I use these little notebooks in the car and always have one on hand in my purse. Nicely designed, small and light weight.
Design, Products
September 6, 2011
By Cerentha Harris
We’re excited to now be able to offer you the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman in premium white leather and white ash along with Noguchi’s classic table, also in white ash. We unveiled these pieces, along with the Eames Aluminum Group outdoor series, at ICFF this year. Both are now available for the first time at the Herman Miller store.
I also mentioned at the beginning of summer that we would be offering Magis pieces. Well, you will now find Konstantin Grcic’s Chair_One at the Herman Miller store. This is an iconic piece of design that we are proud to include in our furniture collection.
Look out for more on these pieces in the coming weeks.
Design
July 29, 2011
By Cerentha Harris
Herman Miller is over 100 years old and as you can imagine our logo has evolved in that time.
David Foster put together a slideshow over on Discover to give you a visual history of the iconic logo. Check it out here and you’ll see there is still a clear connection to the original “M” that Irving Harper designed so beautifully in 1946.
Design, Products
June 13, 2011
By Cerentha Harris
Today is the last day for you to get 15% off our designs. Our summer sale ends at midnight tonight. So head over to the store or your local Herman Miller retailer to check out lots of great deals for your home office (and the rest of the house.)
Design, Products
June 3, 2011
By Cerentha Harris
Exciting news. Herman Miller announced today that we will be the exclusive distributors for Magis in the US and Canada. So, what does that mean for you? Well, here’s Jack Schreur, the Vice President of Herman Miller Classics and Retail on that very subject: “The move is an exciting step toward offering more choices. Choice is key because technology is changing how people are working and living, and blurring the line between the two. Magis products provide more ways to support how people live and work today, and they do it with beauty, style, and quality.” Sounds pretty good doesn’t it? We’re thrilled to be able to mix classics from the Magis collection with our own pieces.
Magis works a lot like Herman Miller in that they partner with outside designers. Who have they worked with? The list is a who’s who of the design world – look out for pieces by Richard Sapper, Jasper Morrison, Stefano Giovannoni, Marc Newson, Konstantin Grcic (his Chair_One is pictured above) , Ron Arad, the Bouroullecs, Robin Day, Pierre Paulin, Jerszy Seymour, Naoto Fukasawa, and Thomas Heatherwick. Come check out the Herman Miller booth at Neocon (June 13-15) to see just how our pieces will work with Magis’ designs.
Design, Products
June 3, 2011
By Cerentha Harris
Yes, it’s that time of year. Spring hits and sale time starts. Remember the Aeron that’s been weighing heavily on your wish list (it certainly has been on mine)? Now is your chance to take the plunge. You will find 15% off Herman Miller furniture - go to the store to check out the deals or head to your closest retailer. Enjoy!
Design, Products
May 14, 2011
By Cerentha Harris
Day 1 here at ICFF and it has been a very busy morning. I finally got to see the new Eames Aluminum Group (EAG) pieces and they are pretty amazing. It’s been fun watching people almost double-take as they see the chairs in their outdoor setting. The booth was inspired by Eero Saarinen’s Miller House which in turn inspired Ray and Charles Eames in their EAG pieces. But more on the story over on Discover next week. The pieces will be available to the public next Spring.
We’ll have a slideshow with images from photographer Paul Warchol - a step up from my iPhone snaps! I think I made Paul a bit nervous waving the phone around but I couldn’t resist posting some pics of us setting up this morning.
