DOCSLIB.ORG

Design Beliefs COPPER N OKALA N COMPASSION out of Many, One

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Design Beliefs COPPER N OKALA N COMPASSION out of Many, One QUARTERLY OF THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGNERS SOCIETY OF AMERICA WINTER 2013 Design Beliefs COPPER n OKALA n COMPASSION Out of many, one. Let your team explore more options and create winning designs with a 3D modeler that enables the generation of multiple concepts in seconds. Learn more at solidthinking.com/Evolve An Company QUARTERLY OF THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGNERS SOCIETY OF AMERICA WINTER 2013 ® Publisher Executive Editor Sr. Creative Director Advertising Annual Subscriptions IDSA Mark Dziersk, FIDSA Karen Berube Katie Fleger Within the US $70 555 Grove St., Suite 200 Managing Director IDSA 703.707.6000 x104 Canada & Mexico $85 Herndon, VA 20170 LUNAR | Chicago 703.707.6000 x102 [email protected] International $125 P: 703.707.6000 [email protected] [email protected] F: 703.787.8501 Subscriptions/Copies Single Copies www.innovationjournal.org Advisory Council Contributing Editor Jill Richardson Fall/Yearbook $40+ S&H www.idsa.org Gregg Davis, IDSA Jennifer Evans Yankopolus 703.707.6000 x118 All others $20+ S&H Alistair Hamilton, IDSA [email protected] [email protected] 404.478.6433 ® The quarterly publication of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), Innovation provides in-depth coverage of design issues and long-term trends while communicating the value of design to business and society at large. DESIGN BELIEFS FEATURES PATRONS OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN EXCELLENCE 22 Beautiful Ends, 30 What Are Your Design Extraordinary Means Beliefs? INVESTOR by Prasad Boradkar, IDSA IDEO, Palo Alto, CA; Shanghai, China; by Gretchen Gscheidle, IDSA, Cambridge, MA; London, UK; San Francisco; Guest Editor 26 This Will Really Burn You Up! by Byron Bloch, IDSA Munich, Germany; Chicago; New York 32 1. Human Centered Newell Rubbermaid, Atlanta, GA by Jack Kelley, L/IDSA and 52 The Compassion Project: Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, OH Joe Schwartz; Jordan Bahler, IDSA Using Empathy as a Means PTI Design, Macomb, MI to Understand Design 34 2. Purposeful Webb deVlam Chicago, Chicago, IL Thinking by Gianfranco Zaccai, FIDSA; by John K Caruso, IDSA Hannah Duffy, IDSA CULTIVATOR 36 3. Integrity IN EVERY ISSUE Cesaroni Design Associates Inc., Glenview, IL by Studio 7.5; Kevin Terwilliger, IDSA Crown Equipment, New Bremen, OH 4 IDSA HQ Dell, Round Rock, TX 38 4. Original 6 From the Editor Eastman Chemical Co., Kingsport, TN by Don Chadwick; Jason Tropp by Mark Dziersk, FIDSA Jerome Caruso Design Inc., Lake Forest, IL 40 5. Apparent Quality 9 Business Concepts Lunar Design Inc., Palo Alto, CA by Andrea Nelson; Jon Langer by Michael Westcott, IDSA Metaphase Design Group Inc., St. Louis, MO 10 Point Counterpoint 42 6. Sustainable Smart Design, New York; San Francisco; by Matthew Stares; 13 Book Review Barcelona, Spain Travis Andren, IDSA by Scott Stropkay, IDSA Stanley Black & Decker, New Britain, CT 14 Design Defined Teague, Seattle, WA 44 7. Beautiful & Useful by Bill Lee Tupperware, Worldwide by Yves Béhar, IDSA; Craig Mackiewicz, IDSA 16 A Look Back Charter Patrons indicated by color. by Carroll Gantz, FIDSA 46 8. Spirited 20 Beautility For more information about becoming a by Steve Frykholm; by Tucker Viemeister, FIDSA Patron and supporting IDSA’s communication Benjamin Bush, IDSA 25 Corrections and education outreach, please contact 48 9. Beyond Expectations Katie Fleger at 703.707.6000 x104. 58 Showcase by Tim Straker; Vijay Chakravarthy, IDSA 64 Signposts by Alistair Hamilton, IDSA 50 10. Inevitable by Laura Guido-Clark; Philippe Duvall Left: This is one of Steve Frykholm’s favorite photos from the Herman Miller archive. In 1962 Charles and Ray Eames won the competition to design the seating for Chicago’s new O’Hare Airport. As well as pictures of the product in use, they also took this spontaneous and whimsical photo. See p. 46. Cover photo: 17th-Century Drawing of a Compass Rose by Blaue/Corbis Images Advertisers’ Index QUARTERLY OF THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGNERS SOCIETY OF AMERICA WINTER 2013 INN OVA TI O N 2014 IDEA c3 Innovation is the quarterly journal of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), the D ESIGN Design Beliefs professional organization serving the needs of US industrial designers. Reproduction in whole 2014 IDSA District Conferences 5 COPPER n OKALA n COMPASSION B ELIEFS WINTER 2013 or in part—in any form—without the written permission of the publisher is prohibited. The 1 Luxion opinions expressed in the bylined articles are those of the writers and not necessarily those of IDSA. IDSA reserves the right to decline any advertisement that is contrary to the mission, c4 LUNAR goals and guiding principles of the Society. The appearance of an ad does not constitute an c2 Solid Thinking endorsement by IDSA. All design and photo credits are listed as provided by the submitter. Innovation is printed on recycled paper with soy-based inks. The use of IDSA and FIDSA after a name is a registered collective membership mark. Innovation (ISSN No. 0731-2334 and USPS No. 0016-067) is published quarterly by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA)/Innovation, 555 Grove St., Suite 200, Herndon, VA 20170. Periodical post- age at Sterling, VA 20164 and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to IDSA/Innovation, 555 Grove St., Suite 200, Herndon, VA 20170, USA. ©2013 Industrial Designers Society of America. Vol. 32, No. 4, 2013; Library of Congress Catalog No. 82-640971; ISSN No. 0731-2334; USPS 0016-067. FROM THE EDITOR WILLINGLY ACCEPT CONSTRAINTS esign is often acknowledged as an independent and Eames was known to call constraints “liberating.” Yahoo free-spirited world where the mind can do amazing CEO Marissa Mayer agrees; writing for a business journal D things in a space without limits, a place where cre- recently she concluded, “Constraints shape and focus prob- atives can develop new and original ideas from nothing. The lems, and provide clear challenges to overcome as well as phrase “creative freedom” is usually thought to be music to a inspiration. Creativity loves constraints, but they must be bal- designer’s ear, and empowers the thought process, enabling anced with a healthy disregard for the impossible.” the designer to consider all possibilities in an open land- Herman Miller has developed and follows a set of 10 scape. It can be widely assumed that innovators embrace the tenets for design that it believes increases innovation. The unknown and do their best work when the limits are bound- lasting success of Herman Miller suggests that great inno- less and the potential wide open. People often think the vation comes from the tension between a well-developed greatest innovations come from a special place where a bril- set of constraints and the limitless creative mind. In fact, liant mind, or minds, working free from constraints suddenly designers not under the Herman Miller umbrella also believe achieves an aha moment and—poof—out comes a new that design constraints provided by the company improve invention. Certainly we can name many of the great design results. In 1977, Nicholas Grimshaw, an architect, discussed innovations that have resulted from this process. Or can we? the recently completed Herman Miller manufacturing facil- Did Thomas Edison work this way? Maybe Charles and ity in Bath, England. According to him, the excellence of Ray Eames? Actually, they did not. As counterintuitive as it the facility could never have been achieved without the might seem, innovation comes from a world of paradox—a poetry and constraints in the design brief provided to him by world where it is constraint that sparks the genius of the Herman Miller. The building was recognized by the Financial designer, where the pressure of limits and demands provides Times as the best industrial building of the year. Frank Lloyd a combustible combination of direction and inspiration. Take Wright, one of the world’s greatest architects, also observed for example the Eames’ classic Powers of Ten movie, which this phenomenon at work in the world: “Man built most nobly in 15 minutes describes the relative size of all things in the when limitations were at their greatest.” known universe. It demonstrates the infinite inspiration that In the last decade we have seen Samsung push its can be drawn from reviewing our universe with the lens of design and innovation to new heights. Its new design cam- increasing and decreasing powers of 10. The constraint pus in Korea is a major capital investment in the belief in (or construct) of this telescoping perspective makes this design and its relationship to innovation. The company did remarkable movie and design achievement possible. Charles not make these improvements in a vacuum. Samsung has 6 WWW.IDSA.ORG © Frederick Clifford Gibson, Architect. gibson-design.com Gibson, Architect. Clifford © Frederick “In art, truth and reality begin when one no longer understands what one is doing or what one knows, and when there remains an energy that is all the stronger for being constrained, controlled and compressed.” —Henri Matisse INNOVATION WINTER 2013 7 FROM THE EDITOR “I think frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do. One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out.” —Jeff Bezos imposed constraints on itself in the form of design criteria: assembly from single-speed bicycle parts that you can get that design and innovation should be simple and intuitive, anywhere. The Leveraged Freedom Chair met seemingly efficient and long-lasting, and adaptive and engaging. IBM impossible constraints, revolutionized the wheelchair and also innovates within a self-imposed structure of con- has greatly improved the lives of all who use it. straints used to drive design. The company considers it By imposing constraints on wheelchair design, Winter “a framework for the freedom to act.” Virgin Atlantic does was forced to rethink wheelchair technology that had basi- not have a specific design process, but it has instituted a cally gone unchallenged for over 100 years.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Transcript of Don Chadwick's Interview
    THE HENRY FORD COLLECTING INNOVATION TODAY TRANSCRIPT OF A VIDEO ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW WITH Donald Chadwick FEBRUARY 25, 2009 DON CHADWICK STUDIOS LOS ANGELES, CA ©The Henry Ford 2009 Interviewer: Barry Hurd PRODUCER: JUDITH E. ENDELMAN Donald Chadwick Interview Pg.2 BARRY HURD: 00:00:34;24 Okay, tell us where we are and what goes on here. DONALD CHADWICK: 00:00:39;05 Well, this is a relatively new space for me. It's going on four years. And we're in Brentwood, California, which is part of West L.A. And we're actually on some property that I purchased about seven years ago. And was able to develop the property. And finally own my own space. Prior to this, I had rented, like most designers I suppose, warehouse spaces to work in. And this enabled me to pretty much control everything, and not have to pay rent anymore. And make a little investment in real estate. So I'm quite proud of the place. And I really like it. And it's nice to be within walking distance of the house. I don't have to get in the car and drive anymore. So I'm a product of the times now. I try to keep the driving to a minimum, and the walking to a maximum BARRY HURD: 00:01:36;12 Does having your own space like this, help you be more creative? Does the muse appear more often here than at the old rented… Donald Chadwick Interview Pg.3 DONALD CHADWICK: 00:01:43;06 Well, you know, the process has changed over the years.
    [Show full text]
  • Herman Miller Retailer Brand Guidelines
    July 2010 HermanMiller Retailer Brand Guidelines Retailer Retailer Brand Guidelines page 1 © 2010 Herman Miller, Inc. July 2010 To navigate, click on the sections below— or the arrows at the bottom As an authorized HermanMiller retailer, you derive several benefits from our design heritage and brand recognition. It’s likely you already know this well because HermanMiller products are among the top-selling brands for many of our retailers. There are three key elements involved in building on the recognition of the HermanMiller brand: 1. The first element is how you associate your identity with your status as an authorized retailer. Examples on pages 3-4 illustrate how we want you to use the “Authorized HermanMiller® Retailer” phrase in relation to your identity. 2. The second element is the use of our logomark (stylized M in circle) and our logotype (the words HermanMiller). They should always be used in relation to one another. You’ll find more on this on pages 5-6. 3. The third element is the correct, clear, and consistent use of our trademarks. In Resources, on page 24, we provide a link to our current trademark list on hermanmiller.com. In the examples on pages 6-7, we indicate proper usage in ads that feature only HermanMiller products or several manufacturers’ products. On pages 7-8, we provide more information on trademarks in headlines and body copy. Retailer Brand Guidelines page 2 © 2010 Herman Miller, Inc. July 2010 2. Using the Authorized Retailer Phrase “Authorized HermanMiller® Retailer” phrase The first element involved in building on the recognition of the HermanMiller brand is how we want you to associate your identity with your status as an authorized retailer in all of your communications.
    [Show full text]
  • Preservation by Design: Archives and Records Services at Herman Miller, Inc
    Reprint: Business Archives Section Newsletter, 1998 Preservation by Design: Archives and Records Services at Herman Miller, Inc. By Robert W. Viol, Corporate Archivist, Herman Miller, Inc. Who is Herman Miller? Collections and Services departments. Space in the record Herman Miller Inc. is a leading Herman Miller’s corporate archival center has been designed to store multinational manufacturer of holdings have been described by requested documents and furniture, furniture systems and researchers as "awesome" - a accommodate lawyers from both furniture management services. testimonial to the corporate sides of the courtroom. Headquartered in Zeeland, officers, who have generously Michigan, Herman Miller has been provided monetary and moral Get Rid of that Backlog! It Costs a source of major innovation in the support, and to the dozens of men Us Money! residential and office and women, who have contributed Litigation research has environments. The company their effort, time and talent. The demonstrated the urgent need to emphasizes problem solving archives, now located in one of the eliminate the backlog of through design, participate company’s original buildings, uncataloged Herman Miller management, environmental documents the development of publications and non-Herman responsibility and employee stock Herman Miller product from its Miller materials containing third ownership. inception and creation to marketing party endorsements of our product. and distribution. Collections Every growing and viable archives Herman Miller, Inc. began in 1905 include publications, administrative will have a backlog of the as the Star Furniture Company, a records, photography, drawings unprocessed, however, when manufacturer of ornate and blueprints, oral histories, records or publications are reproductions of traditional-style audiovisuals, three dimensional requested as a result of a court home furniture.
    [Show full text]
  • Finding Aid for Herman Miller Collection, 1923-2006
    Finding Aid for HERMAN MILLER COLLECTION, 1923-2006 (BULK 1934-2000) Accession 89.177 Finding Aid Republished: June 2016 Benson Ford Research Center, The Henry Ford 20900 Oakwood Boulevard ∙ Dearborn, MI 48124-5029 USA [email protected] ∙ www.thehenryford.org Herman Miller Collection Accession 89.177 OVERVIEW REPOSITORY: Benson Ford Research Center The Henry Ford 20900 Oakwood Blvd Dearborn, MI 48124-5029 www.thehenryford.org [email protected] ACCESSION NUMBER: 89.177 CREATOR: Herman Miller, Inc. TITLE: Herman Miller Collection INCLUSIVE DATES: 1923-2006 BULK DATES: 1934-2000 QUANTITY: 31.8 cubic ft. (50 boxes) LANGUAGE: The materials are in English ABSTRACT: Herman Miller, Inc. is a furniture company based in Zeeland, Michigan. The collection is primarily comprised of trade catalogs, product literature, and publications documenting the furniture, its designers, and the company’s history. Page 2 of 17 Herman Miller Collection Accession 89.177 ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: The collection is open for research. TECHNICAL RESTRICTIONS: Use of original video and audio tapes, floppy disks, and compact discs contained in the collection is restricted. Access may be unavailable due to lack of appropriate software and hardware, or use copies may need to be produced unless otherwise noted. Researchers interested in this material should contact Benson Ford Research Center staff ([email protected]). COPYRIGHT: Copyright has been transferred to the Henry Ford by the donor. Copyright for some items in the collection may still be held by their respective creator(s). ACQUISITION: Donation, 1989 and ongoing. RELATED MATERIAL: Related material held by The Henry Ford: - Robert Propst Collection, Accession 2010.83 - Bill Stumpf Collection, Accession 2009.141 - Don Chadwick Oral Interview, Accession 2009.119 - Herman Miller trade catalogs.
    [Show full text]
  • Herman Miller SAYL Chair Line
    Herman Miller presents SAYL a new family of seating by celebrated designer Yves Béhar. “It’s human nature to seek life unframed,” says Yves Béhar, designer of the new Herman Miller SAYL chair line. “People want to go beyond expectations. And they want that same unframed spirit in the objects they use and how they experience them.” That conviction guided him and the team at Herman Miller as they “grew” what became the family of SAYL chairs. Arriving at SAYL was a process of research and iteration. Béhar describes it as “draw, build, break, and repeat until you arrive at something unique” That process is familiar to Béhar, founder of fuseproject, a San Francisco-based brand and product design firm. Béhar, a regular collaborator with Herman Miller, is known for tackling big challenges and pushing the boundaries of technology and design in a cost efficient way. He calls this approach attainability and human-centered design. “If a project isn’t ethical,” notes Béhar, “it can't be beautiful, and if it isn't beautiful it shouldn't be at all.” Suspension Bridge as Inspiration Béhar began the search for SAYL with this question: Can the same principles that are used to suspend a bridge over water be applied to a chair? His goal was to enable an unprecedented sense of freedom for the sitter in a design that delivers the most comfort with the least materials. At the outset, a radical decision was made to approach the design process by considering what could be taken away from the design to allow it to do more.
    [Show full text]
  • Guide to International Decorative Art Styles Displayed at Kirkland Museum
    1 Guide to International Decorative Art Styles Displayed at Kirkland Museum (by Hugh Grant, Founding Director and Curator, Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art) Kirkland Museum’s decorative art collection contains more than 15,000 objects which have been chosen to demonstrate the major design styles from the later 19th century into the 21st century. About 3,500 design works are on view at any one time and many have been loaned to other organizations. We are recognized as having one of the most important international modernist collections displayed in any North American museum. Many of the designers listed below—but not all—have works in the Kirkland Museum collection. Each design movement is certainly a confirmation of human ingenuity, imagination and a triumph of the positive aspects of the human spirit. Arts & Crafts, International 1860–c. 1918; American 1876–early 1920s Arts & Crafts can be seen as the first modernistic design style to break with Victorian and other fashionable styles of the time, beginning in the 1860s in England and specifically dating to the Red House of 1860 of William Morris (1834–1896). Arts & Crafts is a philosophy as much as a design style or movement, stemming from its application by William Morris and others who were influenced, to one degree or another, by the writings of John Ruskin and A. W. N. Pugin. In a reaction against the mass production of cheap, badly- designed, machine-made goods, and its demeaning treatment of workers, Morris and others championed hand- made craftsmanship with quality materials done in supportive communes—which were seen as a revival of the medieval guilds and a return to artisan workshops.
    [Show full text]
  • Yale SOM Case 14-020 Herman Miller
    yale case 14-020 december 15, 2014 (rev. february 10, 2016) Herman Miller Preserving and Leveraging Culture in a Strategic Shift Charles Euchner1 “Inspiring designs to help people do great things” Herman Miller mission statement Approaching his tenth anniversary as CEO of Herman Miller (NASDAQ: MLHR), Brian Walker found himself in a pensive frame of mind, reflecting on what had been accomplished during his tenure and on the future challenges ahead. It was the end of 2014, two and a half years since Walker had announced a major strategic initiative that he called “Shift.” The strategy would take the furniture company far from its roots in rural West Michigan, expand its product line, and develop more direct connections to consumers. Walker knew he was steward to a storied company with a distinctive place in corporate history. Through its emphasis on design, Herman Miller had been in the vanguard of the modernist movement in furniture and had become a leader in providing cutting-edge office fixtures. The company also set audacious goals to protect the environment and established a major institute on facility management. Through it all, the company culture honored the evangelical Christian values of West Michigan—in particular, the Reformed Protestant tradition embraced by its first CEOs from the De Pree family—to create a human resource system that celebrated the whole worker. Still, the furniture industry was subject to the ups and downs of economic cycles. Herman Miller had been hit hard by the recession that began in 2008, requiring layoffs and cutbacks in training that challenged the firm’s values-based, covenantal culture.
    [Show full text]
  • The Designers of Herman Miller
    the designers of herman miller book design proposal It is clear through a careful examination of the Herman Miller The design of this book seeks to utilize the same philosophies Company’s history and body of work, the astute attention that and ideologies that the designers of Herman Miller ap- is paid to detail in everything that they design. The unique fo- proached their work with. To reflect the simplicity, modernism cus on both function and form is what initially set the Herman and attention to detail that they exhibit in their work in the de- Miller Company apart form other furniture manufacturers. Un- sign and handling of the book. The book should pay homage der the direction of George Nelson, brilliant designers— to the work and careers of the famous Herman Miller designers Charles and Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi, Alexander Girard and and reflect their personalities and approach to the problem of others, were able to bring modernism to the forefront of the creating something both functional and visually appealing. design world while creating beautiful and lasting pieces of fur- The book will utilize ample white space and simple, consis- niture. As Nelson said in during his final project, “the aim of the tent layouts, letting the furniture and the rich history of the Her- design process is always to produce an object that does some- man Miller Company become the focus of the piece. The de- thing. In problem solving, the limitations are far more impor- sign should reflect the openness of the Herman Miller tant than the freedoms… The only creative freedom that is designers.
    [Show full text]
  • “It Ain't Braggin' If You've Done It.”
    “It ain’t braggin’ if you’ve done it.” A Message from Brian Walker, CEO Fiscal Year 2006 L “It ain’t braggin’ if you’ve done it.” L Dear members of the Herman Miller community, Hall of Fame St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Dizzy Dean was a real character. He’s remembered for many brash claims, one of which we’ve paraphrased on the front of this year’s annual report. It may seem a little pushy, but for me, it is an honest reaction to a great year at Herman Miller. Where do I begin to talk about last year? It was full of achievement—and the results of hard work on many people’s parts last year and in previous years. Since I really like saying thank you, I’ll enjoy the next few pages of this letter. I’m addressing “the Herman Miller community,” a group that includes employees, shareholders, customers, designers, salespeople, suppliers, dealers, contractors, and retailers. I’m thanking all of you. Of course the future is full of things we haven’t done yet—we won’t be braggin’ about them, but I will spend some time talking about our plans. Last year we talked to you about our strategy. We’re sticking to it. The bulk of our business lies in creating great places to work. This continues to Y We launched My Studio Environments, designed by Doug Ball for knowledge workers who need both concentration and connection. My be a core strength and extremely important to our future. Add long-standing and Studio took “Best of Competition” and a Gold Award in the Systems category at NeoCon in June 2006.
    [Show full text]
  • Ergon 3 Work Chair Bill Stumpf, 1976, Updated 1988, 1995
    Y INTRODUCTION Art & SciENCE OF SEATING CHAIRS MAtriX Z Work Chairs Designed for YouTM hermanmiller.com/seating Y INTRODUCTION Art & SciENCE OF SEATING CHAIRS MAtriX How do you sit? That’s a question you’re unlikely to ask; it’s one we never stop asking. We’ve been studying how people sit for more than 60 years. We turn that research-based knowledge into the best work chairs in the world. hermanmiller.com/seating Y INTRODUCTION Art & SciENCE OF SEATING CHAIRS MAtriX Advancing the Art and Science of Seating The search for the next advance, while incorporating innovations that have come before, has marked the Herman Miller problem-solving, person-centered approach to chair design for over 60 years. hermanmiller.com/seating Y INTRODUCTION Art & SciENCE OF SEATING CHAIRS MAtriX Advancing the Art and Science of Seating Eames Molded Plywood Chair Charles and Ray Eames, 1946 Charles and Ray Eames began experimenting with molding plywood in 1941 as part of their search for new ways to create three-dimensional forms. By inventing a new method for molding plywood, they found a creative use for a common material that allowed them to shape a chair to the contours of the body. It also set a precedent for always putting the person at the center of the design process. hermanmiller.com/seating Y INTRODUCTION Art & SciENCE OF SEATING CHAIRS MAtriX Advancing the Art and Science of Seating Ergon 3 Work Chair Bill Stumpf, 1976, updated 1988, 1995 In 1965, designer Bill Stumpf began researching how people sit at work. Increasing use of office equipment by the growing number of white collar workers fostered a tendency to sit longer, which caused back and neck pain.
    [Show full text]
  • Herman Miller Thrive Portfolio Catalog
    Our design is based on your design. You’re unique. You’re human. And from your brain to your body and even the way you like to work, you’re constantly evolving. That’s why we designed our Thrive portfolio to adapt to you, letting you move and work the way your body was meant to. Whoever you are and however you work, we’re here to help you thrive. What Does It Mean to Thrive? The answer’s different for all of us. Thrive lets you choose the right mix of tools to support all the things you do, like thinking, creating, and collaborating. From your ergonomic chair to your table, technology supports, lighting, and work tools, the whole portfolio is designed to respond to your changing needs throughout the day. When you put it all together, work can be a healthier, more fulfilling part of life. When it all comes together, everyone can thrive. Introduction 3 Each year back pain costs companies an estimated $7,400,000,000 47% 3X Good for You. Good for Business, Too. Office workers spend 47% of their time At age 60, our eyes need 3 times When you give your body the doing computer related work. as much light to see as they did at 20. support it needs to thrive, a funny thing happens. It can help your business thrive, too. Research shows 91% 8/10 that incorporating ergonomics and Computer vision syndrome affects 8 out of 10 workers experience taking a proactive approach, can almost 66 million people. 91% of all back pain at some point.
    [Show full text]
  • HM an Introduction Booklet
    Inspiring designs to help people do great things CONTENTS Our Story Heritage 4 Things That Matter To Us 8 Our Business Today 10 A Global Approach 12 Design Approach Design Tenets 16 Designers 18 A Human Touch 20 Materials 22 Operational Excellence Herman Miller Performance System 26 Testing & Warranty 28 Cradle-to-Cradle 28 Environmental Responsibility 30 People-Centered Approach Sit-Stand-Move-Repeat 34 Living Office 36 Products Performance Seating 40 Systems Furniture 42 Storage 44 Collaborative 46 Herman Miller Collection 48 Subsidiaries and Alliance Partners 50 Our Customers Our Route to Market 54 From left to right: Robert Propst, Alexander Girard, George Nelson, D.J De Pree, Ray Eames and Charles Eames. OUR STORY Herman Miller is a 100-year- old-plus company that places great importance on design, the environment, community service and the health and well-being of our customers and our employees. We work with leading designers to create products that help companies perform better. 1 2 3 1. Poster designed by Don Ervin, 1961 2. Herman Miller Design Director George Nelson 3. Front cover of 1948 Herman Miller Collection catalogue Heritage Herman Miller began as the Star Furniture Company in Zeeland, Michigan in 1905. 4 In 1923 employed clerk D.J. De Pree convinced his father-in-law whose name was Herman Miller, to purchase the majority of the shares in the company. De Pree decided to name the company after his father-in-law–and Herman Miller was born as a company. Initially only replica traditional wooden furniture was produced but from 1924, following the appointment of the designer Gilbert Rohde, a line of original modern furniture was introduced.
    [Show full text]