Herman Miller - An Eye For Great Design

Founded in 1923 in Zeeland, Michigan, Herman Miller, Inc. started out by manufacturing reproductions of historic furniture for the home. It wasn’t until the early 1930s that, under the influence of Gilbert Rohde modernist, wooden designs were introduced and, for the first time, office furniture was added to their range of products.

Following Rohde’s death in 1944 a new design consultant was needed and George Nelson was approached. Nelson was an enthusiast of all things modern and an obvious choice. He brought many new concepts and materials into the manufacturing process and during his time worked along with, amongst others, Ray and Charles Eames (of Eames Chair fame), Alexander Girard and Robert Propst.

Nelson remained with the company until 1970 and it may be argued that this was Herman Miller’s most successful period, in terms of design, public admiration and, of course financial success.

In the mid-1960s, the company’s focus shifted more toward office furniture and they discontinued much of their home furniture design and production. The 1980s saw the reintroduction of home furniture to the Herman Miller range and, nowadays, this accounts for around forty percent of their production (the remaining sixty percent being, of course, office furniture).

For many years now, whilst one eye has been kept firmly on good design, Herman Miller have had their other eye on the use of environmentally friendly materials. Their modern office furniture designs use a very high percentage of recyclable materials and some models boast the use of some recycled materials.

Each piece of furniture leaving their factory has a much longer than average life expectancy and, at the end of its long life, can be easily broken down and the vast majority of the components recycled.

Further details about the company may be obtained by visiting hermanmiller.com.