#design artifacts

Herman Miller  A Way of Living

Edited by Amy Auscherman, Sam Grawe, & Leon Ransmeier

Phaidon, London 2019,  614 pages, 2000 illustrations ISBN: 9780714875217

euro 79,95

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A chronicle of the rich history of this innovative furniture company, from its founding in the early twentieth century to today

For more than 100 years, Michigan-based Herman Miller has played a central role in the evolution of modern and contemporary design, producing timeless classics while creating a culture that has had a remarkable impact on the development of the design world. Ten chapters and thousands of illustrations tell the Herman Miller story as never before, documenting its defining moments and key leaders – making Herman Miller: A Way of Living an indispensable addition to the bookshelves of design-lovers around the globe.

The book, which features thousands of images, coincides with an exhibition (opening 19 May) that will take place at Herman Miller’s flagship store in NYC through the summer.

“I’m here in New York installing, what I think is, one of the biggest exhibitions of materials from Herman Miller’s that’s been mounted—at least since the Walker Art Center show in the ’70s,” Auscherman tells us. “We pulled hundreds of items from our own archive—a lot of graphic design posters, ephemera, catalogs and artifacts that are all being installed. It’s kind of like the book in real-life in a way.”

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Many brilliant ideas have been born on the backs of humble napkins. Similarly, countless white boards, sticky notes, and wireframe templates have documented game-changing insights and inspiration. Every idea isn’t always applicable to today’s project, but it may be useful in the future. You can’t turn your conference rooms into a museum. So, how do you capture, organize, and archive all of your brilliant ideas?

Here are some simple tips from 8 Shapes’ Nathan Curtis:

Gather all your sketches and label each one with a title. If you’re working with a ton of sketches, it helps to add the author’s name. (e.g. Home Page -Jones-1, Home-Page-Jones-2, etc.)

Give each label a unique color. This way, you can quickly riffle through a pile of sketches and identify all the sketches for a particular page state.

Digitize your work. Take pictures of all your sketches, including the ones on stickies and whiteboards. Then group the digital files in folders by author or by project phase.

Use detailed labels for each image. For example, “Bob - desktop width variations.jpg.” A few weeks down the road, you may not remember what, “desktop-1” meant.

Last, but not least, don’t be a hoarder. Once your project has ended, discard the files. Unless, of course, you’ve got a genius idea in there.

This is one of my favorite pens to use on a daily basis. It is small when it sits in my bag or pocket, then expands to a perfect size when I need to write or draw. The ink cartridge produces a smooth and reliable line.

My Chair.

10 Gaps:

1. A bike light that can't be stolen.

2. A better compost bin.

3. Bike basket that doesn't change bike handling.

4. Riding jacket that packs down really small but can't keep you dry in a sudden rain storm.

5. Collapsible drying rack that is sturdy by can be hidden in tight spaces.

6. Drying rack that doesn't take up counter space.

7. Mobile phone holder in car.

8. Door mat that cleans and captures dirt from shoes.

9. Shower organizer for small spaces.