Ever wonder to what lengths Herman Miller goes to ensure that you get a quality product worthy of their 12 year warranty?  Yves Bèhar designed the SAYL to use the least amount of material possible, so you can imagine he probably was a little nervous when the guys in this video at the Herman Miller test lab dropped a 300 pound sack on his design.

http://www.hermanmiller.com/discover/dropping-300-pounds-on-design/

Obviously, his design survived and became the SAYL chair, available today from Herman Miller.  The test lab is known, among designers as “the place where designs go to die.”  You can imagine that it takes a pretty robust design to pass these tests and become a Herman Miller product.

Architect Kevin Roche

Ray and Charles Eames created some incredible things in their lifetime of working together.  The Herman Miller Eames lounge is an icon of design and the Eames Plywood Lounge Chair was a design and technology breakthrough when it was released in the 1940’s.  However, not all of their ideas were on par with the Eames Lounge or the “Powers of Ten” movie.

A recent episode of PBS’ American Masters highlighted the lives of the Eameses.  It is a truly interesting view for anyone interested in design and the creative mind.  You can watch the entire episode here:

http://video.pbs.org/video/2178281391

The feature presents a candid look at the Eameses’ lives and reveals not only their successes but also some of their tribulations and how they could frustrate people at times.

Architect Kevin Roche related a story about a dinner he had one night at the Eames’ Case Study House No. 8 and how he was not impressed by their invention of the “Visual Dessert.”  You can see Roche tell the story in his own words if you skip to 33:41 in the video but his account went something like this:

“I had dinner at Ray and Charles’ house one night…it came to dessert.  So…what they had arranged for dessert was three bowls of flowers that they put in front of you to admire, so it was a visual dessert.”

Roche pauses for a second then tells us how he really felt about this idea.

“I was really ****** off!  I can tell you. (laughs) Because I hadn’t eaten much, I was saving up for dessert.  So I was looking at these stupid flowers and saying, ‘What the hell is wrong with these people?’ So then I got in my car and drove to the nearest Dairy Queen!”

This post on the Contract Commercial Design Blog talks about the impact that design has on a learning environment.

The program took Higher Education classrooms and transformed them into Learning Studios with designed elements believed by Herman Miller to be essential for powerful learning. Participating campuses were given the opportunity to experience the new learning space design concept, while research was simultaneously conducted to measure the impact of the classroom design on students and faculty.   An analysis of the responses generated by this experiment are available on the Contract Blog here:

http://www.contractdesign.com/contract/Herman-Miller-Resear-6435.shtml

Casey Nick, Business Development Manager at Samuels Group | Environments, was recently elected to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northcentral WI Board of Directors and will currently hold a 1 year term. In this role, Casey will assist with establishing policy within the guidelines of the national organization, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and play an active role in the primary decision making for this agency.

“Becoming a Board Member with Big Brothers Big Sisters provides me with yet another way to support my community, and to be an advocate for the positive growth of Wausau’s youth.  I wanted to join the BBBS Board of Directors to be a voice within our community and beyond for the incredible programs this organization has to offer and to educate others on how to get involved any way that they are able to,” says Nick.

Casey also recently accepted the position of Committee Chair for the 2012 Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl for Kids’ Sake.  This year’s theme is The Big Luau.  This event provides 1/3 of all funding needed annually by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northcentral Wisconsin. “It’s doing something fun that makes a difference in the lives of kids,” says Nick.  This year’s event will be held at Dale’s Weston Lanes on January 12, 13, & 14.  If you would like to take part in the event please contact Big Brothers Big Sisters at www.bbbsncw.org.  You can donate to the cause as well by visiting Casey’s fundraising page at www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/casey-nick-1/big-luau-bowl-for-kids-sake-2012.

Samuels Group | Environments, an interior commercial furnishings provider headquartered in Wausau, Wisconsin, is among a select group of Herman Miller Government dealers who have been awarded for their outstanding sales performance for the most recent fiscal year.  The Government Dealer Recognition Program measures progress in dollar volume, market share, and percent to sales goal and Samuels Group | Environments was recognized for Percent to Goal Leadership and Market Share Leadership.

This article appearing on FoxNews.com mentions that our Herman Miller Aeron was THE innovative chair that started a revolution in office chair design.

http://fxn.ws/umjh2f

As I sit writing this from my Aeron, it’s pretty easy to realize how innovative and revolutionary the chair is, but it’s nice to see it confirmed by someone who isn’t as partial to the Aeron as we are.

This link from the article gives a nice little history about the testing of the Aeron and the perceptions that Herman Miller had to overcome in introducing this revolutionary chair.

http://bit.ly/v0nSFR

Samuels Group | Environments was presented with the Herman Miller Dealer Performance Award for 2010. This award recognizes dealers for meeting or exceeding their performance goals established by Herman Miller each fiscal year. The Environments team exceeded their goal by 125% for the first time since The Samuels Group purchased the dealership back in 2008. Way to go Environments team!

Casey Nick, Business Development, Samuels Group | Environments has been named a finalist for the 3rd annual ATHENA Young Professional Award. The ATHENA Young professional award recognizes emerging leaders who demonstrate excellence, creativity and initiative in their profession, provides a valuable service to improve the quality of life for others in the community and clearly serves as a role model for young women both personally and professionally.

Casey’s is involved in many endeavors and organizations which make her a perfect candidate to receive the ATHENA Young Professional Award. These include serving on the Big Brother’s Big Sisters Steering Committee which plans, the annual Bowl for Kid’s Sake fund raiser. Casey was also recently nominated to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Central WI Board of Directors. Casey also volunteers at St. Clare’s Hospital in Weston and along with her husband Jim, helped start up the American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, WI where she also volunteers her time working on the P5 Pediatric Care Unit.

The ATHENA award ceremony will be held at Stoney Creek Inn & Conference Center in Rothschild, WI at 11:30am on Wednesday, November 9th, 2011.

A figure from the storied design history of Herman Miller was recently honored with a stamp from the US Postal Service.

The Forever stamp features a clock designed by Gilbert Rohde in 1933. Rohde was Herman Miller’s design director from 1932 until his death in 1944. Rohde was a life-long New Yorker and was educated at some of New York’s most prestigious schools including Stuyvesant High School, and the Grand Central School of Art. The tables and chairs he would later design for Herman Miller were the precursors to the forms that would define mid-century modernism. Rohde was a pioneer in the usage of modern industrial materials like plexiglass, Lucite and Bakelite. Rohde’s Executive Office Group line, launched in 1942 featured 137 elements which could be configured according to individual work requirements. This approach to office furniture is the standard now used for nearly all commercial office furniture.

More information about Rohde and the stamp is available here:

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2011/08/us_postal_service_honors_herma.html

Herman Miller founder DJ De Pree recounts the millwright story, this story relates how Herman Miller’s philosophy towards their employees evolved making Herman Miller one of the best places to work.

http://youtu.be/hRE06pKHMrY