Herman Miller Looks to Its History With Helvetica in Modernist Rebrand
A stark shift from the previous “Meta” wordmark.
Furniture design imprint Herman Miller has whipped up a new wordmark. The contemporary rebrand, led by Brooklyn-based design agency, Order, comes after the furniture pioneer’s 100th anniversary and pays tribute to its history with the Helvetica font.
Inspired by Herman Miller’s experimentation with modernist design throughout the 1960s, Order wanted to tap into the brand’s authentic ethos in the updated wordmark. The design agency elected to revive the Helvetica through Söhne typography for the rebrand, also implementing a handful of bright, archival colorways among other “emotional” elements.
“Herman Miller had gone through experimental phases in the company’s infancy and into its early years, but around the late 1960s is where you see their most iconic pieces truly become solidified into the modernist canon,” explained Jesse Reed, partner at Order.
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Though Herman Miller’s infamous “M” insignia has remained nearly untouched, deemed “off-limits.” Reed notes that the brand identifier has, however, been “set free into the more dialed-up aspects of our new visual language.”
“The last brand identity served Herman Miller well for 25 years, but that system predated many of the touchpoints we now have with the Herman Miller customer,” Kelsey Keith, Herman Miller’s creative director, told It’s Nice That. “What we needed was an evolution of the brand, and a complete design system, one that could flex from a mobile phone screen to a physical space and everywhere in between, in all regions of the world.”
“I can think of no way better to jumpstart the next century, with a brand identity system that is timeless in its design yet carries through the boldness, rigor, joy and tactility innate to the Herman Miller brand,” notes Keith.
“Keep an eye out for our refreshed look as we roll it out this year,” Herman Miller wrote in an Instagram caption. Stay tuned to Hypebeast for more design news.
