Herman Miller Digs Into the Vault to Relaunch Five Archival Poster Designs
The designs — which span from the ’60s to the ’80s — provide a colorful peek into Herman Miller’s graphical history.
Herman Miller is kicking off its 2024 poster release slate with a bang by presenting a quintet of classic designs from its deep graphical archives. Where 2023’s slate of poster releases consisted of well-known graphics like Alexander Girard‘s famed Environmental Enrichment Panels and the well-known Watermelon Picnic Poster from 1971, this offering supplies “deep cuts,” tapping into everything from ’60s brochure covers to informative graphics created for Herman Miller showrooms in the ’80s.
Leading things off chronologically are purple, green and blue iterations of designer Tomoko Miho’s brochure cover posters. From 1960 to 1962, Miho, who worked in George Nelson’s office at the time, designed the covers for Herman Miller’s price lists and brochures. You can see Herman Miller’s logo among the geometric lines, still clearly visible but taking a backseat to the bold colors that make it up. Next is the Ideas poster, created by Linda Powell in 1978. Originally the cover for an issue of Ideas Magazine — a quarterly Herman Miller publication that spotlighted users of the brand’s office products — the design was a nod to the issue’s feature article, which explored the shifting tides of business in the late ’70s, a time period of significant business headwinds that birthed the term “stagflation.”
John Massey’s Action Office 2 Poster from 1978 is a tribute to the designer who helped Herman Miller establish a large part of its strong corporate identity with his sharp yet playful design style, spotlighted by his posters’ swooping curves, sharp geometric lines and bright colors. Barbara Loveland’s Wilkes Modular Sofa Group Poster was created in 1981 as part of an internal Herman Miller project called “The Big Book,” a series of 44 posters that hung in the brand’s showrooms to showcase the company’s extensive offerings. Last but not least, Steve Frykholm’s 1981 Chadwick Modular Seating Poster showcases the versatility, imagination and creativity of the customizable seating system it promoted with a winding black-and-white design. It’s also worth noting that it’s a fitting time for the poster’s return, as the Chadwick system is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024.
“Design is the thread that connects everything we do at Herman Miller – from the product itself to the very tools we use to promote it,” said Amy Auscherman, Herman Miller’s director of archives and brand heritage. “While we are primarily known for our legacy of iconic furniture design, these posters celebrate another equally important and defining aspect of our design history. The talented graphic designers highlighted in this collection have each played a unique role in shaping Herman Miller’s visual identity throughout the years … [and] we are especially excited about the women designers who are spotlighted in this collection. Tomoko Miho, Barbara Loveland and Linda Powell each brought a unique perspective to their work for Herman Miller – from eye-catching promotional materials to the cover of our magazine – and their contributions to Herman Miller’s graphic identity cannot be overstated.”
The Ideas, Action Office 2, Wilkes Modular Sofa Group and Chadwick Modular Seating posters are available now via the Herman Miller webstore, either unframed or with black, white or natural finish on an American maple frame. Prices start at $245 USD. The Tomoko Miho-designed posters will release later this year
