Herman Miller “Then x Ten” Exhibition & Design Competition.

You guys know that I’m a massive design junky/ nerd/ tragic/ etc. Yes? I’m sad. Really sad. It is so easy to get me excited about amazing design initiatives, and this one is no exception. Herman Miller recently announced a brand new exhibition which celebrates the power of the poster. Titled ‘Then x Ten’, the exhibition will feature the world’s leading artists, illustrators and image makers of the highest pedigree. In other words – so hot right now.

And here’s the awesome part – they are also giving YOU the chance to be a part of the exhibition, which opens in Melbourne on August 14. Crazy exciting, or what?

Every interior designer and architect under the sun would be aware of Herman Miller‘s strong presence throughout design history. Many of their widely recognised furniture pieces were created by the masters of the 20th and 21st century. In fact, the vast majority of architects and designers I know (and I know quite a few) own at least one original Eames!

Apart from the furniture, Herman Miller are also known for their iconic graphics. Vintage Herman Miller posters are sought after and held in design museums around the world. The ‘Then‘ component of this exhibition will celebrate the company’s impressive heritage by bringing together a special series of iconic posters from their archives, hand picked and curated by their Creative Director of 42 years (!!), Steve Frykholm. These posters will hang alongside ‘Ten’ new posters designed by Craig Redman & Karl Maier (see my interview with this talented duo here), Emily Forgot (UK), Keiichi Tanaami (Japan), Eda Akaltun (Turkey), Genevieve Gauckler (France), Kam Tang (China), Sanghon Kim (Korea), Mrzyk and Moriceau (France), Felix Pfäffli (Switzerland) and Jonathan Zawada (Australia).

“By bringing together these posters from the past and present we’re celebrating not only the power of the poster but the very essence of what Herman Miller has always been about, collaborating with the very best creative minds to strive to create work that represents us as a design led company. We’re proud of our design history and hope our new collaboration ignites further discussion, continuing our long-term design dialogue.”

So… How do you enter the competition?

Well… I’m so glad you asked the question! Here is how:

1. Design a contemporary version of a Herman Miller poster, featuring the iconic SAYL Chair.
2. Submit your design here. (*terms & conditions.)

The top 10 posters will be chosen by Steve Frykholm, and these will then be judged by the Facebook fans. The winner will have their poster printed and framed to appear alongside the other work in the ‘Then x Ten’ exhibition. They will also receive a print for themselves and be invited to the exhibition nearest their hometown. Super duper cool!

The exhibition opens in Melbourne at gallery fortyfivedownstairs and will run from August 14 – 25th, before touring throughout the Asia Pacific region.

Meet The Designers.

Below are some thoughts by a few of the designers of ‘Ten’ posters about their approach and early ideas. Who knows, this might just help to get your creative juices flowing so that you may produce the winning entry. Good luck!

Eda Akaltun. Image courtesy of DGCV.

Eda Akaltun // “I am working with the Eames plywood chair and was greatly inspired by its creators and their famous house. I really liked that Ray and Charles Eames were playful in their design approach and created pieces that were meant to work in any environment, whether at home, at the office, in schools… I am illustrating 4 rooms depicting different contexts for the chairs, with Charles and Ray as characters interacting with the space and the surroundings. The image is playful just as they were.”

Jonathan Zewada. Image courtesy of Never Now.

Jonathan Zawada // “I’m hoping to capture the jubilance, lightness and simplicity of both concept and execution that I feel like is often manifest in Herman Miller, in particular in the chair I am working with, George Nelson’s Coconut Chair. There is a simultaneous humour and beauty there that is really at the core of everything I enjoy about design and I hope I can do that justice.”

Emily Forgot. Photo by Philip White, courtesy of Flickr.

Emily Forgot. // “I’m developing a typographic route at the moment, it’s something I really enjoy doing and get a lot of satisfaction from, as it uses my graphic design sensibilities as well as my illustration eye.”

Genevieve Gauckler. Image courtesy of Way of Women.

Genevieve Gauckler // “First I prefer to choose quite a recent piece of design, the Setu chair that I would qualify some kind of ”organic technology”.  I made some “serious” drafts, because I was impressed. After a few days, I realised the danger with being serious is to become boring. So I’ve incorporated one of my characters to interact with the actual chair. I’ve been very focused on the drawing, spending a lot of time with the shapes, curves. I’m super proud of the final result.”

Meet Steve Frykholm.

Steve Frykholm is Herman Miller’s Creative Director and the curator of ‘Then x Ten’ exhibition. During his 40 odd years with Herman Miller, Steve produced hugely successful graphic campaigns which are now housed in MoMA’s permanent collection. That is really serious stuff people! Steve’s latest project has been to scour HM’s graphic archives and select a collection of posters that stand out in the company’s history. With so many amazing posters, I would imagine this was not an easy task. The selected posters will feature Steve’s retrospective collection – the ‘Then’ component of the exhibition. Below is a little Q&A with Steve on how he went about selecting the pieces.

Steve Frykholm. Photo by Jim Powell, courtesy of the AIGA website.

It must have been quite a task whittling down the selection of posters from Herman Miller’s vast archives. What criteria did you use for those selected?

I wouldn’t say we have a vast collection in our archives pre-1970, but we do have several. There are many ads from the mid 40’s through to the 60’s that perhaps should have been posters too. I am in the process of enlarging some of them as poster size. The archives have more from the 70’s to the present, and I have many posters in my personal archives. My criteria for selecting which ones will be included in the exhibition are subjective. I just like them. It’s like Irving Harper answered when asked why he made our logo red when he designed it in 1946. “I like red.” I’m also selecting some because of their iconic quality and/or product represented and the importance to Herman Miller’s legacy and heritage.

Can you share with us a favourite piece that will be included?

One of my very favorites was designed by Swiss graphic designer Armin Hoffman in the early 60s. Vitra (a Herman Miller licensee at the time) commissioned the poster for the opening of a new showroom. It’s very rare, and I wish I had one in my personal collection. The one in the exhibition will be a very faithful reproduction of the original because I have not been able to locate an original. Of course I will be sending a copy to Armin, now 92, to put his eyes on it and give us final permission to reproduce a copy for the exhibition.

Yellowtrace Promotion brought to you by Herman Miller.

[Images courtesy of Herman Miller, unless otherwise noted. Q&A with designers and Steve Frykholm courtesy of Herman Miller Blog.]