I love good chairs, I love posters and I love typography, so I’m pretty excited about this upcoming Melbourne exhibition.
Herman Miller has shaped the world of modernย furniture design as we know it. But the companyโs influence is notย limited to product design and manufacturing โ equally acclaimedย are the now iconic art and illustration posters which were used toย promote Herman Millerโs highly sought-after furniture through muchย of the last century.ย The idea of the exhibition Then x Ten is to celebrate the power of theย poster and in so doing continue Herman Millerโs distinct associationย with design history.
Ten of the worldโs leading image-makers of today, includingย Craig Redman and Jonathan Zawada fr om Australia, have beenย commissioned to create a unique piece of artwork referencingย the brand. Together with a special collectionย of posters from the past, curated by Steve Frykholm, Hermanย Millerโs creative director of 42 years, they will hang at Australiaโsย premier contemporary gallery, fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourneย from 14 to 25 August 2012.
โHerman Miller is one of the few brands in the world, and certainlyย unique within the furniture industry, to have an artistic expression,โย says Samantha Giam, Head of Marketing and Product, Asia Pacific.ย โOur particular affinity to graphic design stems back to ourย collaboration with great talents such as Don Ervin and Armin Hoffmanย and continues to the present day with Steve Frykholm. Posters andย collateral designed to champion Herman Millerโs products over theย years have taken on a life of their own โ becoming collectorsโ itemsย sought after by individuals and museums across the world.โ
Then x Ten echoes elements of Herman Millerโs past and brings themย into the present day. Inviting a new generation of image-makersย to participate is a way of continuing the companyโs history of artย collaboration and visually capturing the essence of the brand inย modern times.
โWe hope this will help ignite new thinking in the industry on howย people connect with brands through various art forms and media. My personal favourite is Swiss designer Armin Hoffman. His work in the 50sย has a timeless appeal and not unlike the designs of Nelson and Eamesย will continue to charm generations of the future,โ continued Giam.