If you follow modern design, you already know that Herman Miller is one of the coolest and best places to get sanctioned reproductions of design icons like Eames' molded plastic chairs. But did you know they have been doing it for over thirty years? Miller's super cool blog, Lifework, recently shared some of the advertisements the company has used over the decades. I love that they mirror the clean lines and bold shapes of their products; advertising is always at its best when the ad encapsulates the style and ethos of the products in its layout.
Check out more of the ads here.
If you are familiar with the O.I. you know that I have a few regular features (see the list in the top right column) that have fallen slightly by the wayside. My favorite, and apparently one of yours, was the 'In the Classroom' column where, as an art history graduate student, I wrote about what we were reading in class that week. Well last week I finished my last class of graduate school (hooray!!!!), but I still have three to four more years of studying for oral examinations and writing my dissertation. So I am going to revive 'In the Classroom' by talking about these new things I am studying, including giving you previews of artists I am writing about in my dissertation.
Are you still with me? Fabulous! To connect the dots, let me tell you that my dissertation will be on the intersection between art and advertising! So while I am going to bring back 'In the Classroom' I am also going to start a new column, with today as my first post, entitled 'Full Page Spread'. It will be about other great advertisements (new and vintage) that I stumble upon and want to share. Hope you like it!
They've been doing it for more than 30 years! And largely these aren't reproductions. Herman Miller was the manufacturer who commissioned many of the most famous mid-century designers to create their iconic work. Here is an example by Gilbert Rohde in 1933:
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