The Furniture Company That Changed The World (part 1)
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- Опубліковано 8 бер 2022
- Herman Miller is more than just a furniture company. This award-winning and globally recognized leader in design has helped shape modern interiors. Join us as we uncover the story of how they got to where they are today.
Part 2: Why Is Herman Miller So Expensive?
• Why Is The Eames Loung...
Part 3: Why The Aeron Chair Is So Popular
• Why The Aeron Chair Is...
Apple's New Business Model: • Apple's New Business M...
The Difference Between Patagonia and North Face: • The Difference Between...
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For further reading, check out the sources for this video here:
docs.google.com/document/d/e/...
Script: Holly Maley
Editor: Kirsten Stanley
Animator: Zachary Kastrukoff
Project Manager: Lurana McClure Rodríguez
Host: Levi Hildebrand
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We're getting a lot of messages asking to cover the Aeron chair and yes! We will be covering the infamous chair in episode three! Make sure you're subscribed, and thanks for being here!
Future Proof: You need to link Part 2 & Part 3 in the description of this video for Herman Miller.
that certefication 11:10 is for the Cosm chair, just sayin'
I love Future Proof, I work for Herman Miller, this is an awesome video!
Thanks for the support, we're glad you enjoyed this one!
Love to see these types of connections. Is Herman Miller hiring at all? I would love to work for a more forward thinking company that actually is looking into new ways to be as sustainable as possible.
@@MineCheese Quick question, and if you don't want to answer this then that's obviously fine but what type of job do you have at Herman Miller? Honestly just interested
@@davdgs Hey David, I work in Product Management!
HM and IKEA would be a dream company for me to work at. I dont hate what i do rn, but i want to get out of the infracore industry and step into more retail design
Herman Miller is one of those things that I know is interesting and I'm really curious about, but never bothered to enter the rabbit hole.
Thanks for researching it for me. 😂
That's what we're here for, glad you enjoyed this one!!!
As an intensive desk user (12h per day) I got myself an Aeron chair. They warranty their chair for 12 years in continuous shifts at max capacity. This is just insane. I've sat on 25 year old Aerons and they're hardly different from new ones. It's just insane. Yes they're expensive, but I'm sure I'll have this one until I'm dead.
Only 12hrs? I sleep on my workspace.
I remember needing a chair for my home desk and looking up whatever my university had. The shock of realizing I saw tens of thousands of dollars worth of Herman Miller chairs was such a shock.
Years later I still can’t find something that beats Herman Miller in looks and comfort. Having test driven so many of their chairs I’ve been spoiled lol every chair I consider buying I’m struck with “but is it as good as the Herman Miller ones at school?”
Universities and offices that bulk buy Herman Miller chairs are a blessing for the second hand / refurbished market.
@@armadillito bought a Herman miller Mirra chair for $30 at a University surplus warehouse. Best deal I’ve ever gotten.
@@Ciscoviana 30 bucks?! Holly
humanscale
I am a huge Eames and Nelson fan. But Herman Miller has ridiculously high prices and their pricing is the exact opposite of what mid-century designers were hoping to accomplish - create affordable furniture for post-war families looking to furnish their first home.
nowadays if you dont want third world labour in the products, that´s sadly what you have to ask for
It’s funny, i knew a fair amount amount mid century furniture design, loved Eames, Noguchi, and such, but didn’t realize until last year when I took furniture design for my woodworking program, that Herman Miller manufactured most of my favorite and all the now-famous designs, in addition to all the chairs and desks and cabinets in the offices at my workplace
It's crazy, they're such a titan in the design world! And yes, especially in workplace/office settings 👀 Glad to hear you appreciate them just as much as we do!
We had Herman Miller Aeron chairs in the office. I never cared about them back then.
Once the pandemic hit and i had to work from home for 8 hrs on shitty generic office chair, i have come to appreciate it.
I never felt back pain on them during long working hours.
I’ve been hesitant to buy a Herman Miller solely because it’s so pricey, but this video has been a good sales pitch.
Why give money to a soulless company that makes junk (that I might have to replace in 2 years) when I can give it to a company with good intentions and policies and whose products are made to last?
I would just caution you not to get carried away with the environmental consumer responsibility narrative, but the principle of buying a few good things that last for years stands up. It's also a healthier lifestyle choice for many, so long as you can find the capital for the initial costs.
That's basically what got me to invest in a big-boy ergo chair for my home office. I realized I was replacing $200-300 chairs from office supply stores every 2-3 years, so why not spend that money on a better chair that comes with a 12 year warranty and be more comfortable the whole time?
I've had a aeron since 07 or 08, the chair has been great, only the reclining mechanism failed and I've been too lazy to fix it myself. if you don't want to overspent you could buy a used one in good condition, it will still last you many years!
I personally recommend the Haworth zody chair. In terms of build quality, it’s absolutely fantastic. You can really feel the quality in every part of it. And it’s actually more ergonomic for me, being 6’1 and very skinny with back problems I’m sensitive to that sort of thing. It’s the only chair I’ve sat in in 5 years that I’ve been able to be comfortable in. It’s been a game changer for me. You should be able to find one on sale for $500ish
Love this! As a designer who often works with Herman Miller furniture this was a fun watch!
I'd love to see some videos looking at other brands that seem to be putting sustainability on the forefront of their business like Bombas & Cotopaxi
Thanks for this! We have a lot of videos lined up so we will try our best!
How did you end up there and (be wary of posting this publicly to the internet, don't let me bait you into trouble...) what's it like?
Excuse my ignorance but the Cotopaxi business you mentioned, what they do? I'm surprised because Cotopaxi is the name of a Volcano and a province here in my country Ecuador and I didn't know there was a company with the same name.
I LOVE this channel and look forward to every new video. Very stoked for the future Herman Miller videos and would love to see more doves into other furniture companies as well as Lululemon
Loving this channel! great content and production! Keep it up!!
Glad you enjoy it! Thanks for being here 🙏🏻
One criticism about this video. None of these pieces of furniture are Herman Miller designs, these were designs from other industrial designers and architects that then would license the rights to production to Herman Miller, you're not buying an Herman Miller Eames lounge, you're buying a Charles and Ray Eames 670 and 671 who happens to be built by Herman Miller. This same approach was common with other brands that had the means to produce artist's designs such as Thonet (who actually have their own designs), Alessi, Vitra, Knoll, etc. So in essence Herman Miller had success because it made good bets on good designers whom I might add, where mostly already successful on they're own.
This video seems like a paid informercial for HM. Way too gushing. Way too much mention of meaningless awards. I wonder if this comment will be deleted. I bet many others have been.
I have a mini size noguchi coffee table on my night stand that my mom got at a conference like 20 years ago when she worked at a firm that used to sell Herman Miller. There are lots of excellent furniture brands that just aren't splashy with advertising but are such high quality.
Looking forward to the continuation of this series. Thanks! I'll stay tuned!
Just discovered your channel today. The brand Herman Miller was a much touted furniture brand when I was in design school in the 70's. I was curious to see your take on the company today. Loved the way the video came together. Very informative. I'm looking forward to watching the remaining episodes. I've subscribed and see many other brands you have covered. I'm hooked!
I love Herman Miller furniture (I've been using the Aeron Chairs for the past 25 years... from when I was in school and now have the same chair in my home office). My Aeron Chairs came with me from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur...! As much as I love their positive green initiatives, I have noticed that all their green initiatives are not internationally available, and admittedly, not available in countries where waste/re-use is an issue - the developing world.
For example, they do not provide great after sales support through their distributors in Malaysia and that furniture hand off program is definitely not available here. The base of one of my Aeron Chairs had the fabric rip and I had to scour through eBay to find the replacement part because it was ridiculously expensive to buy it through Herman Miller themselves. If it were anyone else with the $$ to do it, I think they would have just chucked the old chair and bought a new one...
Anyway, love your videos and look forward to the next instalment of this series! I would love to have an original Eames lounge chair one day!! Their products are great, but they're crazy expensive.
My issue with mid century modern craze is that the furniture work so well because of the time it was created. You had a modern Architectural movement getting to maturity and mass production made it possible for the masses to have quality furniture. Today with small robots we could see a extreme custom furniture but the choke hold on materials some have make it impossible.
I was lucky enough to inherit my dad's Aeron chair from his old office, I think he got it in 2001? I'm literally sitting in it now and it hasn't aged a bit. Its insane how well its held up, 20 years of being sat in and its not even phased lol. I dont think he's ordered replacement parts or had to even fix it!
What’s cool is that Herman Miller is also at the forefront of research in Healthcare and Office Environmental design. We often get presentations with their sales team at our arch/design/engineering office and their team for systems furniture is one of the most robust in the industry providing not only solutions for different design environments but extensively reviewed research for designers alike. We reference a good amount of their research when presenting sustainable & evolving design to our internal teams & clients.
You should look into Knoll! The Knoll furniture group in my opinion brought the concept of Modern over from Europe to America in the 40s. No furniture company in my opinion has ever been as design focused as Knoll. Knoll was recently acquired by Herman Miller and the two are now known as MillerKnoll.
I'm hooked! Ready for the next two parts. :)
I know this an old video but I've been on a binge of y'alls content and its so amazing and great Levi's freakout moment is truly deserved
I just bought a Eames lounge chair and I love it! It’s amazing I can’t even bring into words to describe how amazing it feels! Herman Miller fan 🥰
Great topic! I love Herman Miller furniture! Love the topic of “future proofing”!
Glad you enjoy it!!! Thanks for being here 👍
I look forward to congratulate on your first million subscribers! Fantastic video content truely impressive! Keep up the good work!
My office had those Aeron chairs after their old renovation, and they were the “sacred” chairs ONLY for the conference rooms and the front desk. Now our latest renovation (we thought we were socially distanced but not really.) The chairs are now ONLY for private offices, the conference room and new kitchen now has chairs that look like your dining chairs because the room is smaller (a future phase of the renovation will build a big conference room, but we needed to finish other parts of the plan first so everyone was back all on the same floor). Our desk chairs used to be okay, now they remind me of the vinyl seats in my parent’s old Chevy, except the back part is straight vertical with not much tilt back available… I snuck a chair from the temporary space upstairs because it was way more comfortable.
gotta love a new future proof video
My parents both are architects and big modernism fans, so these pieces have been ingrained in my brain for as long as I can remember. And what is great about mid century modern furniture is how it was accessible for many people, both of my grandparents owned chairs like your dining chair even though one were professors in a metropolitan area and the others were working class.
My dad’s dream chair was the eames chair but sadly he is to big (6”3) to comfortably get up from one, but instead he got lc2 chair from cassina and let me tell you there isnt a more comfortable chair in the world!
Hermann miller and other classic furniture companies are pretty expensive and as I, and most people I am in contact with, am in my 20s I am called crazy for justifying paying 500€ for a simple chair. But like said in the video: they are made to last a lifetime, are reparable, produced fairly and environmentally friendly and that for me is reason enough to splurge on that chair. And they usually have great customer service. It’s also a cool thing to know that something has been in the family for 60/70 years.
Looking forward to the other two parts 😀
I love that you're using two household items that I own as examples for polar opposites. I bought a used Herman Miller Aeron, most likely like 14 years old, and I have the Ikea Lack table 😂
Really excted for this series. Coincidentally 99% invisible released an episode on the reaction Office last month. Great listen as well.
Great topic
Dude this channel is Amazing and incredibly insightful! how do these vids not get a ton more views??
Glad you like them!
I love the video. You might have dealt more with the origins of Mid-Century Modern Design as it relates to the Herman Miller, Charles Eames, and the Organic Design in Home Furnishings exhibition at MOMA.
I
Love the videos! The chairs are worth ever penny
As a MCM chair nerd, I was delightfully surprised YT algo suggested this video series!!
Also, LEVI!?? I had to double check the channel name... I must've missed a few vids, but are you doing multiple channels now...?
I would love to buy a used herman miller but they're practically non-existent in my country. I got lucky and found a steelcase for super cheap though!
just fascinating...
Excited Levi got me to subscribe❤️
While Herman Miller has a great design history, for example all of those awesome mid-century modern designs - a lot of other contract furniture companies have done more to be environmentally friendly. As you mentioned, not all of their furniture is cradle-to-cradle certified and that's really only one of a handful of furniture-specific third party certifications related to sustainability. They're great at marketing and I do like their products but it would be worthwhile to do a comparison to their Michigan-based neighbours like Haworth and Steelcase because they're all taking huge strides to do better for the global community. Full disclosure - I interned at Steelcase as an interior design student so I may be biased and/or have more info on that company but I do think other companies like Haworth are far more innovative than Herman Miller instead of relying so heavily on their legacy products.
Their sustainability is in the life of the product. If I can use it forever, I don’t really care😊
Your vids are top notch
Great video! Looking forward to part 2…
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
I've always wanted a Herman Miller since high school but with what money? It wasn't until years later and three IKEA chairs, and one returned gaming chair that I decided...yeah let's get that chair from work. But oh am I glad I did, the Aeron is amazing and fixed my back and posture up.
I like Herman Miller chairs. But I don't like their prices.
That's fair, they can be pricey! Keep an eye out, the next one in the series just might address this 👀👀
That's such a genius sentence "I don't know what you know about the great depression but it wasn't great." 🧐☺️
Love the The Modern Melton Wool shirt!
Aside from Johhny Harris, & The Local Project, this is only one of the channels I instantly subscribed to.
My college has the best chairs to seat on which you already know it's Herman Miller's. They really set it in every classroom and they are the best! BTW if you want to know it's called Caper Stacking Chair which costs 324 Dollars per chair🥰
This is an Future Proof classic
Dude, those *are* some nice chairs. Good score.
As a woodworker I couldn't think of a better title myself.
Thanks so much!
Ariel Bisset also did a really great video about mid-century modern design style a few weeks ago, it would be a great collab!
Herman Miller exemplifies "buy it for life." Their stuff keeps its value forever.
about 20 years ago, I worked in a large telecom co, and nearly all our furniture and casegoods were by Hermann Miller. Back then I never paid much attention to that fact--it was just "office furniture--but when the company folded and they were literally giving away the furniture and fixtures for pennies on the dollar, I stupidly did NOT buy anything at that time. Am now kicking myself for neglecting to purchase a few HM items back then. Sigh.
the like and subscribe bit actually made me sub lol
The furniture recycling program is a common thing in the industry outside of HM, most commercial dealers have segments that hold and resell all casegoods - my local steelcase dealership has a massive warehouse to hold lots of task chairs, tables, etc to offer as loaner furniture or to sell as used. Also markups on their furniture price their products out of 85-95% of the large scale commercial projects my firm does - their contracts with dealerships have a stranglehold on their percentages and since they aren’t open line there is no other option or competition for purchasing compared to a brand like JSI.
Klean Kanteen for life. I have been using the same coffee mug, and water bottle for the past 5 years each.
A friend's mother had an white Heim chair growing up and I fell in love with it!!! I want one SO BAD!!!! But they are SO expensive!!!
When I have my own home I'm putting money aside to buy one!! White leather with dark wood!
OMG it's gonna be so long....
I suggest you watch almost any Apple Keynote presentation of the past 20 years or so, they express their "convictions" over and over. They are deeply committed to privacy and sustainability, but you wouldn't know that if you listen to most commentators. There is a lot of anti-Apple FUD out there. Steve Jobs built an amazing company.
This was a great video on the company, but you get a subscription for the clever use of Magic School Bus footage. Bella would be impressed.
Could you do a video on if Fidelity is really supporting sustainable investing?
I've had a Herman Miller Aeron for 20 years now. I got it second hand for a good deal and sit in it almost every day.
Stay tuned! Our last episode is all about the Aeron chair!
You should do the same kind of video about Vitra. Believe me 👌
Cover Steelcase!
I really want a Herman Miller someday
Still throwing these blundstone clips in a video while I'm here just waiting on that Birk's one.
It's in the works! To be totally transparent, we're waiting for sandal season to produce that one 🌞🤷 Glad to see there's interest, though!
@@FutureProofTV I live in the rockys. What is this "sandal season" that you speak of? Haha. Joking. Seriously though, thank you for the transparency. Spring is just around the corner. I'm looking forward to this video soon-ish.
I can't believe you slammed the $10 IKEA table 🤣🤣🤣
Do you slow your videos down to make them longer? Had to watch this at 2x speed for it to be bearable.
I think your 4 dining chairs were made in Sweden. Your wall unit in background is String Design.
A lot of music producers use Herman Miller chairs. I know the EDM trio noisia is a big fan. Mainly because they help with fatigue when sitting down for hours.
Effective money management is needed if we want to build a strong financial security for the future. I started off with 10k, 3 years ago investing In diversified stock market. I did two duplexes with seller financing, Fast forward to now. I am worth 500k and currently finishing my 8 unit apartment building. I am 35 and already retired from the rat race. stock investing works if you are willing to put the hard work in.
That's really impressive, At 35, i was worth a little over $200k but what you have done with your finances is pure genius.
Heard the adage about not putting your all your eggs into one basket? The same concept applies to managing your investments. Diversification essentially means allocating your investment dollars strategically among different assets and asset categories to help manage risk. Here are three ways to do it.
1.Spread your risk
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Your diversification strategy should be tailored to your personal financial goals and tolerance for risk. If you’re uncertain about how to diversify, consider seeking the guidance of a Financial Advisor.
The first thing that you should consider, when choosing a financial advisor, is the experience and professional background of the prospective advisor. Adequate experience in the financial markets and dealing with clients is of the utmost importance. Since you would be handing over your finances to the advisor, she/he must be well-qualified.
I don't want to appear to be promoting anyone here but, Alicia Seda Rich has worked through multiple cycles of the Economy. Her expertise has greatly aided my success in the diversified stock market. For the past three years she helped me grow my portfolio using her broad and competent knowledge of the financial market.
Herman Miller just bought Knolls for over a billion dollars at the beginning of the pandemic. This was an aggressive takeover since Knolls stock never recovered from initial covid shock. Herman Miller rebranded to MillerKnoll and market self as the largest modern furniture company in the world. After justifying the purchase Andi and their CFO told MillerKnoll brands that the company will need to cut 300 million every year from budget for 3 consistent years. Of course, those cuts came from cut people, automation and outsourcing positions to India. Sad since they're probably working through reorganizing today. Maybe someone with insight can shed more light on this. From a designer perspective this merged only to make sense for Herman Miller to get exclusive access to Europe designers under contract with Knoll brands and product patients. The people and lives affected in this textbook capitalism takeover was just the collateral damage. Just sad and insult to injury- they did this in the middle of a global pandemic instead of focusing on protecting employees and their communities. Forcing loyal employees to find new careers after spending a lifetime of dedication to build this culture is just sad- all this just for their investors. Herman Miller and Knolls would have been better off as two separate companies.
Sounds like they are now having to compete with IKEA and China now. Lots of companies going to hybrid. Of course I’m sure some got sales from tech workers at home.
Ikea's business model is much different than of MillerKnoll's since its focus is on cheap direct to consumer products that purchaser builds themselves. Retail is important but those one-off purchases that will last the person for years won't keep the ship afloat - massive companies like Steelcase and Millerknoll need to rely on major company's contract purchases to keep afloat and their investors happy. With the current situation around the working furnishing office spaces are not high on anyone's to-do list. When current inflation is being seen around the is causing everyone to be careful with their spending. No one will say it but we are at the begging of a recession - Once this fog clears, MillerKnoll will be a much thinner streamlined company that should dominate the market. But that is still a few years out - it's going to mess for the forthcoming future. MillerKnoll stock should drop to the low 20s even teens by end of 2022.
Rohde's name is pronounced Roady and its a shame not one of his incredible designs were shown.
He is the one that changed the company.
12 in 1935, just an example year during the Depression I chose arbitrarily, inflates to around 251 today. For a solid-wood piece of furniture, like that set of drawers WITH the mirror, is REALLY cheap. Sure, you can find that sort of thing cheaper now. They are made of particle board, or other not-solid-wood materials. A simple search of "solid wood dresser with mirror" brings up prices as low as 300 on some sites, and I saw 1600 from other sites
As a Noguchi owner, I find my that life is full of thrill and exhilaration, forever wondering when my table legs aren't going †o be in the right position one day, resulting in that heavy ass glass falling on my toes
Surely much, much better, and sustainable than some MDF/chipboard/vinyl wrap rubbish from a certain Scandinavian furniture retailer, who seems to think that renting from them is the future………..spend as much as you are able, buy once, and cherish.
I don't know, if you can make simple but robust chipboard stuff last 5-10 years then the carbon efficiency must be pretty decent. And flat-pack stuff greatly reduces distribution emissions. But maybe I am judging based on older ikea designs that seem to last much better than some of the newer ones that have cut corners to make marginal cost savings.
12:34 The quote by HM Chairman is best suited to Rathan Tata in 2022
I'm watching this while sitting in a herman miller aeron
What’s the difference with Vitra?
My family used my mom's solid maple dining room table. She'd gotten it from her mother, who'd gotten it at a yard sale. It never had the matching chairs, because they couldn't afford the extra money. All six cost something like 50 cents, but splashing out for a dollar on the table was just too much for their budget.
Honestly, the only turn-off for HM chairs (for me at least), is the lack of a headrest on many of the models like the Aeron. I have a home office and when I'm done working I like to tilt the seat back and relax, but without a headrest it can get uncomfortable.
There’s 3rd party headrest for the aeron and ATLAS is making one for the embody
That is a way of them reminding you that you really should move around🥰
Man herman miller seems great but dear god are those price tags hard to deal with
My office has the Herman chairs, cost 1000usd each.
The other thing that’s genius about modern design is that it is expensive but it doesn’t go “out of style” as easily.
I wished I could afford a Herman miller.
I watched these videos in reverse order lol
❤️
8:44 fin.
Herman Miller has been on a buying spree. Now they own Design Within Reach, HAY, Muuto, Knoll, etc. etc. etc. I think the only company they dont own is Steelcase or Vitra.
I am so sorry about your purchase of those four chairs.
What is ocean bound plastic? How do we know it was going to the ocean?
It’s plastic gathered from the ocean and repurposed to make new products.
or rivers. rivers lead to oceans
my office chair is actually a used aeron i got from craigslist for $200. its by far the best chair ive ever used and it lasts forever so thats pretty rad
You can probably sell it for $200 or more, too, given the rate of inflation.
I never thought the company is from where I live, 😅
Spent the first half of this video thinking it was a new video formate for vat19
i swear i watch vdeos on 1.25x and it seems this is your normal talking speed and the original video is slowed down by 15-20%
9:00 holy shiy the edits :😂
Agreed, 1.5 seems still reasonable speed
Till the CEO opened her mouth it’s definitely gonna hurt the company & customer base to already struggling industry
We still sell the Marshmallow Sofa!!
Pay the high price for the Herman Miller chair, your back will thank you in the long run.
"American Bauhaus."