About Herman Miller: Unmasking the Modern Mogul

Aeron Chair

Herman Miller is a modern global furniture and home products manufacturer and distributer that is headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan. Products by Herman Miller include office, institutional, residential, and healthcare seating, furniture and accessories, filing storage products, and more. With customers and locations around the globe, Herman Miller is the second largest office furniture company in the world.


Through extensive analytical research of customer needs and social trends, the Herman Miller goal is to create novel, contemporary designs that transcend time and meet the needs of working, medical, learning, and living environments. Although their cutting edge products are aesthetically pleasing, the Herman Miller Company believes that function and ingenuity should remain a top priority. When the day is done, Herman Miller's main objective is to create great places to work. They state:

"While fashion and style have their place, the main criterion for a new product has remained constant: Does it truly solve a problem that people care about in a way that improves upon other solutions, or pioneers a new and better answer altogether?"

Herman Miller's furniture style is pure modernism. Herman Miller and its designers are not afraid to push the envelope, a fundamental trait for the company's prosperity. Herman Miller is a true working example of the motto, "if you want big rewards, you have to take big risks." The Herman Miller Company is continuously taking chances and vying to create innovative products and designs. They encourage all their designers to experiment with different materials to make the best products possible. For example, in collaboration with DuPont, Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick invented the Pellicle material for the seat of the now famous Aeron Chair. It is Herman Miller's opportunity-seeking attitude and problem-solving ability that has taken them from a small, residential furniture company in 1923 to the multi-billion dollar modern enterprise that it is today.

About 50 years ago, George Nelson laid out the five beliefs of Herman Miller's design philosophy. These beliefs, which are rooted at the core of the company, include:

1. What you make is important.
2. Design is an integral part of the business.
3. The product must be honest.
4. You decide what you will make.
5. There is a market for good design.