Design Camp is a Better World Initiative by Herman Miller Japan and Meguro Museum of Art Tokyo, which gives the public unique opportunities to interact with established designers in a workshop setting.  Now in its second year, Design Camp took place in March over two days at both the Herman Miller store and Art Museum.  This session’s workshops were led by DRILL DESIGN, an established Japanese design duo whose work has achieved international fame.  

After the workshops we had a chance to catch up with Yusuke Hayashi and Yoko Yasunishi from DRILL DESIGN which they founded in 2000. Their work spans many fields from product to interiors and graphics and has been internationally recognised including Red Dot and Good Design awards, exhibited widely and sold globally. 

(Above: DRILL DESIGN)

Thank you for joining with us on Design Camp 2.  What was it about the project that interested you? Through the experience of making things, we are able to think with the participants about our everyday question; "what is design?". I also think it was a good system in that it enabled us to make things step by step in the one-week interval between two consecutive sessions.

(Design Camp)

How did you come to found DRILL DESIGN? Yusuke studied economics and I studied sociology at university. After university, we studied design and founded DRILL DESIGN.

Describe a typical day at the office. In the morning, we clean up first. Then we make delicious coffee and have a project meeting. What we do varies from day to day, i.e., make models, draw designs or do research, but as we are a small office, we proceed with several projects simultaneously while always communicating with one another. It would be healthier for us if we could finish work a bit earlier at night.

Your work is globally recognized and sold around the world.  Tell us how it felt when your first product was picked up internationally? Our first Paper-Wood project that we exhibited in Milan was not as glamorous as other furniture that were exhibited at the Milan Furniture Fair. But overseas media quite acurately comprehended our challenge and heaped lavish praise. We could not imagine what it was like to be internationally praised until then, but it literally felt as though the doors to the world had been opened.

(Above: Paper Wood Stools)

(Design Camp)

How has your approach evolved over the years, do you have any rituals or routines you follow before embarking on project? In the beginning, I think we had the tendency to evolve a design along a logical and objective concept. It was the basics of design of translating function into form. These days, we are able to link "new possibilities" that are gained through repeated independent experiments with design. With most projects, we make life-size models wherever possible.

What element of design could you not live without? Necessity and creative ideas.

How has technology changed your work if at all? It has become easier to communicate but essentially it is not that different.

What advice would you give to aspiring designers? There is not one meaningless experience. Every experience can be applied to design. Knowledge other than design would become very useful later.

What have been your most rewarding achievements? Every project is worth doing, but I feel that all projects are still in progress.

What’s next? To meet those that need us and put our heads together.

Our thanks to Meguro Museum of Art, DRILL DESIGN, FULL SWING and Herman Miller Japan.

Over the next few weeks we will be sharing with you excepts from a soon to be released Herman Miller publication: Album One.  Album One talks about the changes affecting workplace design and we will bring you sneak peeks from some of the thought leaders we spoke to when compiling our book.

Today we speak to Luc Kamperman, Partner at Veldhoen + Company, the Dutch consultancy that originally developed the Activity Based Working (ABW) philosophy in the Netherlands in the early 1990's.  Luc has worked on the largest ABW implementations globally from Rabobank in the Netherlands to  Macquarie Bank (Sydney 2007-2009), Commonwealth Bank (Sydney), Medibank (Melbourne) and PwC Australia (Perth and Sydney) to name just a few.

We talked a little to Luc on how he came to be involved in workplace design and what his favourite Herman Miller product is (of course!)

How did you come to be involved in workplace design?  I hold a master in Business Management and actually didn’t know anything about workplace design initially. In 2002 I joined Veldhoen + Company who are strategic workstyle consultants. Looking at improving the way people and companies work. This includes IT and work environments. As a result I became very fascinated by the impact different environments have on people. Many people do not enjoy work while being productive at the same time.

How do you approach a brief or new project? By challenging the status quo and focusing on the future. You can’t resolve problems with the same mind-set that created it. If you build for the future, your thinking has to be revolutionary.

What inspires you in this field? People. The impact that a change of work style has on them. I love the experience of people working in a dramatically different way and enjoying it.

What is your favourite Herman Miller design? I personally love design but as an important aspect in the whole loop of changes that is needed to make work effective and joyful. Functionality is most important. And design needs to inspire people. If I have to pick one Herman Miller design I like it’s the Eames Lounge and Ottoman as it supports thinking and reflection time. Crucial for creating the future.

Read below an except from Luc's article for Album One: Independent Thoughts.

It’s not about the building: Introduction to activity based working (abridged)

Today our economies are based on innovation and change. Organisations cannot move forward by standing still. One of the key challenges of management is to design flexible organisations that replace vertical hierarchies with horizontal networks, linking traditional functions and forming strategic partnerships with suppliers, clients and even competitors. The tools of this age give us nearly limitless flexibility and mobility. As a result we are no longer tied to a desk, an office, or indeed regular office hours to acquire, process and distribute information. This ability to work anywhere begs the question: what is the office for?

The primary function of an office is shifting from a factory where we process information, to a hub where we collaborate, share and learn. The philosophy of activity based working (ABW) is to give every employee the freedom to work in the most natural way to produce quality outcomes for their clients, and their organisation. In doing so, work becomes more enjoyable, more efficient, and more effective, benefitting one and all. It might sound simple, but the impact and consequences for our working behaviours are enormous.

ABW challenges unnecessary rules and procedures, permanent workplaces, and regular working hours. It promotes knowledge sharing, more pervasive collaboration, personal accountability, and entrepreneurship. From this, we see increased engagement and cross functional collaboration that breaks down silos and unifies organisations, improves employee satisfaction and therefore increases productivity. In contrast to Europe, the ABW concept is relatively new in Asia Pacific. In 2008, Macquarie Bank and Commonwealth Bank were the first companies to successfully implement activity based working in Sydney, Australia. However the success of these projects has lead to a buzz around ABW that risks reducing ABW to mere hype, drawing parallels between ABW and hot-desking.

ABW is much more than this, and the real benefits can only be assured when ABW is implemented in an integrated way with the right focus on the virtual environment (technology and information management), the physical environment (the physical fit-out) and the so called behavioural environment (people and culture). All of this needs to be supported by a change management program that ensures it’s not a hollow and intellectual change, but is truly embedded in how we work and lead differently in the future. Implemented effectively, ABW is truly a workstyle for today.

We last checked in with Jack Liang Wang in 2011. By day Jack is a valued member of the Herman Miller Asia Pacific Research and Design team but in his spare time his passion is art. Check our previous interview here. Recently Jack has been focusing on a new series, Beyond Paradise. We caught up with Jack to tell us a little about his new series and how his art is evolving.

Jack, tell us what is the inspiration for "Beyond Paradise"

A lot of material so far is collected from Bali, the 'real' Bali, places such as Candidasa on the eastern coast. Rather than 'eat, pray and love', to me, Bali is more about peace, hope and simplicity. These are the three key elements I wish the audience to explore from my work, from the Balinese people I paint. Their spirit is the hardest thing to describe, or some would say the easiest thing to paint, since everyone has a subjective idea of what that is. Rather than the touristic idea of paradise, I wanted to capture the hope, passionate belief, longing, often despair yet gracious servitude that you often find behind the scenes in most of the local villages. Therefore I would always come back to portrait, making it individual and very intimate.

What are you hoping to achieve in this series? 

To provoke the audience to capture the individual story of the subjects and their social history beyond the obvious.

What are your goals for the coming year?

To paint explore more 'Paradise' destinations and capture moments and subjects that have the potential to inspire an audience. I have now begun to sell my work, for which I'm very grateful. So developing opportunities to sell more is also a focus - I'm running out of wall-space!

Do you have any rituals that help you with your art? Is there anything special you need to do to help you forget about your day to day job and focus on art? 

Always keeping an eye on things or artists that inspire me. Family, reading, travel, music, film and theatre help significantly in moving to a space that enables me to feel inspired beyond my day-to-day role.

Can you give us a sneak peak of something you are working on? 

I have a series called "Glow from the Shadow". I am always fascinated by the human body, how the shadow casts across the torso, and the mechanism of how muscle wraps around skeleton to create different kinds of movement. I find it powerful and inspiring, still.

See more of Jack's work at www.jackliangwang.wordpress.com

With the rise and rise of technology that makes it easier than ever for people to work remotely, we ask – why do we still go to the office?   Research shows that despite the ability of people to work from anywhere over 64% still choose to commute into the office everyday.  Why? It’s all to do with collaboration. Coming together to solve problems, share ideas and produce results.  Face to face interaction allows for the transfer of knowledge that is tacit, or difficult to articulate. The unspoken gestures, expressions and body language that help build trust, intimacy and ultimately produce better work.  As social beings workers often  cite face-to-face interaction as one of the more rewarding aspects of working life. 

We’re working on bringing you the tools to help foster this interaction and bring people together.  Stay tuned over the coming weeks as we walk through the thinking behind our latest product: Arras Spine.

Welcome to 2013!  We're looking forward to bringing you design news from Herman Miller and the region in the coming months.

 We're starting the year with the continuation of our museum series.  Over the past several months we have been looking at various art galleries and museums from around the Asia Pacific region and those in the USA that hold significant Herman Miller pieces amongst their collection. Today we're off to the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York. The Cooper-Hewitt has a number of historic Herman Miller items in their collection and today we thought we'd explore some of the pieces they hold, in particular a substantial textile collection by Alexander Girard and some unique furniture by Charles and Ray Eames.

A design drawing (above) for a printed textile cut-out by Alexander Girard, 1954 shows his hand written notes on the design (Graphite, colored pencil on white tracing paper)

A leg splint (above) by Charles Eames from 1942 shows where it all began with moulded plywood technique.

Sample of 'Ribbons' fabric (above) designed by Alexander Girard, 1957 (Screen printed pattern on plain weave cotton)

This children's chair (above) was designed by Charles and Ray Eames in 1944, further developing their moulded plywood technique and hinting at the moulded LCW to come. (Laminated moulded plywood, red stain finish)

Sample of 'Extrusions' fabric design by Alexander Girard,1962

'Swivel' Chair (above) by Charles Eames, 1952 combines elements of the wire frame chair and moulded chair with maple legs. (Enameled steel, wood, wool upholstery)

You can view more of the Cooper-Hewitt collection online at their website. If you're interested in exploring more of Herman Miller's historic collection, check out our previous post on The Herman Miller Consortium.

A very happy New Year to all our readers. We look forward to much design dialogue in 2013.

XTRA in Singapore have teamed up during this festive season to help Action for AIDS, a voluntary organisation committed to raising awareness, prevention strategies, advocacy and support for people with HIV and AIDS. From now until February 20% of the proceeds of all Herman Miller SAYL chairs will go to Action for AIDS.  Its the season for giving and thinking of others, so if you are in need of a beautifully designed ergonomic chair, now is your chance.

Essential Eames, the first exhibition that traces the lives and passions of Charles and Ray Eames, opens in Tokyo this week. To celebrate we are holding a special event in our Herman Miller Store, Tokyo and you are invited.

Eames Demetrios, Principal of Eames Office and Grandson of Charles and Ray Eames, Koichi Yanagimoto, well-known collector of mid-century design and design journalist Takashi Kato  will discuss the impact Charles and Ray Eames had on so many fields and how they continue to be relevant today.   If you are in Tokyo and a fan, please do sign up and come along for an evening celebrating the spirit and passions of the most famous couple in design.

Date: December 7th, Friday  7:00pm - 8:30pm

Venue:Herman Miller Store

2-1-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Tel: 03-3201-1840

Please e-mail sign up at info_storetokyo@hermanmiller.com

Authenticity in Design is something embedded into our DNA here at Herman Miller so we are always glad to support this issue. 

Our friends at the Authentic Design Alliance have started a petition to lobby the Government of Australia to change the copyright laws. We've signed it and we're confident if enough of us band together we can make the change. Regular readers will know that the UK recently changed its laws following a similar petition led by Elle Decor.

For those of you not familiar with the details around copyright laws and why we need this change, the ADA have done a brilliant job of laying out the argument over on their site. Here's a little bit about it:

The Authentic Design Alliance needs your support for its campaign to promote and encourage original design, and support Australia's design industry, by seeking a change in Australia's intellectual property laws. The change is needed because the current laws do not adequately recognise the value or importance of original design, and encourage unauthorised copies to be made and sold, undermining the value of the original design, and diverting income from designers. Action is needed so that Australia recognises and properly values the significant investment made in, and the important social and economic benefits of, original design. 

For the full details you can visit the site and read more here  And for those of you who are already familiar with the cause, we've made it easy - just click on the below to sign up.

If you haven't already visited our Shop-in-Shop at XTRA in Singapore, you're missing out.  And it seems we aren't the only ones who think its a pretty spectacular experience.  Earlier this year we were excited to be shortlisted for the World Architecture Festival and last week were thrilled to hear that we won our category.   Its a huge achievement and much deserved recognition for XTRA, P.A.C. and of course our team.  So if you are in Singapore or planning a visit soon, stop by.

George Nelson's hugely significant relationship with Herman Miller began when our founder DJ DePree walked into his New York office in the mid 1940's and invited him to come and design for the company. In his own words, George writes of that fateful day;

"There was no way at the time of realizing that this quiet, courteous man, conservatively dressed in a dark three-piece suit and a broad-brimmed hat, had just turned my life inside out. I remember worrying about my total ignorance of the furniture industry, and suggesting that he look around first for a real pro. He thought about this for a minute, agreed to look around, and quietly left."

This is just a tiny extract from an essay George Nelson wrote in 1984, reflecting on his long career with Herman Miller - a relationship that shaped not only our company, but the course of mid-century modern design. It makes for fascinating reading and allows you a rare glimpse into the mind of a design great, whilst explaining how Herman Miller became the design-led company we remain to be today. We recently shared this essay with Fast Company who have decided to publish it as a series and have just published part one on their website; The Legendary George Nelson on Creating a Design-Driven Company. Happy reading...

Posted by Lauren Evans