Wright Auction

Howard Miller—Herman Miller’s son and D.J. De Pree’s brother-in-law—purchased the Herman Miller Clock Company in 1937 and renamed it eponymously. Taking advantage of the design talent visiting Zeeland, Michigan, on a regular basis, in 1949 Miller asked George Nelson to attempt a new line of electric clocks. Nelson, in turn, handed the task to one of his office’s most imaginative designers, Irving Harper, who created over 130 clocks for the company in the following years. Several Harper-designed clocks, like the Ball Clock (1949), have become some of the twentieth century’s most evocative household artifacts. Several others were designed in collaboration with Nelson Office designers such as Lucia DeRespinis, Don Ervin, and Charles Pollock. Beyond clocks, the Nelson office developed a broad range of home accessories for Howard Miller, including fireplace tools, weathervanes, birdhouses, and multiple innovative lighting designs. 

Born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1908, George Nelson studied architecture at Yale University, teaching for a short time before the Great Depression. In 1932, he won the Rome Prize and spent the next two years studying design in Italy. Returning to the states, Nelson sold his essays to Pencil Points and became an associate editor at Architecture Forum and Fortune magazine. After reading Nelson’s innovative book Tomorrow's House, then president of Herman Miller furniture company D.J. De Pree hired Nelson as design director. Nelson launched his first collection in 1947 and transformed the Midwestern company into a groundbreaking leader in the field. Nelson remained at Herman Miller until the mid-1960s and was responsible for bringing design luminaries (and personal contacts) Charles and Ray Eames, Alexander Girard, and Isamu Noguchi on board. 

In 1947, Nelson opened his own design studio, George Nelson Associates, Inc. which at one time employed over 50 people. The company’s work within corporate settings revolutionized the concept of branding and elevated industrial design to new heights. One such example is his assignment of graphic designer Irving Harper to the Herman Miller account—in fact, his first assignment was to create a print ad for Nelson’s first furniture collection before its January 1947 launch. 

Without product photography, a significant design challenge emerged—as well as an opportunity. Founder D.J. De Pree had previously requested a new trademark for the company and the task lingered unchecked on to-do lists until Harper arrived. Using a French curve, Harper rendered a stylized M and placed it within the Herman Miller name, then typeset in Bodoni Bold italic. He persuaded De Pree to invest in additional color ink, and thus, the Herman Miller logo—in red—was born, still used by the company today.

Nelson and his firm would continue to work with Herman Miller for a quarter century, expanding the relationship with outside designers as a crucial trait of the company’s. From bubble lamps to basic cabinet series and iconic furniture designed around marshmallows and coconuts, Nelson’s breadth of design was incredibly varied. Toward the end of his tenure, the company shifted toward office furniture, like Action Office. Throughout his career, Nelson continued to write critically about design across multiple planes, teaching and consulting until his death in 1986.