When things creak at the top
Good design can help below
Things are moving quickly at MillerKnoll. First came the unusually fast exit of Andi Owen. Now comes a much friendlier signal from the engine room of the group’s most important brand: Herman Miller has appointed Kim Colin and Sam Hecht as Global Creative Directors.
The two are not new faces. Colin and Hecht lead the London studio Industrial Facility and have worked with Herman Miller for more than two decades. Since 2008, they have already served the brand as Creative Advisors. Now a long-running partnership becomes an official leadership role.
They are expected to shape products, communications and brand experiences worldwide. That may sound like standard design-announcement language. In the current context, it is more than that. While MillerKnoll is in transition at the top and Jeff Stutz takes over as interim chief following Owen’s departure, Herman Miller is choosing continuity, reliability and brand stewardship in the creative field.
Those are not bad qualities to lean on when the corporate weather is rough.
Colin and Hecht stand for a quieter, long-view approach to design. Their Herman Miller portfolio includes Lino Task Seating, Formwork Storage, Plex Lounge, the Wireframe Sofa Group, Ode Lamps, the Civic Table Program, Locale and the OE1 Workspace Collection. That touches several areas where Herman Miller has to remain convincing: workplace, seating, storage, lounge, lighting and modular systems.
Ben Watson, Chief Creative Officer of MillerKnoll, describes the pair as “transformational in their thinking” and points to solutions that are culturally resonant, commercially relevant and long-lasting. Yes, that is PR language. But at Herman Miller, at least it connects to the brand’s actual history.
The company deliberately recalls its own design lineage in the announcement — from George Nelson, the Eames Office, Alexander Girard and Isamu Noguchi to Robert Propst and Bill Stumpf. Colin and Hecht are now being asked to help translate that line into the next phase.
That is the real news behind the appointment. In a group recently dominated by leadership change, share-price pressure, integration questions around Knoll and the search for renewed stability, Herman Miller wants to talk more about design again. Not only about management.
Things are moving quickly at MillerKnoll. First came the unusually fast exit of Andi Owen. Now comes a much friendlier signal from the engine room of the group’s most important brand: Herman Miller has appointed Kim Colin and Sam Hecht as Global Creative Directors.
The two are not new faces. Colin and Hecht lead the London studio Industrial Facility and have worked with Herman Miller for more than two decades. Since 2008, they have already served the brand as Creative Advisors. Now a long-running partnership becomes an official leadership role.
They are expected to shape products, communications and brand experiences worldwide. That may sound like standard design-announcement language. In the current context, it is more than that. While MillerKnoll is in transition at the top and Jeff Stutz takes over as interim chief following Owen’s departure, Herman Miller is choosing continuity, reliability and brand stewardship in the creative field.
Those are not bad qualities to lean on when the corporate weather is rough.
Colin and Hecht stand for a quieter, long-view approach to design. Their Herman Miller portfolio includes Lino Task Seating, Formwork Storage, Plex Lounge, the Wireframe Sofa Group, Ode Lamps, the Civic Table Program, Locale and the OE1 Workspace Collection. That touches several areas where Herman Miller has to remain convincing: workplace, seating, storage, lounge, lighting and modular systems.
Ben Watson, Chief Creative Officer of MillerKnoll, describes the pair as “transformational in their thinking” and points to solutions that are culturally resonant, commercially relevant and long-lasting. Yes, that is PR language. But at Herman Miller, at least it connects to the brand’s actual history.
The company deliberately recalls its own design lineage in the announcement — from George Nelson, the Eames Office, Alexander Girard and Isamu Noguchi to Robert Propst and Bill Stumpf. Colin and Hecht are now being asked to help translate that line into the next phase.
That is the real news behind the appointment. In a group recently dominated by leadership change, share-price pressure, integration questions around Knoll and the search for renewed stability, Herman Miller wants to talk more about design again. Not only about management.