Designer of the Week: George Nelson

I posted earlier in the week about George Nelson's swag leg desk which I adore. George Nelson and his design team have been responsible for some of my favorite design pieces of all time. Here's a little exerpt from Design Within Reach's biography:
"In 1946, Nelson became director of design at Herman Miller, a position he held until 1972. While there, Nelson recruited other seminal modern designers including Charles Eames and Isamu Noguchi. He also developed his own designs, including the Marshmallow sofa, the Nelson platform bench and the first L-shaped desk, a precursor to the present-day workstation. He also created a series of boldly graphic wall clocks, a series of bubble lamps made of self-webbing plastic and developed forward looking, occasionally futuristic concepts such as the "hidden city" of underground buildings designed to create a "more humane environment."Nelson felt that designers must be "aware of the consequences of their actions on people and society and thus cultivate a broad base of knowledge and understanding." Nelson himself certainly followed this principle. He was an early environmentalist, one of the first designers to take an interest in new communications technology and a powerful writer and teacher. Perhaps influenced by his friend, Buckminster Fuller, Nelson's ultimate goal as a designer was "to do much more with much less."



Ball clocks

Nelson Bench

Coconut Chair

Nelson Pendant Lights

Pretzel chair