Current: The Herman Miller logo maintains an elegant shape contained within a circle. The circle was introduced in 1999. (Above)

Herman Miller, one of the greatest companies in interior design, has been around for over 100 years. Originally starting as the Michigan Star Furniture Company in 1905, the company evolved to claim the name Herman Miller in 1923.

Since then the company has completely shaped us and our backs by providing some of the ergonomic chairs and office equipment around today.

1905 – The logo of the Michigan Star Furniture Company. The design was a generic banner similar to other logos of that time. (Above)

1923 – D.J. De Pree buys the company and names it after his Father-in-law, Herman Miller. While the logo is updated it maintains the strong linear quality of it’s 1905 predecessor. (Above)

1946 – Irving Harper, working for George Nelson, redesigns the logo and creates the iconic “M”, which was featured prominently in advertising at the time. (Above)

1948 – The logo designed in 1946 used in promotional advertising. We see a slight variance in the weight of the type used. Could be a custom version not used as the main logo. (Above)

1952 – We see a different look at a similar version of the 1946 logo in more promotional advertising for the Eames plywood chairs. (Above)

1960 – John Massey, in keeping with the times, sets Herman Miller in Helvetica—all lowercase—and locks it to the “M”, creating a logo design that lasted for almost 40 years. (Above)

1960 – The Herman Miller logo mark used in chair promotional ad. (Above)

1999 – Through a quick design exercise with a small group of designers, Steve Frykholm and Brian Edlefson came forth with the updated Typeface, Meta, and the placement of the “M” in a circle, which continued to be locked with “HermanMiller”—now one word. (Above)

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