Studio Visit: The Herman Miller Archive

We speak with Amy Auscherman about how looking back helps the brand move forward

On a recent visit to Herman Miller‘s headquarters we explored their impressive corporate archive. There we found many expected things like correspondence, old catalogs, sketches, swatches and rare pieces of furniture, along with unexpected treasures like shop floor-made templates for cutting wood pieces of modernist masterpieces and the negatives for the Eames‘ seminal 1977 film “Powers of Ten and the Relative Size of the Universe.” …

Nienke Helder’s Sensory Objects for Rehabilitation

Presented at Dutch Design Week this year, Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Nienke Helder’s sensory objects are made for rehabilitation, not just pleasure. Created to help women recover from sexual abuse, the pieces are made for people to explore their sense of touch—to rediscover in a way what they enjoy and what they don’t. Helder worked with medical experts and women in recovery, and also used …

Drake Powderworks’ New Permanent Phantom Wax

A one-time base glide treatment for snowboards and skis that's better for the environment

Utah-based company Drake Powderworks Skis (DPS) is planning to make a big change to the industry with their new product, the Phantom. The brand’s new Kickstarter is funding their one-time application base-coat for skis and snowboards. Its patent-pending polymer technology means this treatment is permanent. Working with material scientists, the DPS team was able to “attack the problem via a novel free-radical polymerization.” Unlike traditional …