"Check the Source" and "Check your Conscience".  These are a few of the headlines that HM used to kick off their "Get Real" campaign.

First launced at the 2003 International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF), that took place in New York City.  The campaign is designed to alert consumers to the ethical and economic implications related to the purchase of design knock-offs, rather than supporting original designs and their designers.

The  "Get Real" arrives on the heels of recent developments that provide stricter legal protections to original, iconic Herman Miller designs.

Here is the original press release from Herman Miller: 

 

New York's 2003 International Contemporary Furniture Fair marks company launch of concerted campaign for awareness and education against knock-offs

Imitation has been called the sincerest form of flattery, but in the domain of furniture design it is deceptive to consumers and specifiers, damaging to the designers, manufacturers, and distributors of original designs, and inhibits new investments in innovation.

For many years Herman Miller, Inc., has been in the vanguard of a growing movement to promote the genuine articles--protecting both the unsuspecting buyer and the intellectual property rights of the original designer and manufacturer, while ensuring the commercial incentive for future innovations.

Herman Miller is taking its commitment to a new level with the launch of its "Get Real" campaign, an awareness and education program that will be the centerpiece of the company's presence at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, held May 17-20, 2003, at New York City's Javits Convention Center. Herman Miller, located in Booth 414 at the Javits, will be showing select furniture designed by Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson, Isamu Noguchi and Alvar Aalto. The Eames, Nelson and Noguchi designs are Herman Miller originals, dating from the company's collaboration with these acknowledged masters of American modernism. Herman Miller is the exclusive North American distributor of original Aalto designs through partnership with Artek, the legendary Finnish manufacturer of the extensive and celebrated Aalto collection.

"Since Herman Miller has such a storied and extensive design heritage, it stands to reason that we would be a leader in the campaign for authenticity," said Ray Kennedy, Director of Herman Miller for the Home. "Original design is the driving force behind Herman Miller's commitment to innovation--and everyone needs to recognize it is the lifeblood of a vital furniture industry."

Added Marg Mojzak, Senior Marketing Manager of Herman Miller for the Home: "Many consumers are simply unaware that they are buying knock-offs rather than the real thing. A component of the campaign is about equipping the buyer with the information he or she needs to identify whether the item is authentic. We also want to raise awareness of the important ethical and economic implications in supporting original designs and their designers."

The launch of Herman Miller's "Get Real" campaign at the ICFF exhibition comes amid recent legal developments affording "trade dress" protection to original, iconic Herman Miller designs. In November of 2002, the Noguchi Coffee Table, designed by Isamu Noguchi for Herman Miller in 1944, received this important legal distinction. In March 2003, Herman Miller received notice that the same powerful protection is also forthcoming for the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, designed by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller in 1956. The United States Patent and Trademark Office recognizes these designs as synonymous with their original designers and manufacturer, and holds that a likeness of these designs cannot be produced or distributed in the U.S. by unauthorized parties.

"We're seeing case after case in which the designers and producers of original products, who have followed the prescribed intellectual property law registration procedures, are winning substantial settlements, judgments, and legal protections" noted Henry Gowin, Secretary of the Foundation for Design Integrity, a group of leading furniture designers, manufacturers and distributors that are dedicated to promoting the protection of original design. "The days when nothing could be done about knock-offs are over. The public is becoming increasingly aware of intellectual property protection (patents, trademarks, trade dress and copyrights) and the importance of supporting original design, while the knock-off producers are learning the consequences of infringement."

A series of advertisements created for Herman Miller's "Get Real" campaign urge readers to make an informed and ethical choice. The headlines invite the buyer to "Check the Source" and "Check your Conscience" as they contemplate the purchase of an original or a knock-off.

"Remember," implores one of the ads, "knock-offs don't pay royalties to the original designer. They aren't produced according to designer specifications. And they don't meet (Herman Miller's) standards of quality and durability. Now go, with a clear conscience, and get the real thing."

Herman Miller's ICFF exhibit will feature the Eames Lounge and Ottoman, Eames Molded Plywood chairs, Eames Storage Units, Eames Wire Chair with Bikini Pad, Nelson Marshmallow Sofa, Nelson Coconut Chair, Nelson Platform Bench, Noguchi Coffee Table, Aalto Tea Trolley 900, Aalto Stool 60 (in a special 70th Anniversary Edition in Curly Birch), among others--and all of them--to be sure--produced according to authorized specifications.

Below is a TV advertisment that was used along with the campaign.

I would try to tell you a little more background on the images, but the site they are located on is written entirely in Japanese.  From the looks of it, it might even be a Herman Miller showroom? or just a japanese business obsessed with pimping their office in Eames designs.  There are quite a few more images on their site if your interested: Wakuiworks.

Disrespectful or a piece of art?

Maarten Bass a dutch artist would like you to think the latter.

His exhibit "Where There's Smoke" for Moss
where they state "Bass re-sculpts these design icons with flame, careful to preserve their structural integrity and thereby their original functionality. Their authorship and identity altered, they become revisionist, highly personal, audacious expressions of the artist."

Baas stamps each one with his own name after he is finished.

"Why do we want to have the same expression of beauty?" he is quoted as saying in a Washington Post article

Baas launched himself as a blowtorch designer with a graduation project at the Design Academy Eindhoven and you can see more of his design work HERE.

I personally see the work as hauntingly beautiful and it seems to have something to say about luxury and idols in our current society.  What are your thoughts? 

Found over at the MOMA store these set of 4 acrylic coasters featuring a different Eames chair in black: the 1948 LaChaise , the 1951 Wire Side Chair , the 1956 Lounge Chair and Ottoman , and the 1946 Molded Plywood Chair with Metal Legs. The durable coasters have the look of glass and retail at the store for $18.00

Found at the Eames Office

This order form entitled "Eames Chairs of Zenaloy" With the "Zenaloy," a reference to Zenith Plastics with whom the Eames Office closely collaborated with.

I guess it shouldn't suprise me that even the order forms have a certain level of design to them. 

I also wouldn't mind seeing those prices next to the chairs again.

Image Credits 

This spotting comes from the blog http://blog.filife.com who posted about the financial planning company Ameriprise   

Using the LCW as their "Red Chair" in several commericals and promentatly integrating it onto their website.

Check out the Web integration HERE.

The fabled EAMES PLYWOOD ELEPHANT was a children’s toy conceived in 1945 by tCHARLES & RAY but was never put into formal production. Now, in the centennial anniversary year VITRA, has finally put the  toy into production in a limited edition. To further commemorate the centennial anniversary and the elephant’s release, the designers’ grandson EAMES DEMETRIOS created “A Gathering of Elephants,” a stop-motion animated film, featuring the little elephants roaming LA.  Check it out:

Have a little extra time on your hands? or just feeling crafty?  Over at Etsy, a designer by the name of TinyModernist is setting you up with cross stitch patterns of the Eames lounge and Shell chairs for all of your cross stitching needs.

The patterns are $4 bucks, check the details out HERE. 

Altough this event already took place and I'm sure the little fellas are already long gone.  I thought I would point out these limited edition (10) of solid maple and walnut sculptures of the iconic Ray & Charles Eames House in Pacific Palisades, CA. They were produced by HOUSE INDUSTRIES.

The original poster for the event:

Skate Study House, modern design classics remastered with skateboards. It's a collection by Pierre-André Senizergues and Gil Le Bon de Lapointe. Colette will be showcasing their work as of January 28th.

They have an Eames Hang-It-All redone with skateboard wheels, and a really impressive version of a Noguchi Table.

Check out more of the designs HERE. 

Mini Moderns is a range of interiors products for kids and kidults, designed and produced by London based design and branding agency, Absolute Zero Degrees.

»The wallpaper is in stock,

»This paper is a ‘Colour-Me’ print and is designed to be colored on when the wall is dry.

»Roll size : 52cm x 10m
»Cost: £38 per roll plus £10 p+p per order

Unfortunately the site doesn't show any photos of this on a full size wall, but if you want more information visit HERE.

Working with designer Jakub Berdych under the Qubus Studio banner, the interior of St. Bartholomew’s Church features 4 Eames chairs for the clergy and rows of Verner Panton chairs customised with a punched crucifix in formation down the center.

Check out some more picks: St. Bartholomew’s Church by Maxim Velcovsky.

How would you like to have an outdoor version of your Eames lounge or Barcelona chair sitting out back or along side the pool.  Dirk Winkel for his 2007 University of Arts Berlin final design project “A Stacking Hommage" might have brought you a little closer to that fanatasy.

From his site:

"Three idols of design history were realised as a low-price, stackable plastic chair, including all requirements like material, production and stackability as an important determinant.

The concept was to transform the original idol’s messages: the plastic chairs lose the message of financial power and wealth, they keep their design message and their grace and they gain a message of moral integrity by liberalising their archetypes from their stiff aura, like an ironic twist - and they fulfill an important intention of the bauhaus: to make their designs available for everyone."

Check out more of his work HERE.