Herman Miller and Alexander Girard

US-based furniture-design company Herman Miller has just unveiled a new collection and, much to our delight, it includes fabulous posters based on the decorative panel designs of Alexander Girard.

Vibrant and bursting with energy, the artworks are the perfect way to inject a space with colour and visual interest.

All in all, there are eight designs, including iconic patterns, such as Bouquet, Double Hearts and Eyes and Palace, all based on Environmental Enrichment Panels Girard designed in the 1970s.

These Enrichment Panels were designed by Girard for use in the workplace to increase productivity and creativity among employees by enriching spaces.

“Pattern has always been the entry point into Alexander Girard’s irresistibly optimistic universe,” says Ben Watson, president of Herman Miller.

“His original intention was to use these prints to infuse colour and energy into the workplace. In today’s world, work happens everywhere, and one’s home environment can be equally as creative and inspiring. These timeless designs are just as powerful as they were when introduced in 1972.”

The panels formed part of Herman Miller’s Action Office system – the world’s first open-plan office system.

“In marketing material from the Herman Miller Archives, Alexander Girard states that the Environmental Enrichment Panels were meant to ‘add interest and variety’ to the Action Office 2 landscape, where they were intended to be ‘mounted, placed, and enjoyed,” explains Amy Auscherman, MillerKnoll’s director of archives and brand heritage.

“In his residential projects, Girard pushed for a warmer kind of modernism that celebrated colour and the curation of meaningful objects for one’s space. The Environmental Enrichment Panels were the last major body of work by Girard for Herman Miller and were a punctuation mark at the end of a career that brought joy to interiors.”