Keyn Chair Group from Herman Miller is honoured by The Furniture Makers’ Company

Herman Miller is pleased to announce the Keyn Chair Group, designed by British design company forpeople, has been awarded the prestigious Design Guild Mark, as well as the Jonathan Hindle Prize for Excellence. Awarded by The Furniture Makers’ Company, the furnishing industry’s charity, the Design Guild Mark aims to drive excellence and raise the profile of British design and innovation. The Jonathan Hindle Prize is awarded to the most outstanding design entered into the awards each year.

Alex Gifford, Chairman of the Design Guild Mark commented: “The judges were particularly impressed by the fact that Keyn, along with several other entries, reacts to a change in the way we need task and meeting chairs. The way people now work is not as polarised into 'task' and 'meeting' as it has been in the past, and what is needed is dynamic ergonomic seating that does not involve complicated adjustment and has a design approach that suits a wider range of settings, be they focused work, collaboration, meeting, touch-down etc.”

Mr Gifford continued: “Of the products that that are created for this new paradigm in workplace design, the Keyn chair was the best resolved and innovative. It was also recognised that the manufacturer and designer had invested heavily in producing a new type of mechanism that represents real innovation in plastic injection moulding.”

The Design Guild Mark is judged by a panel of leading industry professionals. Each member of the panel is from the furniture, hospitality, commercial, retail or media industry. Judges must ensure each piece of furniture meets the criteria of excellence in design, materials, manufacture and function.

Stephen Perkins, Vice President of Product Design and Development at Herman Miller International said: “I am delighted that the Keyn Chair Group has been recognised by the Furniture Makers’ Company for both the Design Guild Mark and the Jonathan Hindle Prize. Keyn was our first collaboration with designers forpeople who share the same goals as Herman Miller - both companies are driven by a continuous search for new perspectives and insights, brought to life through great design, cutting-edge engineering and responsible manufacturing.”

About Herman Miller
Herman Miller is a globally recognised provider of furnishings and related technologies and services. Headquartered in West Michigan, the global company has relied on innovative design for over 100 years to solve problems for people wherever they work, live, learn, and heal. Herman Miller’s designs are part of museum collections worldwide, and the company is a past recipient of the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper Hewitt National Design Award. Known and respected for its leadership in corporate social responsibility, Herman Miller has earned the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s top rating in its Corporate Equality Index ten years in a row, was named a 2016 Top 100 Healthiest Employer, and has earned numerous global sustainability awards. In the 2016 financial year, the company generated $2.26 billion in revenue and employed nearly 8,000 people worldwide. Herman Miller trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol MLHR.