What is of value to you.

From our CEO, Ray Brunner, a question posed about value. Originally posted on DWR Design Notes on 09/17/09.

From the CEO: What is of value to you?

I have had a lot of discussions lately regarding “value” versus price. Probably stimulated by an earlier blog post by moi. It really is an interesting subject, and it varies by person and topic. What is of value to one is, well, not so much of value to someone else. Or as my mother used to say, “one man’s garbage is another’s treasure.”

But I have been giving this subject a lot of thought and would like to know what you all think on the subject. In the times we are living in, it seems very relevant to me. We are faced with green washing, organic everything, and so many claims that it is hard to tell fact from fiction and really understand the impact on our lives that some of these decisions may make.

Is the organic avocado that was flown in from Peru really a good thing? Is the hybrid luxury SUV that gets all of 19 miles per gallon really a good thing? Or in our case: Is an authentic reproduction of an Eames chair that is three times the price of an unauthorized one really worth the difference?

It seems that the answer to each of these questions is: maybe. It depends on your point of view and your alternative. It depends on what is of value to you or me.

The organic avocado from Peru is probably better than a non-organic avocado from Peru, but maybe not better than a locally grown one from your farmers’ market (if you live in an area where avocados are grown).

The hybrid SUV is probably a better choice than a non-hybrid SUV, but maybe not as good as no SUV at all. So if you don’t have to have a large vehicle then you have that choice, but if you actually need one, well then the hybrid is good. These answers keep coming back to personal options and individual values.

So that brings us to the Eames chair (could be a Barcelona or an Egg, same idea). The authentic piece is manufactured in a factory that uses sustainable processes. The water leaving the plant is cleaner than the water going in. The leather is tanned in a factory that uses the best practices for maintaining a healthy environment, the structure must pass BIFMA testing, it has to be LEED and Greenguard certified, and the Eames estate is a participant in any changes, as well as compensated for the design work done by their family.

The knock-off (that’s an industry term – I actually prefer “unauthorized reproduction”) is manufactured in a factory that is not Greenguard or LEED certified, and the manufacturing processes may be legal in the country of manufacture, but not acceptable to concerned inhabitants of planet Earth. The structure does not undergo rigid testing and no BIFMA certification is provided. And the design work of the Eames estate is used without license or compensation to the estate. Again, it may not be illegal under certain circumstances, but it may be unacceptable to some (me for one).

So where does it all come down? Well, if you simply don’t care about these issues, then there is no real value to you in the licensed product. If you care about authenticity and about the planet, but can’t afford the Herman Miller piece at this point in your life, then you have a tougher choice (especially if you need a chair). So maybe you buy the knock-off knowing it will get thrown away when it falls apart or when you can afford the real thing (whichever comes first).

It seems these are all personal choices in the end, and personal values.

Of course we all win when we can make the choice that is best for the environment and society, but that is simply not always possible. So what is a body to do?

This is a question we face daily in our personal and business lives. In our personal lives, I like to think we all try to do the right thing and make the best choice we can. In our business lives at DWR, I know we try very hard to do the right thing and give our clients a choice that is responsible and as affordable as it can be made, given our self-imposed constraints of responsible manufacturing, commercial quality, and respect for intellectual property. These are important things to us, and we hope to you too.

So if you get a chance – let us know what you think.

Thanks Ray
Posted by Ray Brunner, CEO, Design Within Reach

Designer...lunches?

I guess it makes sense. While not entirely high design, the concept of food arrangement shares some of the same considerations - balance, nutrition, and of course aesthetics. The New York Times online edition explores the super-cute-lunchbox phenomenon known as Bento Boxes.

On the Naming of Things; brought to you by the letter W

The first proverb of the Tao Te Ching reads in part: "The name that can be named, is not the eternal Name." Or rather, the names that we give things aren't what those things really are. Which is true, sort of. A name can never really describe all aspects of an object. But sometimes it can help.

Charles & Ray Eames were brilliant, creative thinkers. Their products are filled with wit, whimsy and the unexpected. They were truly visionary designers - until it came to naming things, that is. Most products they created were given strings of letters, or simple product numbers. The famous Eames Lounge chair and Ottoman has the dry official designation of EC670 & 671. The moniker says nothing of it's luxurious comfort and styling, only where it fell in Herman Miller's product line in that particular year. Even the toys designed by Ray were given rather un-joyful names: The Coloring Toy, the Building Toy.

While the names are simple and dry they are effective at describing the products. The famed plywood chairs were given three letter designations: the first letter was a D or an L to indicate dining or lounge height; the second letter was a C to indicate a chair; and the last letter was an M or a W to indicate the frame structure. So the iconic plywood lounge chair is officially called an LCW - lounge chair, wood frame. Following with me?

Then came the plastic chairs, and with them a host of new letters. The plastic chairs were one of the first chair systems - a series of parts that could be interchangeable and reconfigurable based on the end user's need. There were two shapes to the plastic shells - a side chair and an arm chair; and there were over 30 different bases that the shells could be attached to. Some rocked, some rolled, some swivelled. Some lounged, some sat upright, some higher, and a few sat somewhere in the middle. There were chairs that could be linked and stacked, and chairs that could be bolted all in a row.

And of course, within each type of base there were different materials - wood, wire, metal. A dining chair might have the elaborate Eiffel base. Or it might be all business and have 4 straight legs. Each of these combinations warranted a different name. Much like the plywood chairs the official designations were inspired by the height of the chair - L for lounge, D for dining, R for rocking; the type of shell - S for side, A for armchair; and the type of base - X-for four legs, R for the Eiffel (rod) base, S for stacking, W for wood. So you might choose an RAR (rocking, armchair, rod-base) for the nursery. Or a set of DSRs (dining, side chair, Eiffel rod-base) for your kitchen.

Many of the original bases were sold in small amounts, making them very rare to find today. One of the most popular is the W base, a beautiful combination of wooden dowels joined by a deceptively strong lacework of wires. When the base was originally introduced it wasn't as popular as expected and was soon after discontinued. Until now.

Working closely with the Eames family Herman Miller has brought back the W base. Made with sturdy maple dowels and steel wire the bases are available on the side chairs and armchairs. And best of all they are available exclusively at Design Within Reach.

Material Mondays

My plan was to have the first Monday of every month be designated "Material Mondays" in which I talk about a different material used to make things. Yes, it's Thursday, but better late than never.

I'm going to use this first Material Monday to tackle a sometimes tough subject - the Eames Molded Plastic Chairs. You see, working at DWR I often hear people lament that the Molded Plastic Chairs are no longer made out of fiberglass. I've heard it all - from claims the fiberglass was more 'organic' looking to unequivocal assertions that it was the 'original material.'

It might surprise you to know that both claims are false.

As a material fiberglass is exactly what it sounds like: needle thin fibers of glass that are formed into a rough shape. That shape is drenched in a mixture of plastic resin and pigment, and squished between two sides of a mold that are coated with a special finish called a gel-coat which seals the fibers. The mold is subject to heat and pressure and voila! Out pops a shape - in this case the Eames Plastic chairs.

At one point, its true, the chairs were made out of fiberglass. In fact, for much of their production history - from 1950 to 1993 the chairs were made out of the material. It is easy to understand why people are nostalgic about it. Under the wear of many backsides most of the vintage chairs have acquired a brilliant glossy shine. The colorful chairs often reveal a unique translucency when put in front of a bright light. Unfortunately fiberglass has many problems. It's not a particularly healthy material -the American Lung Association lists it as a likely carcinogen. If you scratch through the gel-coat the glass fibers can be released, causing skin irritation and lung problems. The same risks are much greater to the workers making the chairs .

The chairs also posed a problem for the greater environment: until fairly recently fiberglass wasn't recyclable. Millions of chairs were created since 1950. Once an institution was done with them the chairs were scrapped into junkyards, creating huge amounts of waste. So, in 1993, the Eames family, along with Herman Miller and Vitra (makers of Eames' furniture in America and Europe respectively) ceased production of the chairs in fiberglass.

Before we get to the end of the story lets jump to the beginning. In the late 1940s Charles and Ray Eames were stuck. They wanted to make a chair that had a single shell to sit in. In 1946 they had developed and produced chairs out of a relatively new material: plywood. But during the process they discovered a problem: plywood can only be formed in so many directions before it breaks. Making a single shell of plywood proved impossible. Instead they compromised and split the chair seat and backrest into two separate pieces. The results were the enormously successful plywood lounge chair (LCW) and plywood dining chairs (DCM)

They continued experimenting with other materials, including stamped metal. By 1948 they had developed prototypes of chairs and submitted them to the International Competition for Low Cost Furniture at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The Eames' entries were featured in the museum catalog, but the metal chairs didn't go into production. Each prototype was stamped by hand using a primitive pulley system. The metal was laid over a mold and a counterpart was then raised up high and dramatically dropped. Each chair shell was composed of three metal pieces that needed to be welded together, then ground smooth, then painted. It was simply too much work for a chair meant to be mass produced. The form of the chairs worked, but the material didn't. And so in 1950 the Eames moved on to fiberglass reinforced plastic.

It is here that you can start to see a pattern, right? The plywood material didn't quite work, and so the Eames moved to metal. And when that didn't work, they moved to fiberglass.

You see, the Eames were constant tinkerers, working to make things better. As the Eames found new materials, and new techniques they applied them. You can see this process in the EC127 chair from 1971. It is essentially a DCM, but it has evolved. Instead of plywood the seat and back are composed of injection-molded plastic with a fabric upholstery. The glued-on rubber bushings are replaced by integrated mounts. The same process happened with the plastic chairs where almost every component - from the rubber bushings to the plastic feet - was tweaked, changed, made better.


When Ray Eames died in 1988 her grandson Eames Demetrios took over the Eames Office. And in 2001 the Eames' legacy of making things better continued. Herman Miller, Vitra, and the Eames Office re-released the molded plastic chairs. This time, instead of stamped metal or fiberglass the chairs were made out of injection molded polypropylene. Polypropylene is very durable and colorfast. Because the chairs are one solid material they can be scrubbed clean without fear of scratching through the surface. Best of all, polypropylene is 100% recyclable.

So if you like the Molded plastic chairs you've got a couple of options - you can hunt around eBay and Craigslist for vintage ones (buying used is a form of recycling!) Or you can buy new molded plastic chairs, confident that you are buying a true original, made in the same spirit - and a much better material - as everything the Eames produced.

Sources:
Eames Office www.eamesoffice.com
Eames Design; Neuhart, Neuhart, Eames (c) 1989
Design Within Reach www.dwr.com
Herman Miller www.hermanmiller.com

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