Irving Harper
| Irving Harper | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 14, 1916 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | August 4, 2015 (aged 99) Rye, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Industrial designer, entrepreneur, author |
| Years active | 1936-2001 |
Irving Harper (July 14, 1916 – August 4, 2015) was an American industrial designer. While working for George Nelson Associates, Inc. on designs for Herman Miller furniture, Harper became one of the most prolific designers of the modernist style. Among his important designs is the Herman Miller company logo, and the company's Marshmallow sofa.
Harper was born in New York City in 1916. After attending Cooper Union and Brooklyn College, Irving Harper worked as a draftsman for the Gilbert Rohde's office during the 1930s. While there he was responsible for the creation of the Plexiglas Exhibit, the Anthracite exhibit, and the Home Furnishings Focal exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Leaving Rohde's, he worked as an interior designer for noted industrial designer Raymond Loewy at the Raymond Loewy Associates office, designing interiors in the company's department store division. Born Irving Hoffzimer to David and Rebecca Hoffzimer. Oldest of three children He had two sisters, Phyliss and Sophie.He was my uncle.
In the 1940s Harper met George Nelson. In 1947 he was offered a job as an interior designer by Nelson and joined George Nelson Associates, Inc. Initially Harper was mostly responsible for designing trade advertising for the Herman Miller furniture account. In 1947 Harper designed the logo for Herman Miller, Inc. Never trained as a graphic artist, Harper based the logo around a large letter "M", for Miller.
At first the logo was in wood-grain, since wood figured prominently in Herman Miller furniture. Harper stated, "I continued to use the M and refined it as the ads went on. The Herman Miller logo was something they got for free, and they loved it." He chuckled. "There was no project to do a logo. It was probably the cheapest logo campaign in advertising history." Harper also was responsible for the textile prints used by Nelson's studio.
Later Nelson got the Howard Miller Clock Co. account, and Harper was given the responsibility of handling it. Harper decided to create clocks that were a piece of sculpture. "To omit numbers and have an abstract object that moved on the wall was something no one was doing at the time". He would design a group of about eight clocks once or twice a year, which were sent to Howard Miller Clock Co. Most were put into production.
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