Herman Miller
—Future State
Brand & Program

In 2017, Herman Miller approached Someoddpilot to create an event series aimed at engaging promising young design voices emerging in the architecture and design community. New ideas; new perspectives; new customers; this program was unique in its ability to create early opportunities for engagement between Herman Miller and the next generation of designers.

Representatives from Someoddpilot and Herman Miller visited a select group of cities and design studios in order to hold open forums aimed at sharing ideas, exploring unique prompts, and aiding in visual exercises that all explore the future of architecture and design. Ultimately, the perspectives, ideas, and creations created by the Future State participants were culled together into a small publication as well as a social campaign to promote the content.

The Future State mark and subsequent custom character set, which became a key feature of the brand, was inspired by a number of stencil tools used and developed by architects to help create quick, clean, typographic forms in drafting and sketching. The resultant typeface is unique, playful, and bold—a voice that stands out from the classically modernist Herman Miller brand. The campaign needed to set itself apart from such a tight system—to stand out amongst the bevy of Herman Miller marketing materials already out there.

The event series culminated with a publication aimed at documenting the series as well as the ideas that came out of it. Through premium printing, unique materials, and engaging visual elements, the book was designed to recreate the experience and the energy of the event; to translate it into a new medium suited for posterity.

Social was an excellent opportunity to utilize a broad array of content generated through the months of programing for Future State. Event documentation, collages, diagrams, Future State brand content, and even short animations developed in collaboration with the A/V team at Someoddpilot.