Background of George Nelson

George Nelson (1908-1986) was one of the most important American designers of the 20th century. After earning an architectural degree, Nelson began his career in the 1930s as an author and journalist before opening his own design office in 1947. The first collection commissioned by the furniture manufacturer Herman Miller marked the beginning of a collaboration that would last three decades and spawn numerous classics of furniture design. In addition Nelson took on the position of design director at Herman Miller, where he then also became a pioneer in the areas of business communication and corporate design.

George Nelson & Company accepted commissions in the fields of architecture, interior design, graphic design and exhibition design. This convergence and crossfertilization of various disciplines was seen by Nelson as a defining characteristics of the work of an industrial designer. For Nelson, reflecting and writing about design and the societal role of the designer often preceded or accompanied the actual design task. Always seeking to place design in the larger sociocultural and economic context, his writings as a design author established him as one of the most significant voices on American design.