Herman Miller Gaming has teamed up with Brooklyn art studio Faile to create 12 unique versions of its Embody Gaming Chairs. These chairs will be added to the brand’s archives after a New York exhibition. The collaboration also includes prints and collectible wooden sculptures featuring Faile’s vibrant, graphic designs.
Herman Miller Gaming has partnered with Brooklyn art studio Faile, known for its pop-art and collage-style graphics inspired by their Deluxx Fluxx art installation, which was adapted into nightclubs in Detroit and New York City. These spaces feature Faile’s artwork, retro pinball machines, and neon dance floors.
Founders Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller transformed 12 Herman Miller Gaming chairs with their unique art style, featuring characters like animals, robots, and pin-up women on the seat cushions.
The collaboration features Embody Gaming Chairs adorned with the studio’s graphic artwork. The chair frames and exposed structures are painted in vibrant colors like blue, yellow, green, pink, and ombre shades.
McNeil and Miller approached the chairs as “art objects.”
The chair’s frame and structure feature bright colors. “Gaming culture is all about color, fantasy, and the excitement of wild experiences. We felt this wasn’t fully celebrated in the Embody Gaming Chair,” said McNeil and Miller.
They viewed this as a chance to showcase the chair as both a design piece and an art object.
The collection includes 100 hand-carved wooden sculptures called Joysticks, inspired by the tap handles Faile created for their Deluxx Fluxx spaces.
“The Joysticks were inspired by the drawings that often appear in the background of our work,” said McNeil and Patrick Miller.
The chairs will be added to the Herman Miller archive. “These characters have always been part of the sketches and doodles in the background of our work,” said McNeil and Miller.
The collaboration also includes three prints that reflect the themes of gaming and arcades.
The collaboration features wooden sculptures and prints. The collection will be displayed at a New York exhibit in September, and later, the chairs will be added to the Herman Miller archives to inspire future designers.
Faile is a Brooklyn-based multimedia studio founded in 1999 by Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller, known for their work in print, installations, murals, tilework, event spaces, and pop-up installations.
Earlier this year, Herman Miller unveiled its first rebrand in over two decades and merged with fellow furniture brand Knoll in 2021.
