A once venerable name in contract furnishings, Middlebury, Ind. -based Harter has faced a rapidly evolving corporate world with the same ponderous questions as everybody else: What is the nature of the office of the future, and how should our products address the needs of the users? The answer, according to Harter's new vice president of marketing and design, Peter Greene, lay not only in a complete rethinking of this 76-year-old company's product lines, but also in an extensive re-branding that refocuses the corporate strategy for the new millenium - or at least the next several years.
Long before veteran furniture designer Tim deFiebre was invited into Harter's extensive product archives on a mission to "revisit the past and reinterpret it for the new work-life universe," as Greene puts it, Janine James of the Moderns in New York, was commissioned to create a new branding strategy for the company that would marry its fading reputation for design leadership with a progressive approach to furniture that also establishes an understanding of the future. Focusing on the concept of the "work-life universe" - the blurring of lines between the home and work settings in today's mobile world - the exercise defined new product categories labeled action (products that facilitate work), side (seating for the meeting), train (seating that supports learning environments), relax (lounge seating), and surfaces (tables). Her work also emphasized the importance of materiality and textiles to create design energy: Product choice facilitates function. Material selection creates mood.
"The strongest brands for the future are about building a culture inside and out," says James. Tranforming Harter into a brand and culture-driven organization required an in-depth discovery process that ultimately resulted in a move away from the company's traditional emphasis on ergonomic seating -- which James views as a special space areas. "where clients still see value in investing in unique furniture that makes the workplace relevant," she says. James also curated the color and materials palette for the new Harter to include a wide spectrum of contemporary colors and finishes, plastics, metal, glass and wood, and a range of textiles from Unika Vaev, Spinneybeck, Textus, and Momentum (plus COM).
For his part, deFiebre launched into the assignment with a palette of materials he was bound to work with - and did not necessarily completely embrace at first. But his design work so closely complements the branding direction that James has established for the new Harter that everyone involved has reached the enthsiastic conclusion that they are on the right track.
deFiebre scoured the Harter archives for furniture that could not only be reinterpreted into modern classic, but also be translated into entire collections. HE found two pieces in particular that appealed. "I wanted collections out of these pieces so our first shot out we would have more that two chairs," he explains.
The first collection, Forum, consists of seating and surfaces that emphasize clean lines and comfort, and project a certain sculptural appeal. In reinterpreting the original, archival piece into a new collection of side chairs, one - and two-seat lounge chairs, and multipurpose tables that group into various configurations, deFiebre concentrated on eliminating the arbitrary design elements of the original piece in favor of those that support function. "I had a great base to start from and built on that by asking if there was a functional reason for each detail to exist," he says. The result is a comprehensive offering that also includes Nelson-inspired benches, available in slat wood or fully upholstered. "When you roll out a heady, intellectual brand, you'd better have stuff to support it," says deFiebre.
The second major product grouping designed by deFiebre is the sling collection, which marries the metalworking capabilities of Harter's sister company, Fixtures Furniture (both are owned by Jami Inc.), with the legacy of HArter's upholstery capabilities. An archival collection from the late 1960s, "Sling was ahead of its time," observes deFiebre. "It was almost waiting to be rediscovered." Once again he updated and expanded the original pieces, creating a collection that includes lightly scaled, tubular-frame swivel chairs with suspended seat construction, stackers with optional writing tablets, and bar and counter height seating.
With the introduction of these and two additional product lines, Cyclus cantilevered beam seating designed by Erik Munnikhof, and the Step Action Chair designed by George Simons, Hater hopes to put itself in the forefront of the solutions-based - and eye-catching - deisgn in today's commercial and crossover marketplace. NeoCon* will naturally serve as the platform for the big reintroduction of a company that has known better days - and is likely to recapture them with this extensive makeover.
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