I have a dear friend in Zeeland MI. Zeeland is a small community just outside of Grand Rapids and is home to Herman Miller furniture. On a trip to visit Herman Miller in November of 2018 I first met Sally. She was our host for the beginning of our experience at HM and she shared compelling, first-hand accounts of the early days and designers that made the furniture line famous. Her warmth and friendliness were magnetic and when she told us we should visit her home if we came back we took her invitation to heart.
A few months later we returned to Grand Rapids to revisit a different company but we also set aside time to visit Sally. She was surprised but delighted that we took her at her word about the visit. She told us she made that offer many times, but we were the first to take it. Her home was meticulous yet inviting. Filled with art and furniture (which is also art), she and Bill raised their children there among the HM artifacts, many of which even the Herman Miller museum doesn’t have. She served us snacks and we talked about life, family, art, her career, and too many other things to list. We eventually went to dinner with her family and then came back to the house to say goodbye. She asked if we wanted to come in for a few more minutes and we jumped at the opportunity, by then we were already becoming fast friends.
We have visited since and kept in touch by email and text. We mourned when their daughter lost her long battle with cancer and then again when Bill was suddenly taken too. She also followed our little group through victories and valleys including the tragic loss of our friend’s twin brother. Sally calls us her “Oklahoma family” and we are grateful to have her as an adopted mother. Sally is an example of a life lived well. She has embraced every day, every challenge, every opportunity with a joy and enthusiasm that makes her seem decades younger than the calendar claims.
On my last visit we somehow got to talking about my personal brand and that I had created several for other people and of course I offered to create one for her. It was hard to tell whether she would have a use for something of this nature as she rarely promotes hersef in any way, but I decided she would have one to use or not.
Given her long and storied career with Herman Miller, and her love of the design work of Alexander Girard and Ray & Charles Eames, I started working on a logo and eventually came up with this:
This is the Brand Guide Statement:
Sally’s life is marked by unflinching consistency in everything she puts her heart and hand to. As a young woman working at Herman Miller, as a wife and mother, and as a dedicated servant in her community. Sally Gruppen loves well and lives well. The Irving Harper designed French-curved M in bold red serves as the container for negative space initials in a font form created to match the curve of the Herman Miller shape. Intentionally manipulated spacing results in a symmetrical square space, with a little bit of a Girard feel to it. This logo acknowledges the years Sally spent serving at Herman Miller, the commitment to family and community, and her love for design and beauty.