| George Nelson was born in 1908 in Hartford, | | | | director. Herman Miller himself was a fine designer |
| Connecticut, USA and he died in 1986 in New | | | | and clockmaker. |
| York at the age of seventy eight. George Nelson | | | | The role of design director saw the start of a lot |
| is seen as one of the factors in Americans | | | | of excellent collaborations between George Nelson |
| modernism along with Charles and Ray Eames. | | | | and Ray and Charles Eames, Harry Bertois and |
| George Nelson is remembered as being the | | | | many others. |
| inventor of beautiful and practical things. | | | | One of George Nelson's designs was the Ball |
| George Nelson graduated from Yale University in | | | | Clock. The Ball clock was iconically designed after |
| 1928 where he had been studying architecture. In | | | | a night of drinking with friends, although it is still |
| 1931 George Nelson graduated with a bachelor | | | | unknown to this day who originally came up with |
| degree in fine arts. In 1932 George Nelson won | | | | the concept. |
| the Rome Prize whilst preparing for the Paris Prize | | | | George Nelson had a talent for commercial |
| competition. | | | | business as well as for designing. George Nelson |
| George Nelson was unable to find a lot of | | | | used these two strong talents to create a |
| architecture projects, so he decided to turn to | | | | success that rewarded him for his life. On the |
| interior designing and product designing and | | | | 26th October 1955 George Nelson started Gorge |
| graphics. | | | | Nelson and Associates. |
| George Nelson spent a couple of years travelling | | | | Herman Miller offered George Nelson a lot of |
| through Europe whilst being based in Rome. It | | | | money to become his creative designer. From the |
| was in this time that he met some of the | | | | start of the business there was money coming in |
| modern pioneers. After a couple of years of | | | | from a wide range of projects. The first office of |
| traveling, George Nelson returned to America | | | | the company was on 251 Park Avenue South in |
| where he started to devote himself to writing. | | | | New York. George Nelson rented this office space |
| In 1935 George Nelson became the first associate | | | | together with Howard Miller and Herman Miller. The |
| editor of the Architectural Forum, which he | | | | office took on a young Italian student who was |
| continued to do until 1943 when he became a | | | | so impressed with the work being carried out in |
| consultant editor. | | | | the office that he applied and received a student |
| George Nelson had by 1940 drawn a lot of | | | | visa to work in Italy. The student's name was |
| attention to his work by the innovation of several | | | | Ettore Sottsass, and he later went on to be a |
| concepts. In a book, which George Nelson wrote | | | | renowned designer within his own right. |
| called Tomorrow's House, he introduced the | | | | From the first day of the George Nelson |
| concept of a family room. Another of George | | | | Associates Inc business to the day that it closed |
| Nelson's concepts was the "storagewall". This | | | | in the mid 1980's it developed a lot of close |
| concept attracted a great deal of interest | | | | relationships, and many of these were with the |
| especially from Herman Miller, so much so that in | | | | Fortune 500 companies. |
| 1945 he asked George Nelson to be his design | | | | |