SMACK: Linda Powell’s Christmas Party Posters for Herman Miller
Herman Miller Christmas Party Poster, "Smack," December 16, 1978 / THF626909
In 1976, Linda Powell was hired as a graphic designer at the Herman Miller Furniture Company in Zeeland, Michigan. A recent graduate of Western Michigan University in nearby Kalamazoo, Michigan, she received a bachelor's degree in graphic design and a master’s degree in education. For Herman Miller, Powell designed a dizzying variety and amount of material, including internal magazines, holiday cards, annual reports, invitations, product packaging, environmental graphics, posters, and more.
Powell’s supervisor, Steve Frykholm, was Herman Miller’s first internal graphic designer and his poster series for the company’s annual summer picnic became an immediate and resounding success. This success sparked a tradition of the company’s internal graphic designers producing posters and other materials for internal employee events. In the spirit of Frykholm’s Picnic Posters, Powell was asked to design a poster for the 1976 employee Christmas party. She continued to create posters for each Christmas party until 1979.
Herman Miller Christmas Party Poster, "God Bless Us, Everyone," December 10, 1976 / THF626900
The 1976 Christmas party theme was “English Christmas.” Powell’s poster invokes the words of Tiny Tim Cratchit, a major character from Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol. At the end of the story, the ailing Tiny Tim announces, “God bless us, every one!” after his father raises a toast at the Christmas dinner table. It is also repeated as the final line of the story and symbolizes protagonist Ebenezer Scrooge’s change of heart. Powell’s poster was produced in different colorways, including this green stock, as well as a brown and blue, but the focus is always Tiny Tim’s message.
Herman Miller Christmas Party Poster, "O Tannenbaum," December 17, 1977 / THF189135
The 1977 theme was “German Christmas.” Powell’s poster design features die-cut Christmas ornaments. The die-cut ornaments are difficult to see in this image as the ornaments have not been popped out and creased, but the same poster held at the West Michigan Graphic Design Archive showcases the three-dimensionality of this poster quite well. “O Tannenbaum,” references the German Christmas folk song, known in English as “O Christmas Tree.”
Herman Miller Christmas Party Poster, "Fa La La La La," December 16, 1978 / THF189136
Herman Miller Christmas Party Poster, "Ho Ho Ho," December 16, 1978 / THF189137
Herman Miller Christmas Party Poster, "Jingle," December 16, 1978 / THF189138
In 1978, Powell designed four unique posters for the “sounds of Christmas” themed party, instead of attempting to address the multitudes of holiday audio in one design. These high saturation, high contrast posters each foreground one sound. “Smack” (shown as the cover image to this blog) references the sound of a kiss under the mistletoe. A jolly Santa Claus peeks through the first “O” in the “Ho Ho Ho” to ensure one imagines his laughter. The final two posters reference the sounds of classic Christmas songs: “Fa La La La La” invokes “Deck the Halls” and “Jingle,” of course, refers to “Jingle Bells.”
Herman Miller Christmas Party Poster, "Popcorn and Cranberries," December 21, 1979 / THF626905
The final Christmas Party Poster designed by Linda Powell was undertaken in 1979. Taking clear inspiration from Steve Frykholm’s food-focused Picnic Posters, she features alternating rows of popcorn and cranberries hung on a Christmas tree. This zoomed-in, micro perspective encourages attention paid to details of the holiday.
After fifteen years at Herman Miller, Powell resigned in 1991 and began a career in academia as a professor at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan. Alongside Herman Miller colleague Barbara Loveland, she developed a robust design program at the university. Since retiring from Ferris State University, Powell co-founded the West Michigan Graphic Design Archive, held at the archive of her alma mater, Western Michigan University, and continues to advocate for preservation of graphic design originating in western Michigan.
Further reading:
- Check out the Fall 2023 issue of The Henry Ford Magazine for a spotlight on Steve Frykholm’s Picnic Posters for Herman Miller.
- Read about Kathy Stanton, colleague of Linda Powell, in the “Women Design: Kathy Stanton’s Picnic Posters for Herman Miller” on The Henry Ford’s blog.
Katherine White is curator of design at The Henry Ford.
