Yves Behar and the Sayl Chair

The Herman Miller Sayl chair by Yves Behar was designed and created by its namesake, Yves Behar. Before creating the Sayl chair, Yves Behar was an industrial designer and founder of fuseproject, a San Francisco based design and branding firm he established in 1999. Yves Behar began his career with frogdesign, working as a design leader and developing products for clients such as Apple, Inc. and Hewlett Packard. When Yves Behar founded fuseproject, he set three goals for himself.

Yves Behar's first goal was to be a futurist and an optimist when it came to the possibilities of new technologies. His second goal was to be a humanist, and to seek putting the human experience first in his designs. His third goal was to be a committed naturalist, promoting a sustainable way of living and consuming. This combination of technology, humanity, brand and story was his central message. Yves Behar stated that ‘we have one foot in the in the consumer's space and one foot in our client's space, so we can act as the bridge.' This statement served as a little foreshadowing for the Chair he would later design based on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Before designing the Chair, Yves Behar's designs were at work in many diverse areas. Yves Behar designed fashion, lifestyle, sports, and technology for large companies such as Birkenstock, BMW, Microsoft, Nike, and Toshiba.

In 2005, five years before designing the Herman Miller Sayl Chair, Yves Behar sculpted a massive chandelier for Swarovski that was installed at the JFK airport in New York. The chandelier is a loose tangle of curves with fifty five thousand crystals worked into the design. The chandelier includes a motion detector that triggers two thousand blue light diodes that react to the movement of passengers throughout the airport. Yves Behar is also the chief designer of OLPC's XO laptop, and has been with the OLPC team since 2006. Another one of Yves Behar's great accomplishments is the highly praised Bluetooth headset. Yves Behar refers to the headpiece as a facial accessory.
Sayl Chair by Herman Miller

Yves Behar is the founder of his company, fuseproject. Fuseproject is a San Francisco based design agency that contributes to areas that include technology, furniture, sports, lifestyle, fashion, and much more. Yves Behar brings a different approach to his work with the end game of creating projects that are in tune with the needs of the environment, and connected with human emotions. These ideas allow Yves Behar's designs to convey a great amount of self-expression. Some examples of fuseproject's vast projects include the world's first $100 XO laptop. The laptop was designed for Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child organization. This organization brings education and technology to the world's poorest children.

Yves Behar is currently working of the next laptop, XOXO. Other projects include Jawbone, a cell phone headset company; LeCube, a cable box for France's digital TV company Canal+; a recycling project with Coca Cola; a new front page for iGoogle; MINI Motion, a new design for BMW's MINI Cooper; and the LEAF light and Sayl Chair for Herman Miller. Yves Behar was born in Switzerland and studied industrial design in Western Europe and the all over the United States. Over fifteen years ago Yves Behar moved to San Francisco.

Yves Behar moved to San Francisco in the middle of a large technological revolution. “Those innovations were a part of everyday culture here and became an additional tool set for my work as a designer,” Yves Behar says about San Francisco's technology at that time. Yves Behar credits his unique style and design abilities to growing up in Switzerland with a Turkish father and German mother. Yves Behar says he has a triad personality. He explains, “There's the warmer, expressive, story telling culture of Turkey combined with an ethnic quality that comes from Switzerland, and the California tech causal culture mixed in.” Yves Behar's designs are completely one of a kind and unique. Yves Behar designs like no one else in the world, and does not make any apologies for the work he creates.

Love it or hate it, there's no mistaking it's an Yves Behar piece. The combination of technological innovation and design is Yves Behar's hallmark. Yves Behar sees design from a technical and innovative standpoint, rather than a style or aesthetic standpoint. Fuseproject considers the emotional connection between the product and the consumer as well as the aesthetic qualities when designing pieces and working on projects. In addition to fuseproject's commercial pieces, they create many pieces for non-profit clients emphasizing their core philosophy. Fuseproject's core philosophy is that design is a real agent of change. Fuseproject states that, “Design is a real agent of change. We need to initiate an emphasis on the notion of ‘Design for Good'; we have a responsibility to the world around us.” It is this spirit that makes so many companies, for profit and non-profit alike, want to work with Yves Behar and fuseproject. When a company is so focused on supplying what the consumer needs and wants and still produces beautiful items, it is a no brainer to work with them.
Sayl Chair by Herman Miller

Yves Behar and fuseproject are dedicating to expanding their design ventures. Behar seems to be in constant motion, never allowing himself to become complacent or stationary. His designs are the same way, constantly changing and evolving. “We are changing the way we engage clients. Fewer vendors, more partner. I dislike the mentality that puts design in the self defeating position to be a vendor to enterprises, I think this demands change on both sides of the equation: for clients to realize that designers are partners to their success, and for designers to put themselves in the place of both stake holder and risk taker.

Big company of small company, corporation of start up it doesn't matter,” says Yves Behar. It is this thinking that really screams to all companies that have worked with fuseproject in the past. Wouldn't it be nice if all people felt this way? It would be fantastic if all companies agreed that the bottom line in any business venture was the people. Behar believes that the bottom line is always the consumer. If you don't have the consumer, you have nothing. There is no reason to make a product if there are no buyers. These beliefs have kept Behar and fuseproject in business. Fuseproject works with companies large and small on long-term engagements. Fuseproject also develops its own business partnerships, known as design ventures.

These design ventures work with early stage firms for an equity creating a shared risk and reward. When fitting, Yves Behar takes on bigger roles. Yves Behar redefines the role of design and brand leadership at major companies such as Coca-Cola and Jawbone. Yves Behar is CCO and VP of Jawbone. Hosain Rahman, CEO and Founder of Jawbone states, Yves is our creative compass, his vision has shaped this company's products and brand since day one.” Yves Behar is dedicated to helping groom the next generation of innovative designers. As a way to follow through with this idea, Yves Behar is the chair of the industrial design department at the California College of the Arts.

Fuseproject was founded in 1999 by Yves Behar, and has been flourishing since. Fuseproject began as a small company founded by an emerging designer. Yves Behar has since grown to be one of the most sought after and pioneering designers on the market. Fuseproject is an award winning industrial design and branding firm that has offices in both San Francisco and New York. Fuseproject began in Yves Behar's hometown of San Francisco. Fuseproject takes a long term, tactical approach to designing and enhancing brands. Fuseproject creates brand-building innovations by developing abstract messages that are conveyed through the product's experience.

Fuseproject is nothing like any other design companies today. They are revolutionary, unique, and bold. Fuseproject boats that they foster change and support the evolution of the brands that they work with. Clients of fuseproject benefit from their unique approach through their ability to give a broader view of design and branding to the client. Fuseproject was created with the notion that brand and product and inextricably tied together. The brand's story cannot be separated from the brand's physical being. Both parts of the brand must be considered a necessity to the central goal.

Yves Behar believes in changing the position of design in the world. “Designers need to develop a new relationship with the world,” says the designer of the Sayl Chair. Yves Behar sees himself as a leader, and strives to bring other designers with him on his journey to create pieces that cater to their audience. Yves Behar sees a larger place for design in the future, and the opportunity for designers to be actual participants in profit and non-profit companies and causes. Yves Behar believes in the true immersion of the designer in the design process. Yves Behar claims, “Humanistic design must tap into the giving element of our profession. It must be deeply in tune with the needs to create a sustainable future, deeply connected with emotional needs, and deeply self expressive.” Yves Behar believes in creating and designing pieces that reach to people on a larger and deeper level that just aesthetics. Yves Behar's designs are created in a way that reaches to the core of the human process. There are lots of plain Jane designs in the world today, and Yves Behar believes that his designs are a cut above the rest.
Sayl Chair by Herman Miller

The world agrees with Yves Behar, throwing accolades and awards his way. Author Kevin Kelly says of Yves Behar, “In recent years, Yves Behar has emerged as one of the most important industrial designers on the contemporary scene. Through his San Francisco based design and branding company fuseproject, the Swiss-born Yves Behar has shown that a futuristic, hi tech approach to design can be deeply humane. The fluid forms and innovative function of his products are impressive enough, but it's Yves Behar's interest in the human experience and positive social change that give his objects real meaning.” Truer words were never spoken. Yves Behar believes that his designs are created so that the true emotional connections between the product and the consumer can be fully discovered. Yves Behar's designs speak to the roots of humanity.

His pieces are designed to be the best they can be to fit you. They aren't made to fit anyone else. His pieces also always have an edge on environmentally friendly designs. Fuse project's focus on creating environmentally friendly pieces has not gone unnoticed, as they have received many awards and praises from green friendly companies and committees. Fuseproject's focus is on creating different and interesting brand and business stories for their clients. Fuseproject does not cater to larger companies just because they are bigger. Yves Behar believes that smaller companies are just as worthy of his company's time and work. Starting as a tiny company itself, fuseproject does not discriminate against and company based on size. Fuseproject treats all of their clients the same and gives just as much attention and time to a start up company as they do to a larger one.

Fuseproject seeks to work with clients that want to significantly change their brand. They concentrate on working with companies that want to make large strides in the restructuring of their brand. Although fuseproject steers towards these types of projects, it is not all they do. Fuseproject works with a wide range of clients, and are not limited to any certain type of client. Fuseproject is excited to work with any company that is seeking a fresh perspective on their brand, product, and business. Fuseproject's client roster spans Fortune 100 corporations, non-profits, museums, and universities.

Fuseproject has been honored by many institutions for their design and business work. Yves Behar's designs are recognized around the world as some of the most futuristic and innovative around. They have received numerous awards in 2010-2011 alone. They are as follows:

The Engadget Editor's Choice Awards – The Jawbone Icon for wearable device of the year and the Nook Color as runner up E-reader of the year.

Best Ads by Advertising Age – PACT: Be Good. Plant Wood. (Print and Design)

IDSA Design of the Decade Award – Jawbone Bluetooth Headsets for most successful integration of new technology and the OLPC XO-3 Laptop, Yo-Yo, and Multicharger for solution to a developing world social problem.

Mobile Choice Awards – Jawbone ICON for best Bluetooth headset.

Spark Award – Litl, Spark!, Puma, Spark!, and JimmyJane, form 2 Spark!

CES – Jawbone ICON and EARWARE, Canal+ LeCube, Jawbone JAMBOX, Mint Automatic Floor Cleaner, Litl, and GE Wattstation.

Annual communication Arts Design – PUMA box, Jawbone Prime/Earcandy

IDEA Award – Jawbone Icon for communication tools, Herman Miller Ardea for home living, PACT Underwear for ecodesign

Herman Miller Ardea for ecodesign, Mission Motors ‘Mission ONE' for transportation, JimmyJane FORM2 for leisure and recreation, Mint Automatic Floor Cleaner for home living, Tony Hawk RIDE for entertainment, PACT underwear for personal accessories, Tony Hawk RIDE for packaging and graphics, Herman Miller TWIST for ecodesign and office productivity, Jawbone ICON for packaging and graphics, and DJ Hero for entertainment.

I.D. Award – Talamanca Cocoa grater for the Nature Conservatory.

Travel + Leisure 2011 Design Award Winner for the JAMBOX portable speaker b Jawbone. (Best tech accessory)

Yves Behar says that, "Designers have a responsibility to show the future as they want it to be – or at least as it can be, not just the way an industry wants it to be." These might be harsh words coming from Yves Behar, who works as a hired hand for many major corporations. Yves Behar makes a point of designing pieces that are made for the people who use them. Yves Behar designs products that are futuristic and contemporary, the way he wants the future to be. Yves Behar continues to design pieces that look outside of the box and not at all in the direction that many would expect. Yves Behar's ability to continually surprise with his new and innovative designs is what keeps people coming back for more. John R. Holke, vice president of Nike, calls Yves Behar, "a fantastic design force [who's] about to explode onto the world scene." Holke said this about Yves Behar in 2004, and his premonition was correct. Since then Yves Behar has exploded onto the world scene in a big way.

Yves Behar has made his mark on the work market from designing a laptop that could be used in the most dismal and impoverished corners of the world to creating a Bluetooth headpiece that will be used by some of the wealthiest of Earth's population. Yves Behar has made his mark on a vast and various audiences. One of the great things about Yves Behar is his ability to reach out to a multitude of people. Behar can relate as easily to the world's richest as well as the most destitute families in the world.

Through fuseproject, Yves Behar has quickly gained notoriety and fame for his radical and innovative products. Designing consumer goods for giants of industry such as Herman Miller, Nike, Birkenstock, and even Microsoft. Behar has never been afraid of a challenge, and doesn't let himself live with parameters. Yves Behar views his role in the design process as reaching far beyond mere product improvement. Behar not only improves the product, but he makes it new again. He goes beyond the redesign of a piece and includes the packaging and branding in his improvements. Behar is determined to go much deeper into the design process so that his designs do everything but literally speak to the consumer.

Behar's designs are so impressive that they can almost speak for themselves. Behar thinks, "Too many design firms operate like a law office, where their approach has more to do with how much service they can provide for a client, but our responsibility is also to influence how design permeates culture." Behar feels an obligation to bridge the gap between culture and design. Design doesn't need to feel like some untouchable or abstract thought. To Behar, design's purpose is not to merely show us the future, but to bring it to us. In 2001, Yves Behar designed a windbreaker for Lutz & Patmos's fall line. The windbreaker was made out of cashmere fibers bathed in DuPont Teflon, making it more resistant to wind, water and oil than any other jacket. This idea had never been tried before, and Behar brought it to life. While the jacket remained extremely efficient, the garment still retained the supple feel of cashmere. Behar combined the consumer's need for a repellent coat with the consumer's want for comfort and beauty. By combining these two aspects Behar hit a home run. Yves Behar's futuristic outlook is brutally apparent in his designs for the Red Transformer Toshiba laptop.
Sayl Chair Production

The Transformer laptop looks brilliantly exquisite and sleek. Equipped with a red lacquer, the casing opens in two separate parts revealing a super sleek and ultra thin computer buffed to a metallic sheen. The Transformer's 17-inch screen extends up and outward towards the consumer on a collapsible hinge, essentially transforming the computer into a presentation display that resembles a flat screen television. The consumer feels like they're watching television while using their computer. Behar explains, “I had the idea of an envelope, as you open it up the technology reveals itself in a magical way.” Behar's designs give the consumer a feeling of excitement that they can't find anywhere else. Many of Yves Behar's designs are much like the Transformer laptop; magical, innovative, and mesmerizing.

In a world of overbearing gadgets and gizmos, Yves Behar looks forward to a future where technology can be present when needed and invisible when not. Yves Behar doesn't believe that technology is the ‘end all be of all' of design. In fact, he believes quite the opposite. At his core, Behar seems a hopeless romantic. Behar doesn't make excuses for the lack of technology in designs. He uses technology when it's needed, and only when it's needed. Behar's designs are driven by emotions and a desire to connect with those who see and use his products. To Behar, emotional connections are the most important part of his designs. Don't be fooled by his emotional attachments, Behar also has a sharp business mind. Innovative products must make an emotional connection to users, but they also have to make money for the producers.

Yves Behar hasn't had any problem completing this task. Behar believes that businesspeople should think about how they want their products to make their customers feel about their company. When a company makes a product that is custom fit to the consumer, they will be more likely to buy your product. When a customer feels like they have an emotional connection to your brand, they are much more likely to buy your product. If the emotional association with your brand is a good one, the monetary association will also be good and long lasting. The two ideas are intertwined. In 2004, Behar was honored with a solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Many call Yves Behar the Brand Man. Brands are changing and evolving every day, and Yves Behar is at the forefront of this movement. In a world where consumers are consumed with choices, technology is zooming and at times overwhelming, and advertising in non stop, Yves Behar's business is creating what he calls, “powerful, emotional brand stories that connect to 21st century consumers.” Behar believes that a well thought out and developed brand will reach a consumer on an emotional level.

A well-designed story creates better emotional connections to the consumers than a thirty second television spot. In an era when most people fast forward through commercials, Behar provides branding that isn't dependent on the television. Companies often call on Behar when their brands are failing and need a major boost. When your company's in a tight spot there's not any one better to pull you out of a rut. One of Behar's most well known interventions was at Birkenstock. Birkenstock was failing to reach to the newest generation of earth friendly consumers. The sixties icon of hippies and granola was slipping into oblivion among Behar's generation.

Behar came to the rescue, saving the company from ultimate death. Behar revamped the company from the ground up, making it more appealing to the modern day environmentalist. Yves Behar kept the sandal's signature features intact. No need to change the parts of the company that weren't broken, Behar kept the comfortable posture enhancing footbed as well as the cork sole. He exemplified the ergonomic and ecological values that kept Birkenstock customers faithful over decades. Behar has a way of making people see good companies for what they are. Yves Behar added running shoe style technology to the design and created a new line of 21st century leather and suede shoes as well as boots.

Yves Behar also came up with a new name and an ad campaign for the new designs. Yves Behar named the new line of shoes The Architect Collection. Yves Behar designed a new logo and picked the ad agency for the line, he even designed another extension to the brand. Behar designed a line of shoes perfect for beach use and named the Birkies. Behar perfectly interpreted Birkenstock's original story of reliability and eco friendly ideas and made them user friendly for a new generation. Birkenstock's sales increased and they were no longer on the brink of extinction largely thanks to Yves Behar. BMW is another Yves Behar success story. BMW was by no means close to going under, but they needed to reach out to their consumers in a new way.

BMW reached out to Yves Behar when they needed to create a series of auto products to accompany one of their cars. BMW was relaunching their classic Mini Cooper and needed the consumers to understand and want their product. Yves Behar helped BMW see that the true story wasn't about the car, but it was about the driver's lifestyle. When you relate to the lifestyle of the consumer rather than the car, the product becomes more appealing. The Mini cooper brand was about, “mobility, maneuverability, speed, and most of all fun.” Yves Behar designed a line of gear to fit this lifestyle. Behar designed a watch, shoes, and jacket to match the Mini. The new line of products designed to complement the Mini Cooper were the perfecting branch from consumer to manufacturer. Behar named the line MINI_motion. Behar said, “consumers want products that tell stories, have magic, and inspire.” With the MINI_motion line Behar created a product that did just that.

Yves Behar always knew he wanted to be an industrial designer. Oddly enough, this was the answer Behar gave when asked what he wanted to be as a child. Yves Behar has known what he wanted to be for such a long time that it just seems natural to do doing what he's doing. Behar says that his dreams of being an industrial designer were a way of escaping the grey banking suits of his Swiss childhood. Surrounded by the seriousness of banking and boredom, designing seemed like an escape for a young Yves Behar. Yves Behar has said that he feels extremely lucky and grateful to have found something that he loves at such a young age. Unlike many children, Yves Behar has never wavered from his original dram job.

Industrial design continues to be a part of Behar's everyday curiosity and discovery. Yves Behar finds inspiration and creativity in the most mundane things. Behar says that his favorite design is his one laptop per child design. Behar says that this design represents the biggest shift in both design and technological thinking of all his designs. Behar's product is one that serves to develop the world's children and was truly conceived to specifically adapt to their lifestyles. This is just another example of Yves Behar's continual loyalty to the people of the world and their needs. The XO laptop strives to make technology approachable, emotional, and low cost. Coming in at an impressive $100, the laptop has been distributed to some of the world's most destitute children.

Behar's designs are created as pieces that exalt environmental and social sustainability. To Behar, neither of these ideas can exist without the other. Both these are essential tools to Behar's designing process and have proven to make his designs smarter and more beautiful to today's consumer. Behar has designed some of the most forward thinking pieces of our time. Yves Behar has always had an eye for what the consumer needs and wants. When designing the Sayl Chair, Yves Behar first made an effort to discover what the consumer really needed from their office chair. Behar spent hours simply observing the way people used their current chairs, and thought of ways to make it better and more efficient. Behar continues to produce designs and pieces that speak to the consumer in a way that no other designer can. It's hard to put your finger on what it is exactly that makes Behar's designs to unique and appealing, but there's no denying that they are just that.

Yves Behar is best at creating 21st century companies that are infused with sustainability and growth power. If your company needs a revamping or just a face-lift, Yves Behar is perfect for the job. Behar has spent over ten years working with companies to ensure their stability and long term plans.

Behar works with a non-profit company in Mexico that distributes eyeglasses to children who would not be able to have them on their own. This is just one example of the various philanthropic ventures Behar is involved with. Yves Behar recently launched a truly fantastic product. A mopping robot. Mint launched in fall of 2010. This company has forever changed the face of cleaning with their self-mopping robot. Yves Behar has also recently worked with Puma to redesign the company's distribution system. Yves Behar had designed the distribution materials for many of his projects. Puma's standard shoeboxes are being replaced with the ‘Clever Little Bag'.

The bag change will allow for the company to spend less on packaging. There's no doubt that this new shoe sold in a bag will be of interest to the consumer. This box to bag change will change the face of the company, hopefully making it more sustainable. Sustainability is an idea that the consumer can take home; it's the future of Yves Behar's designs.

When asked who influence Behar, he had a scroll of answers. For the designer who designs everything from furniture to shoe bags, it's hard to have just one inspiration. Yves Behar has been inspired by many designers of the past as well as designers of the present. Among Behar's inspirations are Charles Earnes and Bruno Munari. Behar says the most inspirational designers to him are ones that were designing during a time of radical change. Designers at work during times of industrial and technological revolutions seem to be the most impressive to Behar. In the case of Charles Earnes, this was when furniture became more about technology and less about a specific formula. Earnes was a revolutionary designer of his time, designing furniture that was extremely technologically advanced. Behar later followed in Eearnes' footsteps designing the Sayl Chair for Herman Miller.

Behar says that designers that he meets today also influence him. The CEOs of companies that Behar works with are influences on his every day life and designs. Yves Behar refuses to carry around anger and frustration towards people who disagree with his designs or aren't on the same page. Behar can also see that the word ‘design' for many people just means adding something to the space they already have. Yves Behar believes that design is much more than adding to a certain décor. For Yves Behar, design is the wave of the future. For Behar, the real challenge of designing innovative pieces is the realization that less really can mean more. Using less can often mean delivering more to mass amounts of people. The obvious question is what exactly should you cut out?

Behar's designs are always geared towards beauty, but staying relevant is just as important. Behar has said that, “…If it isn't ethical, it can't be beautiful. But if it isn't beautiful, then it probably shouldn't be at all.” Behar's ideas that aesthetics shouldn't be the most important thing, but usually are ring true to many people. The fact is, is something doesn't look good you probably aren't going to buy it. Technology has changed the role of designers in profound ways. Behar says, “We can be in control of the design process all the way through. It used to be that you had to design something, then transfer to someone else in engineering and then if would go to manufacturing.” With all the middlemen, the designer often lost track of their own designs. When the middlemen were eliminated, designers regained the freedom to see their designs come to fruition. Behar strives to see his designs through to the end including designing the packaging and okaying the words that are used in the ads. Behar has been known to go so far as wanting the final say on fonts and surfaces.

Yves Behar, the designer of the Herman Miller Sayl Chair, is an intellectual. Behar has spent years cultivating his design techniques and allowing himself to design based on the consumer's needs. One thing that Behar spends a lot of time thinking about is furniture. Behar spent a significant amount of time trying to understand what exactly the consumer needed from an office chair.

It is easy to note his attention to detail in many of his designs from his red lacquered laptop for Toshiba to his groundbreaking closed toe Birkenstock shoes. It is even evident in the design of Behar's Jawbone Headset for cell phones. One of dozens of magazine articles written on Yves Behar called him the ‘multi-disciplinary designer of our time.' That's putting it lightly. Behar's attention to what the consumer truly wants is what makes his designs so appealing. His unending list of awards and accolades includes the prestigious National Design Award from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Museum, where his designs are part of a permanent collection. No wonder Herman Miller scooped him up to design the highly affordable Herman Miller Sayl Chair by Yves Behar.

Herman Miller had their eye on Behar for a while before commissioning him to design a new chair for the company. Herman Miller knew that Behar would design a chair that would encompass everything they are known for – beautiful designs, top-notch ergonomics, sleek engineering, and an uncompromising respect for the environment. Anything less would be unacceptable to Herman Miller. Inspired by the workings of suspension bridges, the untamed back of the Sayl Chair allows a full range of movement while the suspension back material keeps the consumer cool.

The back of the chair looks almost woven, like a basket. The holes throughout the back of the chair keep a steady flow of air coming and going to the person sitting in the chair. All of this is available with a miniscule carbon footprint. The designer of the Chair states, “I believe design's purpose is not only to show us the future, but to bring us the future.” Behar, a San Francisco native, began to investigate designs that deliver the most with the least. Behar researched the topic and engulfed himself in the process of creating the Sayl Chair. Then he glanced at his city's best-known landmark, the Golden Gate Bridge. It was pure inspiration from there.

The designer of the chair pondered, was it possible? Was it possible to incorporate the ideas behind the suspension of the Golden Gate Bridge into the design of the chair? There was only one way to find out and after thousands of prototypes and sketches Yves Behar had an answer. As it turns out, it was possible. It was possible, and it was radically inventive. The first chair of its kind, the Sayl Chair proved that Behar's avant-garde ideas could pay off. The flexible elastomer used in the suspension backing of the Chair could be stretched in a unique way that allowed more or less tension in certain areas of the chair back. The elastomer provided the perfect combination of comfort and functionality.

Herman Miller Sayl Chair