The Herman Miller furniture company, based in Zeeland, Michigan, was one of the dominating forces in the spread of American mid-century modernist style, and continues to be an anchor and innovator in the furniture industry. From the 1930s onward, the company began taking bold steps like employing designers with a new, and sometimes even startling, vision of how the modern home should be furnished and decorated. Designers like George Nelson and Gilbert Rohde, each of whom served for a time as Design Director, Charles and Ray Eames and Verner Panton helped establish the reputation the company enjoys for the quality and pioneering energy of the pieces they produce.