Looking for the perfect office chair can be quite the headache with the various brands in the market. In this article, we are going to look at two office chairs, Embody and Gesture.
We shall focus on the companies that make them and then give you a breakdown down of what sets each chair apart. When you’re through, it ought to help you know which is best for you.
Table of Contents
Embody
Let’s begin this journey focusing on the company behind the Embody. It’s essential to understand the track record the company has to know if you can trust them to provide you with quality products.
After, we will have a breakdown of the chair itself, looking at the qualities that make it unique.
About the company
The company that’s behind Embody is Herman Miller. They are dedicated to making beautiful furnishings that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also functional.
The line of furnishing Herman Miller has is for the office, home and outdoors, or made to enhance one’s overall experience. Something the brand brides itself of is having started what is referred to as American modernism.
They were in the front line when it came to creating the cubical, the ottoman, and even the lawn chair. Over the years, they have not stopped their quest to make impressive and useful products.
One thing that is impressive about Herman Miller is that even after being in existence for 110 years, they continue to be the top in the industry.
The company’s beginnings start in 1905 under the brand name The Star Furniture Company.
The fate of this Michigan store changed forever when D. J. De Pree became the new president in 1919. After four years, De Pree purchased the company and renamed it after his father-in-law, Herman Miller.
Under the new name, the company began to flourish. They introduced design departments, working with other people and organizations to create unique yet timeless pieces.
One thing the Herman Miller credits for their headline dropping furniture is collaborations with top minds in the industry. They have formed a marriage between people who understand ergonomics and a brand that has a century worth of experience.
One thing that Herman Miller credits to their legacy is their honesty when it comes to solving human problems. It’s is focusing on how to make the lives of others better but also giving them pieces that will stand the test of time.
That’s why you’ll find that some of the seats the company made decades ago are still getting recommended. Therefore, it is not only about making functional pieces that look nice, but it is also thinking beyond and creating something that will serve someone currently and decades more to come.
The authenticity of their designs is what brings appeal, diversity, and utility.
Their inspirations come from all around the world; their partnerships span the globe, working with great minds to bring incredible visions to life. Even with that, the bottom line remains to be problem-solving.
Additionally, the company uses the best sustainable materials available. Herman Miller also follows world-class lean practices that ensure quality.
When you ask for furniture to get made, you’re assured the final product will be as per your specifications. Before you get it delivered, it is tested for durability.
Though this article has focused on office chairs, that’s not all they make. The also make collections for living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, and even outdoors.
Having looked at the company that’s behind the Embody, let’s now look at the chair itself.
What makes Embody special?
Just as with their other chairs, this one is a collaboration between Herman Miller along with Bill Stumpf and Jeff Weber. The slogan for the seat is “So intelligent, sitting in it actually helps you think.”
The chair is considered to be a benchmark for pressure distribution, allowing for your back to have natural alignment. That way, you can have a healthy movement.
Every part of the chair is made to fulfill a specific function, and even the aesthetic is part of the technology they’ve used. It is, therefore, a combination of both art and science.
Let’s look at the various aspects of the chair.
1. Made to solve a problem:
Embody came about after the company realized that there was a previous unresolved problem.What is this problem? The lack of physical harmony between the people who use their chairs and the technology they interact with.
The reality was that people were spending a lot of time interacting with various devices where nothing but their fingers moved. The result was a person being stiff and tired as the day goes on because the body itself isn’t moving. That’s when the designers Jeff Weber and Bill Stumpf stepped in.
2. Made with expert input:
What resulted was the coming together of 20 physicians and PhDs in the biomechanics, physical therapy, vision, and ergonomic fields to help guide the development of Embody.
The final product was a chair that set a new benchmark when it comes to pressure distribution, the body’s natural alignment and support to provide healthy movement while seated.
3. Pixelated Support:
One thing you’ll notice about the Embody is the pixelate support.
You will also feel it when you sit- you’ll feel as though you’re floating, but all the while, you’re perfectly balanced. That’s a result of the dynamic matrix of pixels on the seat and the back conforming to your body’s micro-movements.
That way, no matter what movement you make, your weight is still evenly distributed on the seat. Given that the pressure is reduced, you’ll find that it encourages more movement, leading to improved healthy circulation and your focus.
4. Backfit adjustments:
What’s impressive with this chair is that the back is made to mimic that of humans.
It has a central spine and flexible ribs. The Embody allows for adjustments to suit your spine’s natural curve so that you’re always in a neutral and also balanced posture at all times.
Once it’s tweaked to suit your back, you’ll find that the backrest the adapts to your movement. That means it adjusts automatically any time you shift positions, that is, whether you’re leaning forward or reclined.
5. Layers of intelligence:
You will find that the Embody seat is made of four different support layers. They all have their unique set of material properties, having been created using different manufacturing processes.
The carious materials work together in harmony to accommodate your shape. The degree of fidelity is so high that they can even accommodate your pockets.
The layers do allow airflow and thus keeping you cool and comfortable no matter how long you sit.
Gesture
Let’s now turn to the next chair in this comparison piece. Again, we shall look at the company that makes these chairs before giving you a rundown of the chair.
About the company
The company that makes Gesture is Steelcase. The company got founded in 1912 and got its first patent in 1914. Currently, they have a revenue of $3.4 billion as of 2019 and have 800 dealers worldwide.
Be brands run under the parent company are Steelcase, Steelcase Health, and Steelcase Education. The work the company does has gotten them recognition all over the world.
In January 2020, Fortune recognized Steelcase as the World’s Most Admired Companies in the Home Equipment and Furnishings industry sector of 2020.
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation give them a score of 100 on the Corporate Equality Index
Steelcase pridesitselfon being able to create great experiences through the offering of a range of technology, architect, and furniture products and services.
Whatever they make is meant to help people reach their full potential. Three core brands are working together, that is Steelcase, Coalesse, and Turnstone.
They also work together with other partners to create spaces where people work, learn, and even heal.
The decisions made and actions taken are governed by environmental, economic, and social sustainability. As per Steelcase, their drive to protect the environment is in their DNA.
Therefore, for them, it’s about doing what is both right and best for the planet and the people in it. The vision is also about bringing lasting value to their employees, customers, shareholders, partners, the communities, and even the environment.
Let’s now have a look at the Gesture chair
What makes Gesture special?
Just like Embody, the Gesture is designed to support how we interact with today’s technologies. It came about after a study between 2000 people in eleven countries and nine insights.
What they learned is that the new devices that people now bring to work with them brought about nine new postures that hadn’t been seen before. As a result, people were in pain because the chairs they sat on were initially designed for people only sitting at the computer all day long.
With that information, Steelcase decided to deconstruct the chair to find out how they can create something that accommodated all these new sitting positions that changed due to technological adoptions. It looked at how the body changes when working with one device to another.
They also acknowledge that people don’t want to remain in one position throughout the day. The preference is to be dynamic and fluid even as they work. With all that, it was indeed a challenge.
After much work, they decided to make Gesture. It supports all the movements that the body makes, instead of making the body comfort to the chair.
It is dynamic to the point that you can also support your arm while you’re texting.
It can also recline to the posture that you take when you’re scrolling. You even don’t have to hunch your back to see what’s on your screen. Steelcase talks of the Gesture as being the new science of sitting.
1. Sustainably made:
The company believes that getting the best office furniture solutions has to do with using products best for the environment. Therefore, during the design, manufacturing, delivery, and product lifecycle, Steelcase considers the impact a product will have on people and the environment.
For that reason, the Gesture is made from about 25 percent recycled content by weight, while the final product is 85 percent recyclable by weight.
2. Versatile:
The Gesture isn’t only meant to be your office chair. It is for anyone working anywhere, where the technology used also varies. For example, you have a lot more freedom in your private office, and you want a seat that can accommodate all these movements.
Whichever way you sit, Gesture supports the natural motion of the spine.
3. Smart fit:
A chair ought to fit the person seating on it, and not the other way around. It means it should be intuitive to accommodate a wide range of user sizes.
With Gesture, it makes automatic adjustments to fit you, but you can also adjust the chair to suit you so that you get a healthy posture accurately. There are several nobs and levers that help you get the right mixture of what suits the natural curve of your spine.
Which is better?
Given the quality and amount of research that has gone into making both chairs, making a choice between the two is almost impossible.
Both adjust to your movements as you go about your daily life. The Embody does have more features with regards to the backrest in how it mimics the human’s spine movements.
Even with that, Gesture allows you a more extensive range of actions as you interact with a range of technologies. Something that might help you make the right choice for you is thinking about what you need in the workspace and go for it.
Wrap up
Both Herman Miller and Steelcase are dedicated to getting your chairs that make your work a lot easier. It is about promoting spine health and overall well being when you’re sitting at a desk.
Additionally, purchasing from them is a guilt-free experience since they both adopt sustainable practices to make their products.