Eames for your walls? New prints feature Charles’ words of wisdom

“Take your pleasure seriously.” The axiom of Charles Eames is now artwork for your walls, one of four new $75 prints recently released by the Eames Foundation in collaboration with the digital design agency Nebo.

The designs come straight from the Eames Office archives, Nebo President Adam Harrell said. A second print emblazoned with Charles Eames mottos declares, “Innovate as a last resort,” to which Harrell drew parallels to the landmark Eames House in Pacific Palisades, where Eames ingenuity turned standard off-the-shelf industrial components into an iconic piece of Midcentury Modern design.

The final two prints were derived from symbols used in Charles and Ray Eames’ work. The first, a starburst, first appeared in the Eames House of Cards and remains the logo of the Eames Office. The second is a dot pattern inspired by 1940s Ray Eames fabric designs.

“We felt it important to make sure that the we represented both Charles and Ray in the work,” Harrell said by email, “as they were truly a design team.”

Each print is 18 by 12 inches, and all four designs are embossed for extra depth and dimension, one with “250” (for the 250-year Eames House preservation project announced in 2010) and others with patterns derived from the house.

Each design is limited to a production run of 500, and the numbered prints are sold through a special Eames Foundation website. Proceeds go toward preserving the Eames House, and manufacturers Vitra and Herman Miller have established a matching fund so an additional $75 for every print sold goes toward the house.

David Hay first reported on the Eames House preservation plans for L.A. at Home in September 2011. A fascinating time-lapse video shows the Eames House being packed up and moved to a Los Angeles County Museum of Art installation.

craig.nakano@latimes.com

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