Bernhardt Design Recruits Diverse Trio of Talent
Music, sports, and technology are not realms usually associated with design talent. But Bernhardt Design president Jerry Helling leaves no discipline unturned. To launch his Creatives Project, he enlisted a trio of diversely talented friends. Tift Merritt, for starters, is a Grammy Award–nominated singer-songwriter who likes to handcraft guitar straps from fabric and trims she’s accumulated on tour. For her namesake series for Bernhardt Textiles, she edited that vast collection down to six patterns. They include Reverb, a wavy stripe in a rayon-polyester, and Verse, woven from multiple fibers on recycled nylon to recall vintage ribbons. Former professional football player Terry Crews, a prolific illustrator and an Egypt-ophile, contributed the Ibis sofa, Lily Pad chair, and Aire bench. Finally, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, who studied at the Rhode Island School of Design, revisited his roots with Neighborhood, a 38-module range including seating and tables configured like building blocks.
