Born in New York City in 1907, Girard was raised and educated in Italy by an American mother and French-Italian father. Much of his most famous work emerged from his time as the director of fabric and textiles at Herman Miller, a position he held from 1952 to 1975. There, he collaborated with George Nelson and Ray Eames on designs that broke new ground for the industry in the US and well beyond. Girard's style was boldly colorful, incorporating geometric patterns and illustrative folk art-inspired imagery. Other notable works of Girard include the branding of Braniff Airlines, the design of New York’s La Fonda del Sol restaurant, and a huge mural at the John Deere headquarters. Today, Girard’s work is distributed by House Industries and some of his textile designs have been re-released through Urban Outfitters and other popular merchants. Girard died in 1993.

Anna has a BFA in Photography from the University of Arizona and lives in San Rafael, California, with her husband and two children.

Alexander George is a writer from New Jersey currently based in San Francisco. He contributes to Wired, Popular Mechanics, the Wirecutter, and Dwell.

Design and fabrication of one-of-a-kind and limited production furniture. Your space should reflect your personality, uniquely yours.

Herman Miller is named after a West Michigan businessman who helped his son-in-law buy the furniture company he worked at in 1923. By the middle of the 20th century, the name Herman Miller had become synonymous with “modern” furniture. Working with legendary designers George Nelson and Charles and Ray Eames, the company produced pieces that would become classics of industrial design. Herman Miller has continued this tradition of working with top designers, including Alexander Girard, Isamu Noguchi, Robert Propst, Bill Stumpf, Don Chadwick, Ayse Birsel, Yves Béhar, and many talented others.

Memory training is the simple act of improving one's memory through a practice. Memory improvements, age-related memory decline, and individuals' desire to better their memory have all led to ongoing research on how best to aid people to increase their general memory capacity. Recent studies have also looked at what genetic factors affect memory and cognitive ability. Some studies suggest that genetics and brain differences are involved in how well we can process information. If your parents and grandparents did well on tests of verbal ability, but then you score poorly on verbal tests yourself, there may be nothing wrong with your gene or brain structure, but you might not be doing anything differently from them that would account for your poor verbal skills. Alternatively, if your mother or father had an excellent memory record, but then you do not, there may be something different going on in your genes that affect your memory abilities. Memory training is a good example of this. Training your memory through music, games, or any other method could be a gene-based strategy to enhance your memory. Studies of brain plasticity, or how brain plasticity changes as people mature, indicate that training could also be an effective genetic tool to improve your memory. Young children have developed an abundance of plasticity in their brains since birth, allowing them to learn almost all behaviors and complex tasks by the time they are three years of age. As they grow up, new plasticity occurs in the brain and learning disabilities and other cognitive deficiencies are less likely to occur. A good memory training regimen can help to develop and hone these new skills, allowing children to perform on par with their peers even as adults. A child's brain responds more readily to instruction than an adult's brain does. Genes also appear to play a role in memory training. It appears that the stronger the brain's memory ability, the more plasticity is likely to occur in the brain, and the more quickly the individual will become adept at using that ability. This has been proven in scientific studies using twins. Twins who share a greater degree of genetic memory training success tend to do better in school and in mental ability tests than do those who do not share the training. The effectiveness of memory training appears to increase with age. Children may begin training early in life to compensate for their lack of experience with formal education or poor social skills. Some people began to develop better memory skills when they were in their twenties, others in their thirties, and still others in their forties. Regardless of the time of development, however, the fact remains that a consistent memory training regimen will help to significantly improve these skills over time. The training and practice involved in developing an enhanced ability to form and retain information has proven to be successful for many people regardless of their age or ability. Working with an experienced therapist, the ability to process information becomes easier. As the brain processes information, it can allow the user to comprehend what is being said. With better communication skills comes more confidence and the ability to make better decisions. More confident decision makers are able to solve problems that would have been overwhelming before. Individuals who practice skills with memory training find that they can do everyday activities better. They have an increased attention span and are able to complete tasks more quickly. Because of the improved cognitive skills gained through memory improvement, these individuals are also happier. Their emotional state is also calmer, which impacts their relationships. These relationships are also less likely to break down as stress levels increase with poor memory habits. In many cases, older adults don't need to be treated for memory loss. Some people reach the point where they can perform basic tasks on a daily basis without difficulty, but there are people who have had to struggle with poor memory skills their whole lives. For these people, ongoing memory improvement strategies can be very beneficial. This will allow them to live more productive lives. As they age, they may need to hire a personal assistant to help them do simple tasks around the house, but this shouldn't be a cause for alarm. Web: https://paramounttraining.com.au/training/memory-training/

Justin Alexander is a photographer based in Sydney, Australia.

Libby Alexander is the co-founder of The Vintage Bazaar a modern pop-up flea market based in Chicago, Illinois. She covers vintage trends, small business, budget-friendly decor, and design dilemmas on thevintagebazaar.com. Her writing has also been featured on TheHairpin.com.