Beginning in 1932, and continuing up to the time of his death in 1944, Rohde advised Herman Miller's president, Dirk Jan De Pree on design, marketing, and production. Herman Miller was one of a dozen furniture manufacturers where Rohde initiated modern design, among them the
Heywood-Wakefield Company, the Widdicomb Company, and the Troy Sunshade Company. Rohde lived in New York City and its environs throughout his life. He was educated in New York City public schools, graduating in 1913 from
Stuyvesant High School, which was known at the time for its rigorous vocational studies program. Post-high school studies included classes at the
Art Students League and the
Grand Central School of Art. A 1927 trip to France and Germany was the prelude to his career in design, and marked the transition from his work in advertising illustration to design. His work reflected American
Streamline Moderne design, as well as trends in European art and design (he made two additional trips to Europe in 1931 and 1937), including French moderne, the International Design style associated with the
Bauhaus, and later,
Surrealism. His
biomorphic tables and desks, made by Herman Miller, were the first examples of biomorphic furniture manufactured in America, anticipating forms that would define mid-century modernism. ==Career==