With vintage and mid-century modern furniture coming to the forefront of many furniture collectors' minds, it only bears mentioning that the amazing designers of these groundbreaking pieces are also gaining new notoriety. The pieces that these designers came up with continue to live on, so why not celebrate the people that made them come to life?

Without these designers, who knows what furniture today would look like, as what we have today, while not as bold or distinctive as mid century modern furniture, has definitely taken inspiration from the designs of years past. Here are a few notable contributors to the wonderful world of vintage furniture, which produced many pieces that are still being enjoyed today.

The Eames brothers, Ray and Charles, bounded onto the furniture scene in the 1950's and contributed perhaps the most famous lounge chairs of all time. The Eames Lounge Chair, which still is imitated even to this day, was known for its strict fifteen-degree sitting angle, which was deemed to be the most comfortable for sitting in. Also, other distinctive features include a large ottoman, which actually had an identical surface area to the seat of the lounge chair itself. Actually, this is one of the easiest ways to tell an authentic Eames work from an impostor's version.

The Eames design vision was built as much on beauty as it was on comfort, however. The lounge chairs the brothers produced had no visible bolts and screws, and every inch of their chairs was focused on exquisite, focused design with a unified, streamlined look. The Eames were therefore responsible for one of the best blends of comfort and aesthetic appeal that the furniture world has ever seen.

Charles and Ray Eames Furniture

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's  Barcelona chair, which is instantly recognizable to anyone who is familiar with the 1970's, was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, as it was a rare example of art that reached the masses and the critics. In 1977, as a matter of fact, the chair was the winner of the Museum of Modern Art Award. The Knoll Barcelona chair's simple, dimpled upholstery design and bold color was complimented by a frame that was artistic in its appeal and sturdy in its function. The chair's appealing legs crossed and formed a fork shape that provided quality and an unmistakably distinctive look.

Herman Miller is one of the most successful and famous furniture designers of all time, although there is no one piece that defines his body of work accurately, since he was a prolific and consistent designer. His work with George Nelson provided vintage treasures that are sought after to this very day. The George Nelson coconut chair, now worth over $5,000, may be one of the best examples of the beautiful and contemporary work that Miller provided and collaborated on during his career.

These are just a few of the great designers that made the designs which have people going crazy over mid-century modern furniture to this very day. While it is impossible to attribute the vintage furniture movement to one particular person, each of these fine artists, along with countless others, deserves credit for their amazing work.