Loewy designed everything from streamlined pencil sharpeners,
Coca-Cola vending machines, Studebaker automobiles, and
NASA spacecraft interiors. He brought design into the
mainstream business spotlight, gracing the cover of Time
magazine in October of 1949, where they noted that he “made
products irresistible at a time when nobody really wanted to pay
for anything.”^4 Loewy intertwined culture, capitalism, and style,
establishing a template for how design and business could be
mutually beneficial.
Design for People
Henry Dreyfuss is another famous American Industrial Designer
whose work and influence from the mid-20th century are still felt
today. Among his iconic designs are the Honeywell T87
thermostat, the Big Ben alarm clock, the Western Electric 500
desk telephone, and the Polaroid SX-70 camera.^5
Figure 1.x Henry Dreyfuss measurement image
Dreyfuss was renowned not only for his attention to formal
details, but his focus on the user’s needs. He founded the field of
ergonomics and pioneered research into how human factors
should be considered and incorporated into Industrial Design.
After retiring, this focus on anthropometry and usability led him to
author two seminal books: Designing for People in 1955 and The
Measure of Man in 1960. His interest in universal accessibility
extended to graphics as well, as evidenced by Symbol
Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International Graphic
Symbols, in which Dreyfuss catalogs and promotes the use of
internationally recognizable symbols over written words.
(^4) ‘Google Doodle Honors Raymond Loewy, the “Father of Industrial Design”.’ 2015.
TIME.com. Accessed January 22. http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/11/05/google-doodle-
honors-raymond-loewy-the-father-of-industrial-design/.
(^5) ‘Henry Dreyfuss, FIDSA’. 2015. IDSA. Accessed January 22.
http://www.idsa.org/content/henry-dreyfuss-fidsa.