The Man Who Shaped America, The Father of Streamlining and The Father of Industrial Design
BORN : November 5, 1893 Paris, France DIED : July 14, 1986 (aged 92) Monte Carlo, Monaco EDUCTATION : Electrical Engineering , University of Paris,1910 Masters in engineering, cole de Lanneau, 1918 STARTED HIS OWN FIRM :1929, by 1945- largest industrial design firm in U.S. It is estimated that at the peak of his career over 75% of Americans came into contact with one or more of his products every day. THE STREAMLINE STYLE : (1930-1950) closed, streamlined forms that strongly suggest speed, symbolic of the dynamism of modern times. Between two products equal in price, function, and quality, the better looking will outsell the other. The goal of design is to sell. The loveliest curve I know is the sales curve.
Loewys classic transformation of the package included: - replacing the green background with white - turning the circular motif into a stronger target device
- making both sides of the pack identical by featuring the target on both sides - sharpening up the typography. He was responsible for designing the dole deluxe dispenser for coca cola in 1947, as well as the dole super dispenser in 1951.Loewy also applied for patents for his designs for a coca-cola 'refrigerator' (a standing cooler) in 1945,an 'ornamental design for a truck body' in 1946,and a beverage dispenser with an 'ornamental design' in 1946.
In 1967, the shell company approached loewy with a design problem : - its emblem was difficult to distinguish from a distance, or in poor lighting.
Earlier the logo was a mussel shell, 1900 and was replaced by scallop shell in 1904. The pecten symbol currently in use worldwide was designed in 1971 by loewy.The design and testing process completed by loewy's firm took more than four years. one of the tests involved hanging various prototype pectens on poles where they could be viewed by drivers passing on a nearby british motorway. Drivers were later contacted for their opinions on the prototypes. Loewy was hired by jersey standard to find a new name and design a new logo for its esso brand. he proposed 'exxon' and came up with seventy-six rough pencil sketches based on the word, placing the visual emphasis on the double 'x. the two xs subliminally recalled the 'ss' in esso and thus helped ease the transition from the old name to the new. In designing Skylab, its 1973 precursor to the International Space Station that orbits the Earth today, NASA called on the help of Raymond Loewy and other industrial designers. Loewy advised on the arrangement, size, and even color scheme of the living quarters for the astronauts aboard the space station. Porthole for the appolo space capsule Skylab, Model of Living,a typical room design for NASAs skylab space station. Raymond Loewy working on space capsule design Porthole window which Loewy deemed essential for astronauts to peer into space. NASA Study for a Space Station '70 Though the defining characteristic of Loewy's legacy is the sheer breadth of his work, much of his early career was spent designing locomotives for outfits like the Pennsylvania Railroad company. That's what gives the 'PRR' designation to the PRR S1 steam train you see above. Air Force One, color scheme and interior designed by Loewy for President John F. Kennedy. Loewy redesigned the Studebaker car company's logo and produced famed designs like the Starlight in the 1950s and this 1963 classic, the Avanti. The Studebaker Avanti was designed in a very short period of time by Loewys hand-picked team of young designers, led by John Ebstein. As with Studebaker, Loewy's work with the Greyhound Lines bus company involved both the creation of a new streamlined logo and bold new designs like the Scenicruiser.
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