Founders of American Industrial Design

by Carroll Gantz

Overview

As the Great Depression started in 1929, several dozen creative individuals from a variety of artistic fields, including theatre, advertising, graphics, fashion and furniture design, pioneered a new profession. Responding to unprecedented public and industry demand for new styles, these artists entered the industrial world during what was called the "Machine Age," to introduce "modern design" to the external appearance and form of mass-produced, functional, mechanical consumer products formerly not considered art.

The popular designs by these "machine designers" increased sales and profits dramatically for manufacturers, which helped the economy to recover; established a new profession, industrial design; and within a decade, changed American products from mechanical monstrosities into sleek, modern forms expressive of the future. This book is about those industrial designers and how they founded, developed, educated and organized today's profession of more than 50,000 practitioners.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476616506
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	07/15/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	220
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Carroll Gantz is a professional industrial designer who holds several dozen patents. A long-time Black & Decker design director, and a Carnegie Mellon University professor, he is a past president of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). He lives on Seabrook Island in South Carolina.
Carroll Gantz is a professional industrial designer who holds several dozen patents. A long-time Black & Decker design director, and a Carnegie Mellon University professor, he is a past president of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). He lives on Seabrook Island in South Carolina.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments delete ix
Preface delete 1
Introduction delete 3
1. The “Artless” and “Art” Industries delete 5
2. The Arrival of Art Deco delete 17
3. Modern Design Meets the Depression delete 29
4. Streamlining and the Chicago Fair delete 42
5. Industrial Design Unleashed delete 56
6. Recovery, Plastics, and Education delete 69
7. Labor Design and Design Organization delete 81
8. War Drums and the New York Fair delete 95
9. Organic Design and World War II delete 110
10. “The Club” and Postwar delete 123
11. Celebrity and “Good Design” delete 134
12. Competition and Controversy delete 146
13. Cold War, Mergers, and Computers delete 161
14. Postmodern and Passages delete 174
Chapter Notes delete 185
Bibliography delete 188
Index delete 191

Editorial Reviews

A wonderful read about the men and women who, like Raymond Loewy, have shaped so much of this world we live in.”—Avanti Magazine

From the Publisher