Raymond Loewy
“Father of Industrial Design”

History

Born November 5th 1893 in Paris, France.
Died July 14th 1986.
Designed and patented his first product at the age of 15, a rubber-band powered model airplane.
Studied Engineering between 1910 – 1914 at the University of Paris.
Before immigrating to the United States in 1919, Loewy served in the French army during WWI.

History

Worked as a fashion illustrator for Vogue magazine.
After his first major success of redesigning the Gestetner copier, he opened his own office in 1929.
In 1930 he designed his first automobile and went on to work for clients such as Pennsylvania Railroad, American Tobacco Company, Studebaker, and Coca-Cola.

History

In 1944 alongside 14 other industrialists founded the Society of Industrial Designers.
In 1949 his yearly gross sales exceeded $3 million; this earned him a place on the cover of Time magazine.
Loewy wrote a number of books including, The Locomotive (its Esthetics) (1937), Never Leave Well Enough Alone (1951), and Industrial Design (1979).
In 1973 Loewy designed the interior and external
graphics of Air Force One for President
John F. Kennedy along with the interiors of NASA’s
Apollo and Skylab orbiters.

Logo Designs

Raymond Loewy designed the 1971 edition of the Shell logo. The same logo is still used today by Shell.

To design the shell logo took Loewy and his team more than 4 years.

After designing shell logo, Raymond was hired to redesign the name and brand of Jersey Standard’s ‘Esso’ brand. Loewy came up with Exxon after 76 pencil sketches and used the ‘double x’ to relate to the ‘double s’ in the old brand.

Loewy also Created logos for company's such as BP, Lucky Strike, U.S Mail and Corona.

Coca Cola Influences

Loewy, by many, is believed to have designed the infamous coke bottle but he actually refined the original model which was made by the ‘Root Glass company’

Loewy refined the model by smoothing the contours of the original bottle , eliminating the Coca-Cola embossing and adding vivid white lettering instead.

Loewy was quoted saying “The coke bottle is the most perfectly designed package in the world”.

Loewy also created other products for The Coca-Cola Company, not just the bottle.

Locomotives

Loewy’s design of the S1 locomotive was considered a landmark design that was extremely successful and influential in establishing higher design standards for further designs.

“The S1 remains, to this day, the archetype for modern industrial designs, setting standards that would prevail for most of the 20th Century.”

Loewy designed “a powerful machine in a streamlined aerodynamic style”.

Loewy designed other Locomotives also. Including the T1 which was also for the Pennsylvania Rail Road. The T1 could haul a 1000ton load at 160kmh. This was considered one of the top benchmarks in locomotive designs in its era.

Sears Fridge

In 1934 Sears-Roebuck hired Loewy to help Herman Price redesign the refrigerator.

“His experience of using aluminium in auto mobile construction was now used to fashion household consumer products.”

After creating the new model, sales of the Coldspot fridge soared to more that 300%.

Price and Loewy streamlined the design and also improved the “reliability and serviceability of the refrigerator”.

Naturally Loewy improved the functionality of the fridge as well.

Greyhound Bus

Greyhound are an American bus company founded in 1914

Loewy was initially approached by Greyhound to redesign their logo.

Loewy said the company’s logo looked
like a “fat mongrel”. So he did what he was best at and created a slimmed down version of the logo that is still used today.

Later on in 1940 Loewy was approached about designing a bus and came up with the Greyhound Scenic Cruiser.

DESIGNED TO LAST

Shell Oil Logo

Shell Logo - 1961
Problem:

This particular logo was difficult for drivers to distinguish at a long distance or in poor lighting.

1900 - 1955

Loewy’s New Design
Kept the cartoon effect that appeared in the ‘55 design.
Removed the word ‘Shell’ from inside of the image.
Simplified the image.

Current Logo Design

1971 vs. 1999

Comparison:
Colours Brightened
Word ‘Shell’ removed from logo – to make image bigger
No design changes made to image

Why was Loewy’s design successful?

Simple
Clean
Recognisable
Clear
Fit For Purpose

Bibliography

Jordan Coleman – History
Oliver Marshall – Iconic Designs
Chelsea Porter – Relevance to today

IDSA. (2010). Raymond Loewy*. Retrieved from
http://www.idsa.org
Britannica. (n.d.).Raymond Loewy. Retrieved from
http://www.britannica.com
[Black and white photograph of Raymond Loewy]. (ca. 1943). Iowa State University. Retrieved from http://industrial.design.iastate.edu/501/files/2012/08/RaymondLoewy.jpg
[Photograph of Raymond Loewy on Life Magazine]. (ca. 1943). Metropolis Mag. Retrieved from http://www.metropolismag.com/pov/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Loewy_Life.jpg
[Photograph of redesigned coke bottle].(ca. 1954). Retrieved from
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_YKO2gL-hVDc/TPA7IE2tzzI/AAAAAAAAF38/LEPfuwLqEhI/s400/z12.jpg

Bibliography

[Photograph of Raymond Loewy with Studebaker Avanti].(ca. 1962). Retrieved from
http://www.crowbarstudios.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/raymond-loewy-avanti-studebaker-crowbar-studios.jpeg
[Cartoon of picture of Lucky Strike cigarettes]. (ca. 1942). Retrieved from
http://jewishcurrents.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/lucky_strike_hand_1959_01.jpg
[Photograph of Raymond Loewy atop his locomotive]. (ca. 1934). Retrieved from
http://www.crowbarstudios.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/raymond-loewy-and-train-crowbar-studios.jpg
[Cartoon picture of locomotive]. (ca. 1934). Raymondloewy.org. Retrieved from
http://www.raymondloewy.org/images/gallery/full/606/locomotive.jpg
[Photograph of Coca-Cola dispenser and bottles]. (ca. 1957). Megsmcg. Retrieved from
http://megsmcg.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/loewy_coca_cola_designs.jpg
[Drawing of Studebaker Avanti]. (ca. 1962). Library of Congress. Retrieved from
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/vc004872.jpg

Bibliography

Coke bottle - Gregory, J. (2010). Raymond Loewy – Designer of a world. Retrieved April 9, 2013 from http://www.helium.com/items/1730791-raymond-loewy-life-of
Designboom. (n.d.). Raymond Loewy : S-1 locomotive, Greyhound bus, Studebaker, Skylab. Retrieved April 9, 2013 from http://www.designboom.com/portrait/loewy_transportations.html
Gregory, J. (2010). Raymond Loewy – Designer of a World. Retrieved April 9, 2013 from http://www.helium.com/items/1730791-raymond-loewy-life-of
Sears Archives. (2013). Coldspot: 1928–1976. Retrieved April 9, 2013 from http://www.searsarchives.com/brands/coldspot.htm
Designboom. (2002). Raymond Loewy : best known for his designs for steam locomotives and refrigerators. Retrieved April 10, 2013 from http://www.designboom.com/portrait/loewy.html
Greyhound Bus. (n.d.). About Greyhound. Retrieved April 10, 2013 from http://www.greyhound.com/en/about/default.aspx
Seven. (n.d.). The Wondrous Locomotives of Raymond Loewy. Retrieved April 10, 2013 from http://obviousmag.org/en/archives/2008/04/the_wondrous_locomotives_of_raymond_loewy.html

Bibliography

[The coca cola bottle re-design], (ca. 1954). Courtesy of Laurence Loewy, Loewy design, New York. Retrieved from http://www.designboom.com/portrait/loewy.html
[Dole deluxe dispenser for Coca-Cola], (ca. 1947). Courtesy of Laurence Loewy, Loewy design, New York. Retrieved from http://www.designboom.com/portrait/loewy.html
[The Shell Logo Evolution], (ca.1900-1999). Goodlogo.com. Retrieved from http://goodlogo.com/extended.info/shell-logo-2500
[Loewy and GG1 locomotive], (ca. 1934). Obviousmag. Retrieved from http://obviousmag.org/en/archives/2008/04/the_wondrous_locomotives_of_raymond_loewy.html
[Coldspot], (ca. 1934). Sears Brands. Retrieved from http://www.searsarchives.com/brands/detail/coldspot1940.htm
[Greyhound bus], (ca. 1946). Loewy Design, USA. Retrieved from http://www.raymondloewy.org/gallery/greyhound.html
[Individual Shell logos], (1900-1999). Logopedia, Retrieved from http://logos.wikia.com/wiki/File:Shell_logo.jpg
[Shell logo evolution], (1900-1999). Retrieved from
http://la-belle-et-la-bete-ooo.blogspot.co.nz/2011/06/all-shell-logos.html

Bibliography

Raymond Loewy, (2002). Retrieved April 9, 2013, from http://www.designboom.com/portrait/loewy.html
Raymond Loewy, Never Leave Well Enough Alone (1950). Retrieved April 9, 2013, from http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=ZFdl0gC5P50C&pg=PR4&lpg=PP1&dq=raymond+loewy+never+leave+well+enough+alone
Our History, (2012). Retrieved April 10, 2013, from
http://www.shell.com/