The Forgotten Industrial Designer Giant - Henry Dreyfuss

“Form follows function” has been the industrial designers ‘golden rule' for many decades. Ergonomics and safety were the two main factors that Henry Dreyfuss followed. Many of Dreyfuss’s designs seemed as if they came out of nature. These products have been the reason that most of us take for granted as they are part of our daily life.

Among Henry Dreyfuss’s designs are the “Princess” telephone, the John Deere tractor, the square Mason jar, the first anatomically shaped toilet seat and the shell of the first Polaroid camera. Other designs include Hoover’s first upright vacuum cleaner and the Model 500 standard black desk telephone.

Western Electric Model 302 telephone (1930)

Hoover Model 150 vacuum cleaner (1936)

New York Central Railroad streamlined Mercury train (1936)

John Deere Model A and Model B tractors (1938)

NYC Hudson locomotive for the Twentieth Century Limited (1938)

Westclox Big Ben alarm clock (1939)

Royal Typewriter Company Quiet DeLuxe (1947)

Bankers Trust Building at 280 Park Avenue (1963)

Princess Telephone (1959)

Honeywell T87 circular wall thermostat (1953)

Iron for General Electric (1948)

Trimline Desk Telephone (1968)

Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera (1972)

“Designing for today and tomorrow the contemporary designer must express first the utility of the object on which he is working, second the era in which we live, and last when the design permits, lurking in the background, some form to be remembered from the past that will unconsciously make the consumer more comfortable in accepting what may be a radical new form to him”     

- Henry Dreyfuss, Book for Industrial Design, 1946

Dreyfuss brought fresh ideas into the Post-World War I industry, with one of his major themes being that a product should be “designed for the masses”, instead of for the sake of style. Dreyfuss developed five points that would become the motto for his firm and in his mind these five point always applied them accurately so that he would have a successful product. These are:

-          Convenience of use, which includes safety and utility

-          Ease of maintenance

-          Cost of manufacture and distribution

-          Merchandising and competition and last but not least

-          Appearance

Henry Dreyfuss became a legend within his industry and though his name may not be widely known today to the public, his contributions have nonetheless helped mankind thrive for over eighty years and believe it or not every single person has interacted within his designs. His name should be known to the masses and as recognizable as Steve Jobs or Bill Gates.

References:

• Yahoo, N/A. Henry Dreyfuss, The Forgotten Industrial Design Giant [online] available at: http://voices.yahoo.com/henry-dreyfuss-forgotten-industrial-design-giant-1327307.html?cat=15

• WordPress, N/A. Henry Dreyfuss, Industrial Designer [online] available at: http://www.podwits.com/2013/03/20/podwits-profile-henry-dreyfuss-industrial-designer/

• Blogger, N/A. The Henry Dreyfuss affair [image online] available at: http://mimimatelot.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-henry-dreyfuss-affair.html