Voting Station

Raymond Loewy

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Designer

The Resume

    (November 5, 1893-July 14, 1986)
    Born in Paris, France
    Naturalized US citizen (1938)
    Industrial designer
    Consultant for over 200 companies
    Designed logos for Shell, Exxon, TWA, BP, Studebaker, and the US Postal Service
    Designed the livery of Air Force One
    Designed Greyhound’s Scenicruiser bus, the Studebaker Avanti and Champion, the Pennsylvania Railroad’s GG1 and S1 locomotives, Sears’ Coldspot refrigerators, and the packaging for Lucky Strike cigarettes
    Habitability Consultant for NASA (1967-73); helped design the interior of Skylab
    Known as ‘the father of streamlining’ and ‘the father of industrial design’

Why he might be annoying:

    Because he was a consultant to Studebaker instead of a direct employee, he was not subject to the government constraints placed on the in-house design departments of the big three automakers during World War II, allowing him to and Studebaker to introduce new postwar models two years ahead of the competition.
    He was publicly credited with designing Studebaker’s Starliner and Starlight coupes, but they were actually created by Robert Bourke.
    Throughout the 50s and 60s, he fought a losing battle to convince Detroit automakers to build cars that were lighter and more fuel efficient.

Why he might not be annoying:

    When he was fifteen, he designed a model airplane that went into commercial production a year later.
    He was wounded in combat during World War I and received the Croix de Guerre.
    Arguing that consumers were torn between a fascination with the new and a fear of anything too new, he adopted the design philosophy of MAYA: ‘Most Advanced, Yet Acceptable.’ (Or, as he also said, ‘A lot of people are open to new things, as long as they look like the old ones.’)
    George Mueller, NASA’s deputy director for manned space flight, wrote to him, ‘I do not believe that it would have been possible for the Skylab crews to have lived in relative comfort, excellent spirits and outstanding efficiency had it not been for your creative design, based on a deep understanding of human needs.’
    The New York Times wrote, ‘One can hardly open a beer or a soft drink, fix breakfast, board a plane, buy gas, mail a letter or shop for an appliance without encountering a Loewy creation.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 55 Votes: 45.45% Annoying