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Oh, inevitably for a blog, this is about web site design. Confidence in manufactured physical objects is more interesting. Discuss. Raymond Loewy on a good da

Oh, inevitably for a blog, this is about web site design. Confidence in manufactured physical objects is more interesting. Discuss. Raymond Loewy on a good day - The Honeywell Round.[1] The standard little round thermostat. It's still manufactured.[1] Raymond Loewy on a bad day - the first attempt to make a steam locomotive look streamlined by adding a sheet metal body.[3] This bad idea caught on in the UK, for some reason, resulting in a whole series of difficult to maintain locomotives. Eventually he designed the look of an electric locomotive, the GG-1, which was very successful, looked very good, and had good access to the important working parts. [1] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/meet-product-designer-who-made-mid-century-america-look-clean-and-stylish-180972270/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/meet-product-desig... [2] https://www.honeywellstore.com/store/products/the-round-non-progammable-thermostat-ct87k1004.htm https://www.honeywellstore.com/store/products/the-round-non-... [3] https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/loewy-locomotive.jpg https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads...

CamperBob2 1y ago
Needs a "Danger: Rabbit Hole" warning. (Although the article says someone else designed the Honeywell thermostat, if I'm reading correctly.)
- Animats 1y ago
  Oh, you're right. The Honeywell Round was by Henry Dreyfuss. A small number of designers who created the iconic objects of midcentury modern. Who do we have today? Johnathan Ive?
- Animats 1y ago
  For a good sense of how to think about industrial design, here's Lowey's autobiography, "Never Leave Well Enough Alone".[1] Look for the before and after pictures of common objects he redesigned. In most cases, sales went up. As a bad example, see "Design for Dreaming", a 1956 General Motors promotion around the time the auto industry was reaching peak chrome and peak tailfin. This also introduced the first self-driving car, the Firebird 2.[2] (The self-driving didn't actually work in the Firebird 2. It did work in the Firebird 3, on a test track equipped with a guide wire.) [1] https://archive.org/details/neverleavewellen0000raym/page/386/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/neverleavewellen0000raym/page/38... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG_KxSM6bTI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG_KxSM6bTI [3] https://youtu.be/tG_KxSM6bTI?t=427 https://youtu.be/tG_KxSM6bTI?t=427

CamperBob2 1y ago

Needs a "Danger: Rabbit Hole" warning. (Although the article says someone else designed the Honeywell thermostat, if I'm reading correctly.)

Animats 1y ago
Oh, you're right. The Honeywell Round was by Henry Dreyfuss. A small number of designers who created the iconic objects of midcentury modern. Who do we have today? Johnathan Ive?
Animats 1y ago
For a good sense of how to think about industrial design, here's Lowey's autobiography, "Never Leave Well Enough Alone".[1] Look for the before and after pictures of common objects he redesigned. In most cases, sales went up. As a bad example, see "Design for Dreaming", a 1956 General Motors promotion around the time the auto industry was reaching peak chrome and peak tailfin. This also introduced the first self-driving car, the Firebird 2.[2] (The self-driving didn't actually work in the Firebird 2. It did work in the Firebird 3, on a test track equipped with a guide wire.) [1] https://archive.org/details/neverleavewellen0000raym/page/386/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/neverleavewellen0000raym/page/38... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG_KxSM6bTI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG_KxSM6bTI [3] https://youtu.be/tG_KxSM6bTI?t=427 https://youtu.be/tG_KxSM6bTI?t=427