French-born industrial designer Raymond Loewy spent most of his life in United States, where he came up with ideas for so many companies, that the space required here to list them all would make doing so a not at all worthwhile exercise – it would just be a very lengthy enumeration of names and acronyms.
He was born on November 5, in 1893, in Paris, and began his active life in the design field in 1909. Now, 120 years later, Google is celebrating his life and activity with a unique Google Doodle showcasing a stylized interpretation of one of his streamlined steam engine designs.
However, while most know him as having designed Coca-Cola vending machines, the Greyhound bus, Lucky Strike cigarette pack, household appliances like the Sears Coldspot refrigerator and the aforementioned locomotives, he also had quite a lengthy collaboration with Studebaker. His partnership with them began in 1936, and one of the first things he did was to redesign the company logo, which had remained unchanged for the past 24 years.
Moreover, he was responsible (as head of design) for many of Studebaker’s models launched immediately after the war, all of which exhibit his trademark style of placing lines together – he was one of the first to do away with bulging fenders, preferring to have them completely flush with the body, an idea which is still in use today.
Check out some of his automotive creations after the virtual jump.
By Andrei Nedelea
PHOTO GALLERY
