Industrial DesignForm and Function
Joseph Claude Sinel (1890-1975)
Industrial design combines art and science to create useful and beautiful consumer goods. The term is usually attributed to a pioneering and prolific designer named Joseph Claude Sinel, an art school graduate from New Zealand. Sinel’s famous quote about what he designed over the years says he worked on “ads to andirons and automobiles, from beer bottles to book covers, from hammers to hearing aids, from labels and letterheads to packages and pickle jars, from textiles and telephone books to toasters, typewriters and trucks." He also produced designs for industrial scales, typewriters, and calculators. Excellence in industrial design results in a successful mix of artistry and engineering producing a product that is both beautiful to look at and serviceable – a true blending of form and function. Successful icons of industrial design include disparate but unique items including Apple’s iPod, the Bell 47 helicopter, Fender Stratocaster guitars, the Coke bottle, and the Volkswagen Beetle. In furniture, Gustav Stickley, Charles and Ray Eames are considered design masters.
One of the rock starts of industrial design is Raymond Loewy. His hand guided the look and feel of several streamlined brands, icons and machines. His exquisite touch on industrial design can been seen on train locomotives (as seen above), Studebakers, Cold Spot refrigerators, and the Lucky Strike cigarette pack. His work extended to the most utilitarian of goods including the International Harvester Farmall tractor.
Industrial Design touches us in many ways. In my case it takes the form of one of my favorite ways to travel - which is on two wheels. Here's a piece I wrote for Chesapeake Home and Living magazine about how the worlds of designers, chefs, architectural photographers and writers come together in a love for motorcycles. Take a look at Life on Two Wheels.
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