Raymond Loewy is known for designs for Coca-Cola, the Pennsylvania Railroad, Greyhound, International Harvester, Studebaker, and many others
Raymond Loewy: Never Leave Well Enough Alone
Raymond Loewy: Never Leave Well Enough Alone, gives an autobiographical look at one of the founders of the industrial design profession. Raymond Loewy is known for designs for Coca-Cola, the Pennsylvania Railroad, Greyhound, International Harvester, Studebaker, and many others. Loewy’s personal life is briefly examined and then the book focuses on his industrial design process from 1929 through 1950. This review is from an Indiana-built auto perspective and may overlook other ventures.
Loewy’s first automotive commission was the “cycle-fender” Hupmobile for 1932. When he encountered difficulty in selling his ideas to management, he built a prototype at his own expense and thus won them over to his design. In 1934, his Aerodynamic Hupmobile featured headlights faired-in to the fenders, three-piece windshields, and fastback styling.
His Hupp designs would serve as his entry to Studebaker later in the decade. Loewy’s association with Studebaker began with the 1938 President and Commander four-door convertibles and continued through the 1953 Commander Starliner Coupe. Later on, his firm was responsible for the 1963 Studebaker Avanti.
In one chapter, he gives a detailed description of automobile body styling from a rough sketch to quarter-scale clay model, full-size plaster mockup, all the way through to the finished product. Loewy reportedly took some of the streamlining inspiration for the 1938 Studebaker President from an earlier commission for a Pennsylvania Railroad casing for locomotive #3768. One page shows photos of a 1950 Studebaker custom convertible built for Loewy. Some of these custom features debuted on later models. I found the drawings of the Great Chrome Cataract School of front-end treatments to be somewhat humorous.
The title pages of some chapters illustrate various principles of industrial design. He uses arrangement, typography, variation, and shape to demonstrate his point on these pages. There are numerous photo examples of products improved by the Loewy industrial design process like Gestetner duplicators, Sears Roebuck refrigerators, Pennsylvania Railroad steam and electric locomotives, Lucky Strike cigarette packaging, Coca-Cola soda fountain dispensers, Singer vacuum cleaners, and International Harvester farm equipment.
The original book was published in 1951 at the height of Loewy’s career. Written and designed by Loewy, this book is liberally illustrated with vintage drawings and black and white photographs. The book is part autobiography and part design manifesto. This 2002 edition has a new introduction by Glenn Porter.
Raymond Loewy: Never Leave Well Enough Alone is a great resource for the auto buff as well as aficionados of industrial design.
