"Time Magazine, october 1949 (it was the first time a product designer received so much national media attention in the United States."

French born engineer, best known for his designs for steam locomotives and refrigerators, he also designed logos for exxon and shell, and the interior of the skylab.

"Between two products equal in price, function, and quality, the better looking will outsell the other." He proved that the success of a product is as dependent on aesthetics as function. "The goal of design is to sell," he said. "And to drive the point home", he added, "the loveliest curve I know is the sales curve.". Loewy was the first designer to introduce annual model changes into the home appliance market and thus introducing obsolescence into the market of household appliances.

It is estimated that at the peak of his career over 75% of americans came into contact with one or more of his products every day.

American companies which survived the wall street crash in 1929 saw competition rise to an unprecedented extent. the design of products was taken seriously as they had to increase sales to survive. For the first time, design became a commercial imperative. From the early 1930s through into the 1950s, a design style flourished that has become known as the streamline style.

Its most important characteristic are the closed, streamlined forms that strongly suggest speed, symbolic of the dynamism of modern times. To visualise this, the sharp corners and transitions of objects were rounded off. Knobs, handles and hand grips were recessed. speed lines were created by introducing ribs or gleaming chrome strips. This style dangled the promise before consumers that they were still on the way to a glorious future with prosperity for everybody, at least if they continued to consume.

The streamline style was not arrived at on the basis of scientific requirements for optimal air flow, but was a cliched expression of that. there was a good deal of theatricality to these visual devices as they were applied to movie marquees, toasters, vacuum cleaners, objects which - except for the occasional domestic altercation - were not meant to fly through the air. thus, irrespective of their function or content, objects were made attractive and tempting in a way that everyone understood. it was a period in which mass consumption was uncritically embraced.

Logos and corporate designs



1940 lucky strike pack
Loewy’s classic transformation of the package included:

- replacing the green background with white
- turning the circular motif into a stronger target device
- making both sides of the pack identical by featuring the target on both sides
- sharpening up the typography.



Coca cola
Raymond Loewy said "The coke bottle is the most perfectly designed package in the word."
Loewy is often mistakenly credited with designing the coca- cola bottle, although he worked for the coca cola company for decades, designed several coke related products, and even redesigned the famous bottle in 1954 (the first coke bottle was developed for coca-cola in 1915 by the root glass company of terre haute, indiana, the bottle has undergone several redesigns in its 100-plus years).

This contribution to that particular icon, the original contour of the 'mae west' bottle, was to 'slenderize' the already existing version, giving it a more refined silhouette and making it sexier to a new generation.
see
http://www.theavanti.com/CokeDesign.html
http://www2.coca-cola.com/ourcompany/historybottling.html
http://www.antiquebottles.com/coke/fame.html




Shell oil company's logo

In 1967, the shell company approached loewy with a design problem - its emblem was difficult to distinguish from a distance, or in poor lighting. the logo is still in use today. The pecten (shell's version) has gone through some facelifts over the years. In fact the first pecten wasn't a pecten (scallop shell) at all. It was a mussel shell introduced in 1900 and replaced in 1904 by the first version of the scallop shell motif. Yhe pecten symbol currently in use worldwide was designed in 1971 by loewy.

The design and testing process completed by Loewy's firm took more than four years. one of the tests involved hanging various prototype pectens on poles where they could be viewed by drivers passing on a nearby british motorway. Drivers were later contacted for their opinions on the prototypes.
see
http://www.shell.ca/code/who/about/seashell.html
http://www2.shell.com



The exxon logo

After his work for shell oil company, Loewy was hired by jersey standard to find a new name and design a new logo for its esso brand. He proposed 'exxon' and came up with seventy-six rough pencil sketches based on the word, placing the visual emphasis on the double 'x.' The two x’s subliminally recalled the 's’s' in esso and thus helped ease the transition from the old name to the new.



see
http://www.raymondloewyfoundation.com
http://www.loewygroup.com