Raymond loewy, French, American designer, 1949 Time magazine cover.
The first industrial design. His life is full of ups and downs, and his career is magnificent and colorful. His designs range from airplanes, ships, trains, spaceships and space stations to stamps, lipsticks, trademarks and coke bottles.
The New York Times once commented: It is no exaggeration to say that Mr. Luo has shaped the image of the modern world.
Chinese name: Raymond Loewy.
Raymond Lowe
Nationality: France
Nationality: France
Place of birth: Paris
Date of birth: 1893
Date of death: 1986
Occupation: industrial design
Faith: Catholicism
Representative works: trademarks of coca-cola bottle and Shell, trademarks of Exxon, service badges of the US Postal Service.
Character experience
Raymond Loewy was born in Paris on 1893. He has been interested in trains and cars since he was a child and is determined to engage in design. After he got a bachelor's degree in engineering, he was drafted into the army.
After World War I 19 19 moved to the United States. At that time, he was nearly 30 years old and his hands were almost empty, but he took this opportunity to sincerely pursue his childhood dream. When Luo came to new york, he had only a few tens of francs in his pocket, but he was full of confidence. He first made a living by drawing illustrations for American magazines. Because his painting level is quite good and he is very sensitive to the new illustration style, he can draw a sketch every hour and sell it to a magazine for $75. He skillfully used the then popular decorative art style to draw illustrations, and soon became famous in new york. Later, Luo Wei redesigned the copier produced by a factory and achieved great success, thus starting his industrial product design career, which was out of control. At first, Lowe designed the fashion display window for Macy, the famous Fifth Avenue in new york, and successively worked as an illustrator for Vogue, Harper's and other fashion magazines, occupying a place in the fashion world with his unique artistic style.
1929, he accepted the first design order, improved the Gestetner copier and set foot in the field of industrial design. This order is not only time-limited, but also very difficult. The designer is required to modify the company's copier within five days to combine its appearance and efficiency. Luo Wei immediately set out to design a shell, wrapped the internal machine in it, and changed the shape of the rotating crank and copying table of the machine, replacing the prominent and heavy bracket with "four slender but strong brackets". Thanks to Lowe's inspiration, this "ugly, clumsy" machine was transformed into "charming office furniture" and spread for many years. Lowe applied ergonomics and aesthetic concepts in the design, which made the copier stand out from the competition and the sales volume rose steadily. Luo Wei's talent and inspiration inspired him to create a new career-industrial designer. As the first example of the perfect combination of design and marketing, Lowe's First Venture opened a new era of American industrial design.
65438-0930, Luo Wei was hired as a senior consultant of Hupp Automobile Company. He laughed and said that this employment contract is "the beginning of the legalization of industrial designers." And explained that "this is the first time that a large company has sought advice from outside the industry in product research and development." Since then, Lowe has started a long and bumpy cooperation with American automakers.
Luo Wei introduced the inclined windshield, embedded headlights and tire shell into the car design. Long before the gasoline economy became the focus of the world's attention, Luo Wei advocated the production of fuel-efficient cars with low body and thin shape. "He has resisted the luxurious style of Detroit Design Institute for a long time." Time magazine once commented: "He has the ability to turn the ugly beast on the production line into a beautiful" unique "thing after several small changes; However, it has no ability to change the stubborn concept of the automobile industry-an oil tiger (a car that consumes a lot of gas) is an oil tiger, and a person who designs fancy clothes will never be allowed to change it. "
1934, Luo Wei designed a brand-new image for the Coldpoint refrigerator. The refrigerator adopts large arc and arc shape, and the integrated box makes it look simple and bright; The interior of the refrigerator has also been partially adjusted, laying the foundation for modern refrigerators. After the freezing point landed on the market, the annual sales volume soared from 60 thousand units to 275 thousand units, which made the eyes of the whole business community shine. For a time, streamlining has become the purchase goal of consumers, and its influence still exists today. Lowe is its founder and the peak of interpretation.
1In 936, the Pennsylvania S 1 steam locomotive designed by Luo for Pennsylvania Railway Bureau is another proof of the function of industrial design. He abandoned countless rivets and used welding technology to manufacture the locomotive head shell, which not only made its appearance complete and smooth, but also simplified the maintenance process and reduced the production cost.
/kloc-began to undertake product packaging and corporate image design in the 0' s and 940' s because of a gambling game. For a long time, lucky color cigarette cases have been packed alternately in green and red. 1940, the CEO of American tobacco company bet Lowe $50,000 that he could not change this familiar image. Luo Wei accepted the challenge and began to change the green background color to white to reduce the printing cost. Subsequently, colorful logos were printed on the front and back of the cigarette case, which increased the eye-catching degree of the whole cigarette case. Cai Hao cigarettes with "makeup" have achieved great success in business, and their image has been maintained for more than 40 years.
From 65438 to 0949, Luo Wei became the first designer to be covered by Time magazine.
By 195 1, his industrial design company has achieved fruitful results, and he can proudly announce to the world: "An ordinary person who leads a normal life, whether in the city or in the countryside, will come into contact with articles, service marks and buildings led or partially participated by R.L.A (Raymond Lowe Company) every day."
Luo cong 1967 to 1973 was hired by NASA as a resident consultant to participate in the design of Saturn-Apollo and the space station. They need him to "ensure the psychological and physical safety and comfort of astronauts in extreme weightlessness". His bold design-simulating gravity space; Open the porthole overlooking the earth-three astronauts lived in the space station for 90 days. A person in charge of NASA wrote in a thank-you letter to Luo: "It is unbelievable that astronauts live in the space station with relative comfort, high spirits and excellent efficiency! All this is due to your innovative design. And this design is the perfect crystallization of your deep understanding of human needs. "
Luo Wei's design career lasted until he was over 80 years old, and then he returned to France to enjoy a leisurely travel life until he finished his extraordinary life in 1986. As the founder of American industrial design, his life was accompanied by the process of American industrial design from its beginning, development to its peak and gradual decline. It is no exaggeration to say that Lowe's life is a brief history of the development of American industrial design. Luo Wei is worthy of the title of the father of industrial design.
design principle
Luo Wei pursues the concept of "streamline and simplification", that is, "beauty is manifested in function and simplicity", and promotes the streamline movement in design. He streamlined and simplified everything-from spaceships to stamps.
As a professional designer, Luo Wei became famous in the industry and established the image of a standard bearer. He advocated the new concept that design promotes marketing, and thought that functional design was of great benefit to marketing. He emphasized that design is not for originality, but for market operation, and advocated the new concept that "good design" can occupy the market. He said: "The most beautiful curve is the curve of rising sales."
During the Great Depression, excellent design and business began to marry, and Lowe's career also flourished. He used his own design to give irresistible charm to the goods, so that customers who had little desire to buy gave generously.
When redesigning the bottle shape for Coca-Cola Company, he gave the bottle a more subtle and feminine curve. "Its (Coke bottle) shape is very feminine-this feature sometimes goes beyond the functionality of goods." Luo Wei's design has achieved great success in business and brought huge profits to Coca-Cola Company. Coca-Cola's classic bottle shape has quickly become a symbol of American culture.
He summed up his design philosophy as Maya (extremely advanced but accepted) principle and spread it in all his creations. During his long career, concise, practical and energetic works flowed from Luo Wei's office.
Luo Wei is undoubtedly one of the most talented commercial artists in the world.
When redesigning the company logo for Shell, Lowe carried out brand transformation, which not only continued the Shell concept of the original trademark, but also stylized it, making the visual effect more concise and powerful.
Luo Wei once explained his trademark design like this: "I seek strong visual shock, even a short glance can leave a deep impression." He did it, and his successful designs: Exxon Oil, Coach Greyhound and Na Beske Biscuits attracted people's attention with their unique visual impact, which made them unforgettable.
Famous works
LuckyStrike, GG 1 and S 1 engines, coca-cola bottle, John F. Kennedy commemorative stamps, space stations, greyhound cars and signs; Trademarks of Shell and Exxon; Service badge of the US Postal Service; Frigidaire, StudebakerAvanti, Pennsylvania K4 steam locomotive, Pennsylvania S 1 steam locomotive, Pennsylvania T 1 steam locomotive, etc.
Personality assessment
Raymond loewy is the most famous industrial designer in the 20th century and a pioneer in the design field. He combined streamline with European modernism and created a unique artistic language. He initiated industrial design and promoted the marriage of design and commerce. And with a keen business sense, unlimited imagination and excellent design endowment, it injects fresh life elements into the development of the industry. His life is full of ups and downs, and his career is magnificent and colorful. The number and range of its designs are shocking: from cars and space stations to stamps, lipsticks and company logos. Whether Americans in the middle of last century were conscious or not, they actually lived in Raymond Loewy's world.
The influence of the work
He was the first designer to appear on the cover of Time magazine. In the magazine's list of 100 events that formed the United States, raymond loewy's design firm 1929 in new york was ranked as the 87th, showing its great influence.
His first industrial design work was 1929, a rapid printing machine redesigned for Gistner Company. At that time, the company gave him five days to do the work, and he could only complete the visual simplification in such a short time. However, Gistner was deeply impressed by this and entrusted him with a thorough modification design of some later models. Raymond loewy combined the design points of improving appearance, improving working efficiency and reducing cleaning area, and turned the original greasy and messy machine into a fashionable streamlined product, which has influenced it to this day.
Raymond loewy designed the "Ke Despot" refrigerator in 1935, which shows that the design has a great influence on sales activities. Early refrigerators were always huge in appearance, placed on high and curved legs, and the condenser was exposed. In raymond loewy's design, the whole refrigerator is packed in a simple white enamel steel box, and the door of the box is flush with the door frame. Nickel-plated hardware tries to give people a treasure-like texture, which is very dazzling in a bright and clean background. After careful design, containers of different shapes and sizes can be placed inside the refrigerator. This refrigerator has a semi-automatic defroster and an ice tray that can remove ice instantly. This model has become a new trend in refrigerator design, and the annual sales volume has soared from 1.5 million units to 275,000 units.