Democracity
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| - | '''Henry Dreyfuss''' (March 2, 1904 – October 5, 1972) was an American [[industrial design]]er. | + | "[[Democracity]]" was a model city of the future at the [[1939 New York World's Fair]] at the [[Trylon and Perisphere]]. |
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| - | ==Career== | + | |
| - | Dreyfuss was a native of [[Brooklyn]], [[New York]]. As one of the celebrity industrial designers of the 1930s and 1940s, Dreyfuss dramatically improved the look, feel, and usability of dozens of consumer products. As opposed to [[Raymond Loewy]] and other contemporaries, Dreyfuss was not a stylist: he applied common sense and a scientific approach to design problems. His work both popularized the field for public consumption, and made significant contributions to the underlying fields of [[ergonomics]], [[anthropometrics]], and [[human factors]]. Until 1920 Dreyfuss studied as an apprentice to theatrical designer [[Norman Bel Geddes]], his later competitor, and opened his own office in 1929 for theatrical and industrial design activities. It was an immediate and long-lasting commercial success. As of 2005 his firm continues to operate as Henry Dreyfuss Associates with major corporate clients. | + | |
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| - | ===Designs=== | + | |
| - | Significant original Dreyfuss designs include: | + | |
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| - | * the "[[Model 302 telephone|Western Electric 302]]" tabletop telephone for [[Bell Laboratories]] (1930, produced 1937-1950) | + | |
| - | * the [[The Hoover Company|Hoover]] "Model 150" vacuum cleaner (1936) | + | |
| - | * the classic [[Westclox]] "Big Ben" alarm clock (1939)[http://clockhistory.com/westclox/company/ads/benseries.html] | + | |
| - | * the [[New York Central Railroad]]'s streamlined ''[[Mercury (NYC)|Mercury]]'' train, both [[locomotive]] and passenger cars (1936). | + | |
| - | * the [[NYC Hudson]] locomotive for the "[[Twentieth Century Limited]]" (1938) | + | |
| - | * the popular "[[Democracity]]" model city of the future at the [[1939 New York World's Fair]] at the [[Trylon and Perisphere]] | + | |
| - | * the styled [[John Deere]] Model A and Model B tractors (1938) | + | |
| - | * the Wahl-Eversharp Skyline fountain pen (1940). | + | |
| - | * the "[[Model 500 telephone|500]]" desk telephone (1949), a [[Bell System]] standard for years | + | |
| - | * the [[Honeywell]] [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Honeywell_round_thermostat.jpg T87] circular wall thermostat (1953). | + | |
| - | * the spherical "Model 82 Constellation" vacuum cleaner for Hoover (1954) which floated on an air cushion of its own exhaust. | + | |
| - | * the "[[Princess telephone|Princess]]" telephone (1959) | + | |
| - | * the "[[Trimline telephone|Trimline]]" desk telephone (1965). | + | |
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| - | ==Later life== | + | |
| - | In 1955 Dreyfuss wrote ''Designing for People'', an [[autobiography]] which features his "Joe" and "Josephine" simplified anthropometric charts. In 1960 he published ''The Measure of Man'', an ergonomic reference. | + | |
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| - | Dreyfuss was the first President of the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA). | + | |
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| - | ==Death== | + | |
| - | On October 5, 1972, at their home in [[South Pasadena, California]], Dreyfuss and his wife, Doris Marks, who was [[terminal illness|terminally ill]], committed [[suicide]]. They were found in a car, killed by self-inflicted [[carbon monoxide]] poisoning. Earlier that year, Marks had been diagnosed with [[Hepatocellular carcinoma|liver cancer]]. The design company, Henry Dreyfuss Associates, remains after his death. | + | |
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| - | ==References and Further Reading== | + | |
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| - | Dreyfuss, Henry. ''Symbol Sourcebook: An Authoritative Guide to International Graphic Symbols''. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 1984. ISBN 0471288721 | + | |
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| - | Dreyfuss, Henry. ''Designing for People''. Allworth Press; illustrated edition edition, 2003. ISBN 1581153120 | + | |
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| - | Flinchum, Russell. ''Henry Dreyfuss, Industrial Designer: The Man in the Brown Suit''. Rizzoli, 1997. ISBN 0-8478-2010-6 | + | |
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| - | Innes, Christopher. ''Designing Modern America: Broadway to Main Street''. Yale University Press, 2005. ISBN 0300108044 | + | |
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"Democracity" was a model city of the future at the 1939 New York World's Fair at the Trylon and Perisphere.
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