Henry Dreyfuss (March 2, 1904 – October 5, 1972) was an American
industrial designIndustrial design is a combination of applied art and applied science, whereby the aesthetics and usability of mass-produced products may be improved for marketability and production...
er.
Dreyfuss was a native in
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. 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 LoewyRaymond Fernand Loewy was one of the best known industrial designers of the 20th century. Born in France, he spent most of his professional career in the United States where he influenced countless aspects of North American culture...
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
ergonomicsErgonomics is the science of designing the job, equipment, and workplace to fit the worker. Proper ergonomic design is necessary to prevent repetitive strain injuries, which can develop over time and can lead to long-term disability....
, anthropometrics, and
human factorsHuman factors is a term that covers:* The science of understanding the properties of human capability .* The application of this understanding to the design, development and deployment of systems and services .* The art of ensuring successful application of Human Factors Engineering to a programme...
.
Until 1920 Dreyfuss studied as an apprentice to theatrical designer
Norman Bel GeddesNorman Melancton Bel Geddes was an American theatrical and industrial designer who focused on aerodynamics....
, his later competitor, and opened his own office in 1929 for theatrical and industrial design activities.
Henry Dreyfuss (March 2, 1904 – October 5, 1972) was an American
industrial designIndustrial design is a combination of applied art and applied science, whereby the aesthetics and usability of mass-produced products may be improved for marketability and production...
er.
Career
Dreyfuss was a native in
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. 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 LoewyRaymond Fernand Loewy was one of the best known industrial designers of the 20th century. Born in France, he spent most of his professional career in the United States where he influenced countless aspects of North American culture...
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
ergonomicsErgonomics is the science of designing the job, equipment, and workplace to fit the worker. Proper ergonomic design is necessary to prevent repetitive strain injuries, which can develop over time and can lead to long-term disability....
, anthropometrics, and
human factorsHuman factors is a term that covers:* The science of understanding the properties of human capability .* The application of this understanding to the design, development and deployment of systems and services .* The art of ensuring successful application of Human Factors Engineering to a programme...
.
Until 1920 Dreyfuss studied as an apprentice to theatrical designer
Norman Bel GeddesNorman Melancton Bel Geddes was an American theatrical and industrial designer who focused on aerodynamics....
, 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.
Designs
Significant original Dreyfuss designs include:
- the "Western Electric 302
The Model 302 telephone subscriber set was manufactured by Western Electric from 1937; manufacture of entirely new units was ceased after the introduction of the Model 500, but Model 302 units were continually remanufactured as such at least until 1958, and as the Model 5302 well into the next decade...
" tabletop telephone for Bell Laboratories (1930, produced 1937-1950)
- the Hoover
The Hoover Company started out as an American floor care manufacturer based in North Canton, Ohio. It also established a major base in the United Kingdom and for most of the early-and-mid-20th century, it dominated the electric vacuum cleaner industry, to the point where the "hoover" brand name...
"Model 150" vacuum cleaner (1936)
- the classic Westclox
Westclox was a former manufacturer and is a current brand of clocks and alarm clocks.-Early history as United Clock Company:Charles Stahlberg and others from Waterbury, Connecticut originally formed as "United Clock Company" on 5 December 5, 1885 in Peru, Illinois, intending to manufacture clocks...
"Big Ben" alarm clock (1939)http://clockhistory.com/westclox/company/ads/benseries.html
- the New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
's streamlined MercuryMercury was the name used by the New York Central Railroad for a family of daytime streamliner passenger trains operating between midwestern cities. The Mercury train sets were designed by the noted industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss, and are considered a prime example of Art Deco design...
train, both locomotiveA locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
and passenger cars (1936).
- the locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
of the NYC's"Twentieth Century Limited" (1938)
- the popular "Democracity" model city of the future at the 1939 New York World's Fair
1939 World's Fair redirects here. The term can also refer to the Golden Gate International Exposition, which was held in San Francisco/Oakland at the same time as the New York fair....
- the styled John Deere
John Deere was an American blacksmith and manufacturer who founded Deere & Company— the largest agricultural and construction equipment manufacturers in the world...
Model A and Model B tractors (1938)
- the Wahl-Eversharp Skyline fountain pen (1940).
- the "500
The Western Electric model 500 telephone series was the standard desk-style domestic telephone set issued by the Bell System in North America from late 1949 through the 1984 Bell System divestiture. Millions of model 500-series phones were produced and were present in almost every home in North...
" desk telephone (1949), a Bell SystemThe Bell System was the AT&T monopoly that provided telephone service in the United States from 1877 to 1984 when it was broken up into separate companies by a Federal mandate....
standard for years
- the Honeywell
Honeywell is a major conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major corporations and governments....
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
The Princess telephone was introduced by AT&T in 1959. It was a compact telephone designed for convenient use in the bedroom, and contained a light-up dial for use as a night-light. It was commonly known with the slogan "It's little...It's lovely...It lights", which was thought up by an employee of...
" telephone (1959)
- the "Trimline
The Western Electric Trimline telephone is a variety of telephone set designed by Donald Genaro of Henry Dreyfuss Associates for the Bell System . It was built by the Bell System's manufacturing arm, Western Electric. The idea behind the Trimline telephone was to create an alternative telephone...
" desk telephone (1965).
Later life
In 1955 Dreyfuss wrote
Designing for People, an
autobiographyAn autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
which features his "Joe" and "Josephine" simplified anthropometric charts. In 1960 he published
The Measure of Man, an ergonomic reference.
Dreyfuss was the first President of the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA).
Death
On October 5, 1972, at their home in
South Pasadena, CaliforniaSouth Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 24,292.-History:...
, Dreyfuss and his wife, Doris Marks, who was
terminally illTerminal illness is a medical term popularized in the 20th century to describe an active and malignant disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and that is reasonably expected to result in the death of the patient. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as cancer...
, committed
suicideSuicide is the intentional killing of one's self. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"...
. They were found in a car, killed by self-inflicted
carbon monoxideCarbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas, yet very toxic to humans. It consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom, connected by a covalent double bond and a dative covalent bond...
poisoning. Earlier that year, Marks had been diagnosed with
liver cancerHepatocellular carcinoma is a primary malignancy of the liver. Most cases of HCC are secondary to either a viral hepatitide infection or cirrhosis...
. Now, after his death there is still a Henry Dreyfuss design company.