Henry Dreyfuss Writing on The Telephone

[HobieSport]

I've been wanting to post Henry Dreyfuss's own writings about the telephone for several months , yet until now had not been able to find it available online.  This morning I finally found it; the entire book; "Designing For People" by Henry Dreyfuss. 

While I find the whole book a fascinatingly good read about industrial design at a down to earth level, Chapter Seven, "The Telephone" may be of particular interest to some of us.

So here it is in it's entirety, I hope for some enjoyment and discussion.  Just scroll to pages 100 through 109.

Gosh I love the way he writes.

http://tinyurl.com/ck7v5s

-Matt

[Tonyrotary]

That was a very interesting read. Eight years to fully develop the 500...WOW!

[HobieSport]

Yep.  Good thing Ma Bell/Western Electric had the wisdom to see that having Henry on the team for so many years was an excellent business decision.

"If people are made safer, more comfortable, more eager to purchase, more efficient---or just plain happier---by contact with the product, then the designer has succeeded"  -Henry Dreyfuss

[AET]

He's a fan of the black phones too, eh?

[HobieSport]

He's a fan of the black phones too, eh?

All kidding aside ( ) Actually I'm not sure if Dreyfuss had any say in any of the colors of the WE phones that he helped design.  I wish he had.  He had a very sophisticated yet conservative and subdued sense of color.

BTW Tom, did you read the Dreyfuss chapter on the telephone?  I just thought that as an appreciator of the 500 that you (and anyone else) might like to read about how it was designed, "from the horses' mouth" as it were.  Anyway, I find it quite fascinating.  I know I do go on about Dreyfuss, but it's not a form of hero worship...just an appreciation.

[AET]

Hobie, you bet I read it!  And I loved it.  It was technical, but not so technical that it became boring.  Really gave some insight from the creator.  I like that.

[HobieSport]

Hobie, you bet I read it!  And I loved it.  It was technical, but not so technical that it became boring.  Really gave some insight from the creator.  I like that.

Goody, I'm glad you liked it, Tom.  I like how modest and unpretentious Dreyfuss was, despite all his abilities and fame, and I just enjoy the way he thinks and writes.

[AET]

Yeah, thanks to you, I've got myself a bit fascinated by him myself.  Wish I had that talent to design something so stylish yet simplistic.  I draw up things all the time, but they tend to be very elaborate and ostentatious.

[HobieSport]

Well Tom not to sound pretentious, or as if I know what the heck I'm talking about ( ) but since anything goes in design, elaborate and ostentatious (showiness) has it's place like anything else.  Dreyfuss may have been a master of simplicity, streamlining, function and ergonomics, but take a look at his designs for the Twentieth Century Limiteds.  They were certainly "showy".  I love how he left the wheels and other workings of the steam engines exposed for view and even had them lit at night to show all that raw power.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Dreyfuss

Or take a look at his design for the huge "Democracity" diorama of the futuristic metropolis in the Parisphere at the 1939 World's Fair.  (Which was so elaborate that it kept breaking down )  The guy was also a real showman, in fact he began his career as a set designer.  Just that in person he was a rather humble gentleman.

I wish Dreyfuss had designed a car or two.  I'm just really curious what he would have come up with.  His contemporary counterpart, Raymond Loewy, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Loewy) was much less conservative and much more personally showy than Dreyfuss and had lot's of fun designing Studebakers and Avantis.

One of the reasons I like phones like the AE 40 is because they are a little ostentatious compared to the WE 302.  Nothing wrong with being "showy".  It's all fun and good.

BTW, take a look below at the GE Iron that Dreyfuss designed.  He made it very ergonomic but it also looks like it could break the sound barrier on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

[bingster]

Loewy was definitely a crank.  He put out lots of good stuff... and he never let you forget it.  Still brilliant, though.  All in all, my favorite industrial designer would have to be Bel Geddes.  He was instrumental in popularizing Streamline Moderne, which is just a knockout style in my book.

[HobieSport]

Loewy was an amusing fellow, wasn't he?  What a publicity hound, and taking the credit for the works of his minions.  Fun stuff though.

Thanks for reminding me about Norman Bel Geddes, Bingster, because I haven't studied his work at all but intend to. I'm somewhat of a nut for Streamline Moderne, and he's right in there with Dreyfuss and Loewy, if not more visionary than any of them.

Do you have any of his radios?

Too bad his little airplane never got built...
http://home.att.net/~dannysoar/BelGeddes.htm

I like the car too.

I'm looking for pictures/plans of the homes he designed.

[bingster]

No, I don't have any of his radios--I'd have to take out a bank loan to buy one.

One of his greatest achievements (in my eyes, anyway) was his design for the General Motors Futurama at the '39 fair.  It was the most-visited exhibit at the fair, and many of his ideas for city planning and highway design in Futurama ultimately wound up being implemented around the world in later years.

[AET]

Showiness is good, but I just like that so many of his creations in my opinion are showy, because they're so classicly styled, if that makes any sense to you.  I'd be very interested to see what one of his cars would turn out like, but as far as cars go, I don't think anybody will ever top Harley Earle.

[bingster]

I'm probably the only person in the country who hates the styling of 1950s GM cars.  At the beginning of the decade they were too pedestrian, in the middle they were too awkward, and at the end they were way, wayyyyy too far over the top.  I prefer the sleekness of Teague's cars, and the flowing cleanliness of Exner's.

[AET]

Bingster, you must be!  I love big barges with lots of chrome, multi-tone paint jobs, interiors, and of course tail fins.  My folks and I have owned a couple examples of these, including my first car, a 1960 Chevy Bel-Air, my current car a 1958 Chevy Delray, and my dad's 1957 Chevy 210.