ID [PNW]

Better than the iPhone?  Designer Gad Amit writes an excellent design critique of the new Nokia Lumia phone with Windows 7 Metro UI.    It's upsetting the iSheep to no end. "Let me be clear, Nokia’s phones are better than Apple’s, both in terms of physical and digital design. Supple, amiable, vibrant, and durable, the Lumia 800 and the slightly larger 900 are the new kings of smartphone design. " - Amit

The Successful Design Business Practices of Walter Dorwin Teague Part 2 of 5 Walter Dorwin Teague in his office-photo WDTA archives Gaining New Clients: Role Playing with Raymond Loewy and Walter D. Teague How did the early industrial designers sell themselves to new clients?  Raymond Loewy and Walter D. Teague answered this question during a conference in 1946 entitled “Industrial Design: A New Profession” held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.  They demonstrated this by having a mock discussion between designer and client, with Teague acting as the potential client. What is interesting about this discussion is that much of the conversation sounds the same as our discussions with clients today with some notable exceptions.  Here is an excerpt: Raymond Loewy:  …Mr. Teague, let us try to discuss it together.  Would you like to take the part of the client? Walter Dorwin Teague:  All right, fine. Well, Mr. Loewy, I know that you ...

Part 1 of 5 Walter Dorwin Teague on Madison Avenue (Teague archives)     Walter Dorwin Teague (1883 - 1960) is considered one of the founding fathers of industrial design as well as one of the most prolific American industrial designers in history.  Among his contemporaries, Henry Dreyfuss, Norman Bel Geddes, and Raymond Loewy, he stands out as a professional leader and influential businessman.  His clients were the largest and most prominent corporations in the United States.  From the start of his industrial design business in 1928 the office grew from a staff of two to fifty-five by 1938, which included architects, engineers, accountants, model makers, and industrial designers. (Teague, W. D. Jr. 52)  At this time his client list included: Ford, Texaco, US Steel, DuPont, National Cash Register, Eastman-Kodak, Steinway and Sons, A.B. Dick, Consolidated Edison, and New Haven Railroad among others.   Teague maintained long relation...

Students from Western Washington University’s Industrial Design program captured multiple awards in two recent design contests. "Dip," by Western Washington University Industrial design student Larisa Schulze of Gig Harbor, recently won a Silver Award at the annual Shaggies design competition. Larisa Schulze of Gig Harbor won a Silver Award at the Shaggies, a biennial design competition open to designers all across the Western United States and Canada.  She was recognized for the design of her wood laminated reading bench, “Dip,” designed for children. Samuel Martin of Seattle won a Bronze Award at the Shaggies for "Enfold," a design of eyeglass frames constructed of laser-cut tensile steel, rolled and press-broken to shape, and then powder coated to finish. The frames may be fit with any standard polycarbonate reading or corrective lens. Recent Industrial Design graduate Thomas Kloucek won a Bronze Award in the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" category f...

Prof. Del King reviewing a prototype with students Jay Ostby and Adam Weisgerber. I am very excited to announce that WWU Industrial Design professor, Del King, was awarded the IDSA educator of the year at the IDSA international conference in New Orleans.  This is a very prestigious honor that is only awarded once a year. Here's the language that the IDSA wrote: Del King, L/IDSA | Western Washington University   2011 IDSA Education Award Winner "Dell King enjoyed a distinguished career in professional design practice. He managed the medical products division at Hewlett Packard. He served as Fluke’s corporate design manager. And he was president and CEO of Walter Dorwin Teague Associates. Not bad for the guy who has taught the senior ID studio at Western Washington University for almost three decades.   "Each of the dozens and dozens of students who have studied with him has a “Dell Story.” Among the words Western grads have used to describe him: Critical. Meticulo...