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"We never show them sketches and never present alternatives."   Walter D. Teague Walter Dorwin Teague -photo courtesy Teague archives Be the Authority        Teague used a bold strategy with his clients, one which most consultants do not dare to do today.  When it came time to present the design deliverables, he only presented one.  It was presented with panache and great authority, usually as a beautiful and perfect full scale model, with dramatic lighting and within a contextual environment.  Teague’s perspective was that he was the designer, and he had the experience and expertise to make the final design decision.  His office had explored all possible options and alternatives, and this was the best solution.  “We work very closely with our clients, their engineers and executives, so that we thoroughly understand the conditions of success in their business.  But we consider that design is our business, not theirs. ...

  The Successful Design Business Practices of Walter Dorwin Teague Part 4 of 5  Design Research and Designer Cultural Sensitivity versus Market Surveys  ( click here for part 1 ,  part 2 ,  part 3 ) Designers at the boards in the New York Teague office. About 1940. Photo by Stowe Myers.     Teague believed in the designer’s intuitive sensitivity of culture and understanding of the client and end-user, to lead them to the best design solution.  Teague expresses the limitations of marketing and surveys in this speech in Detroit 1960: “These people can’t tell you what they are going to like three years from now- that’s been completely proven; but they can’t even tell you what they will like today if you’ve never seen it.   So the designer will learn next to nothing from the quiz programs some companies conduct at great expense.  But the designer should be aware of and sensitive to the trends that are moving in this small,...

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...