Visionary Raymond Loewy Honored In Google Doodle And A Look At Some Of His Greatest Designs.

Today’s Google Doodle honors what would have been the 120th birthday of French industrial designer Raymond Loewy (1893-1986). The Doodle, a pencil sketch, was inspired by the Pennsylvania Railroad's S1 steam locomotive he designed as you can clearly see the resemblance to Loewy's original sketch in the above image.



So what did Raymond Loewy actually design? Believe it or not, pretty much everything. From the world's best known brand logos, pencil sharpeners, clocks, kitchen appliances, coke bottles, coke dispensers and furniture to Planes, Trains and Automobiles (to steal a movie title), the Father of Industrial Design ”made products irresistible at a time when nobody really wanted to pay for anything,” TIME magazine once wrote.



His designs straddled the mid-century modern style and the streamlined art deco. Most recognizable amongst his achievements are the Shell and Exxon logos, the Lucky Strike cigarette packaging, GG1 and S1 locomotives, the slenderized Coca-Cola bottle, the John F. Kennedy memorial postage stamp, the interior of Saturn I, Saturn V, and Skylab, the Greyhound bus and logo, U.S. Postal Service emblem, a line of Frigidaire refrigerators, ranges, and freezers, and the Studebaker Avanti, Champion and Starliner.



above: just some of Loewy's logo designs

"Design, vitalized and simplified, will make the comforts of civilized life available to an ever-increasing number of Americans." -- Raymond Loewy

Some of his designs (shown with his beautiful sketches if possible):

Avanti:


Bottle and dispensers for Coca Cola:


Greyhound Bus and Logo Design:


Pencil sharpener, tea set, carpet and furniture by Loewy:


Lucky Strike logo and packaging:


USPS emblem and JFK memorial Stamp:



Here are just some of his career highlights:

1975 Smithsonian Institution opened The Designs of Raymond Loewy, a four-month exhibit dedicated to "the man who changed the face of industrial design."

1972 Poll of stylists representing the Big Three automakers voted his 1953 Studebaker Starliner Coupé an "industry best." Also named one of the most influential Americans by LIFE magazine.

1967 Began working as a habitability consultant to NASA.


1965 Joined the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped.

1962 After designing the Shell logo, it becomes such a recognizable icon that Shell drops its name from their advertisements.


1961 Designed the Studebaker Avanti, holding to the motto, "weight is the enemy."

1954 Designed the Greyhound bus.

1953 Designed the Studebaker Starliner Coupé, which the Museum of Modern Art later called a "work of art."

1952 Founded the Compagnie de I'Esthetique Industrielle in Paris, France.

1951 Published second design textbook, Industrial Design, and his autobiography Never Leave Well Enough Alone.

1949 Appeared on the cover of TIME magazine.


1939 Redesigned the Lucky Strike cigarette packaging.

1937 Published first book, The Locomotive: Its Aesthetics.

1936 Designed the GG-1 electric locomotive for the Pennsylvania Railroad.

1934 Designed the Coldspot refrigerator for Sears Roebuck & Company.


1930 Hired as a consultant by the Hupp Motor Company.

1929 Redesigned the Gestetner mimeograph machine. Founder and art director of Raymond Loewy, William Snaith, Inc., in New York City (later established as Raymond Loewy International).

1919 Provided popular fashion illustrations for magazines such as Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. Freelanced as a window designer for department stores, including Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy's.



In 1975 the Smithsonian Institution opened The Designs of Raymond Loewy, a four-month exhibit dedicated to "the man who changed the face of industrial design." Loewy later commented, "While working closely with the Smithsonian, I was provided with the opportunity to reassess the past." And what a past it was. Loewy - businessman, educator, illustrator and author - had undoubtedly established himself as one of history's most famous and influential designers.


above: Loewy with his design for Air Force 1

Loewy and Viola moved to France several years later, where they enjoyed leisurely travel and a more relaxed lifestyle. On July 14, 1986, after a period of poor health, Raymond Loewy died in Monte Carlo, Monaco. He was 92 years old.

Loewy's death sparked a worldwide media frenzy over his immeasurable talent and contributions to industrial design. New York Times reporter Susan Heller wrote, "One can hardly open a beer or a soft drink, fix breakfast, board a plane, buy gas, mail a letter or shop for an appliance without encountering a Loewy creation."

Official Raymond Loewy sites:
www.raymondloewy.com
www.RaymondLoewy.org
www.RaymondLoewyFoundation.com

Fabulous Design, Illustration and Packaging by Veronika Kieneke for the GÖRTZ brand.

Hamburg-based creative and design agency Gürtlerbachmann has created many beautiful in-store promotional pieces for German shoe store chain GÖRTZ. From designing sock puppets and wearable bags to promote their children's section to beautiful packaging for wool socks. Such a slew of well-designed pieces and all of the art direction and concepts were created by the talented (now freelance) illustrator and designer Veronika Kieneke. Every in-store promotional piece and package design in this post has received at least one design award - and in most cases multiple awards.

Dioramas made from Shoe Boxes as in-store display:










Packaging for fashion brand CLOSED Wool Socks:








Wearable bags for Children's shoes:









Sock Puppets to Promote Their Children's Section:





images courtesy of the designer and Gürtlerbachmann

See more of the talented Veronika Kieneke's work here

18 Colorful Employee Portraits by Olaf Breuning Add Creativity To Pernod Ricard's Annual Report

Co-creation by Olaf Breuning is a new photo campaign for the Pernod Ricard 2012/2013 annual report in which 18 employees create a fresco for the cover and pose for pages with personal quotes scattered throughout the 168 page annual report.

Pernod Ricard’s commitment to contemporary art, which it has inherited from Paul Ricard, is an integral part of the company’s sponsorship strategy. The Group endeavours to share and promote creativity in all its forms. Therefore, for the last 35 years, Pernod Ricard has commissioned a piece by a renowned contemporary artist to illustrate the cover of its Annual Report.



The approach now focuses on contemporary photography, giving a well-known photographer “carte blanche” to produce portraits of their employees, the front-line ambassadors of the organization’s values. In 2010, Argentinian Marcos Lopez became the first photographer to have his work featured in the report, while French Denis Rouvre and Spanish Eugenio Recuenco have followed in his footsteps in subsequent years.


above photo of Olaf Breuning by Herbert Zimmermann

Olaf Breuning, the Swiss photographer and visual artist, has been selected for this year’s annual report photo campaign. He and 18 Group employees were invited by Pernod Ricard to a private area of the Pompidou Centre to work together on a series of artistic images. Inspired by the 2012/2013 annual report theme of “co-creation”, he asked the models to paint on a gigantic canvas. Each person was given an unusual object or tool with which to paint, and a matching colour.


above: the completed canvas, used on the cover, painted by the 18 employees

Under his artistic direction, the models themselves became the artists for this unusual piece. Joy, pleasure, concentration, introspection – each one of them experienced the range of emotions which goes hand in hand with creation and the images are featured throughout the report, along with their personal quotes, such as the example shown below:



Over three days of “creative conviviality”, the fresco took shape and what emerged was the collaborative work of art which adorns the cover of this document.

All 18 portraits:



















Having been inspired by observing these fledgling artists, Olaf Breuning immortalized the models in portrait form at the end of this creative session: “Artistic creation is often the product of confrontation, of dialogue… I wanted to follow this creative process for a Group that makes sharing and conviviality its signature. The idea was to bring these people that I was meeting for the first time closer to one another, and then to expose them to my world. They had no idea at all of what the final piece would be: like an exquisite artistic cadaver, they would each make their personal contribution, but only I knew where the journey would take us”.



Olaf Breuning was able to infuse his art with Pernod Ricard’s DNA as “Créateurs de convivialité”.

You can read/download the actual annual report here