Henry Dreyfuss, Industrial Designer: The Man in the Brown Suit

by Russell Flinchum

Book by Flinchum, Russell

Genres: Design

224 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 1997

About the author

Russell Flinchum is archivist for the Century Association Archives Foundation in New York. He is the author of Henry Dreyfuss, Industrial Designer: The Man in the Brown Suit (Rizzoli International Publications/National Design Museum, 1997), a book which garnered several awards including, an AIA International Architecture Book Award and the Decorative Arts Society's Charles F. Montgomery Award. In 1997 he was the guest curator of "Henry Dreyfuss, Directing Design: The Industrial Designer and His Work, 1929-1972" at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Russell, who received a PhD from The Graduate Center at City University of New York, is a frequent lecturer at conferences and design schools. His current experience is as a lecturer in the Department of Education at The Museum of Modern Art.

Reviews

[Mommalibrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

We toured the free vacuum cleaner museum in Missouri one weekend and this book was on display. It was a good museum and when we got home we ordered the book. It was not in the public library. Dreyfuss should be taught in design, engineering, and manufacturing courses today. While everyone wants green and ecological, those who make our 'stuff' have totally abandoned the idea of maintainability in favor of cheaper and disposable. Dreyfuss' points were: safety and utility, maintenance, cost, quality and last appearance. He wanted "to go beyond just solving the problem, and give the thing some real life or excellence beyond the expected." Today appearance seems to be more emphasized than quality and cost is king. I heard on a podcast that there was a time before 'progress' was an idea. Because people did not expect constant change in their lives they built for the centuries - stone houses. True or not - this book gave me lots to think about.