Do you still remember the first time you drank coke, and the delicate and soft bottle left a long mark on your heart? From the logo of President Kennedy's special plane to the familiar Greyhound coach, Raymond? Luo Wei is thriving in the field of industrial design. Infinite imagination, endless creation, the crown of the father of industrial design, who else? Is he Raymond, the father of American industrial design? Lo.
Raymond. Lowe is the most famous industrial designer in the 20th century and a pioneer in the design field. He combined streamline with European modernism and established a unique artistic language. He pioneered industrial design, promoted the marriage of design and commerce, and injected fresh life elements into industrial development with his keen business consciousness, unlimited imagination and excellent design endowment. His life is full of ups and downs, and his career is magnificent and colorful. The number and range of its designs are shocking: from cars and space stations to stamps, lipsticks and company logos. Whether Americans in the middle of last century realized it or not, did they really live in Raymond? Lloyd's world.
Design is everywhere.
Raymond. Luo Wei was born in Paris on 1893. He has been interested in trains and cars since he was a child and is determined to engage in design. After he got a bachelor's degree in engineering, he was drafted into the army. After World War I 19 19 moved to the United States. At that time, he was nearly 30 years old and his hands were almost empty, but he took this opportunity to sincerely pursue his childhood dream.
At first, Lowe designed the fashion display window for Macy, the famous Fifth Avenue in new york, and successively worked as an illustrator for Vogue, Harper's and other fashion magazines, occupying a place in the fashion world with his unique artistic style. 1929, he accepted the first design order, improved the Gestetner copier and set foot in the field of industrial design. This order is not only time-limited, but also very difficult. The designer is required to modify the company's copier within five days to combine its appearance and efficiency. Luo Wei immediately set out to design a movable shell, wrapped the internal machine in it, and changed the shape of the rotating crank and copying table of the machine, replacing the prominent and heavy bracket with "four slender but strong brackets". Thanks to Lowe's inspiration, this "ugly and clumsy" machine was transformed into "charming office furniture" and spread for many years. Lowe applied ergonomics and aesthetic concepts in the design, which made the copier stand out from the competition and the sales volume rose steadily. Luo Wei's talent and inspiration inspired him to create a new career-industrial designer. As the first example of the perfect combination of design and marketing, Lowe's First Venture opened a new era of American industrial design.
Luo Wei pursues the concept of "streamline and simplification", that is, "beauty is manifested in function and simplicity", and promotes the streamline movement in design. He streamlined and simplified everything-from spaceships to stamps. Famous works include Lucky Strike, GG 1 and S 1 Engine, coca-cola bottle, John F. Kennedy commemorative stamps, space station, Greyhound cars and signs; Trademarks of Shell and Exxon; Service badge of the US Postal Service; Frigidale and Stubeck have two generations of cars.
By 195 1 year, his industrial design company had achieved fruitful results, and he could proudly announce to the world: "An ordinary person who leads a normal life, whether in the city or in the countryside, will come into contact with articles, service marks and buildings led or partially participated by R.L.A (Raymond Law Company) every day."
The most beautiful curve is the curve of sales increase.
As a professional designer, Luo Wei became famous in the industry and established the image of a standard bearer. He advocated the new concept that design promotes marketing, and thought that functional design was of great benefit to marketing. He emphasized that design is not for originality, but for market operation, and advocated the new concept that "good design" can occupy the market. He said: "The most beautiful curve is the curve of rising sales."
During the Great Depression, excellent design and business began to marry, and Lowe's career also flourished. He used his own design to give irresistible charm to the goods, so that customers who had little desire to buy gave generously.
1934, Luo Wei designed a brand-new image for the cold point refrigerator. The refrigerator adopts large arc and arc shape, and the integrated box makes it look simple and bright; The interior of the refrigerator has also been partially adjusted, laying the foundation for modern refrigerators. After the freezing point landed on the market, the annual sales volume soared from 60 thousand units to 275 thousand units, which made the eyes of the whole business community shine. For a time, streamlining has become the purchase goal of consumers, and its influence still exists today. Lowe is its founder and the peak of interpretation.
1In 936, the GG- 1 train head designed by Luo Wei for Pennsylvania Railway Bureau is another proof of the function of industrial design. He abandoned countless rivets and used welding technology to manufacture the locomotive head shell, which not only made its appearance complete and smooth, but also simplified the maintenance process and reduced the production cost.
When redesigning the bottle shape for Coca-Cola Company, he gave the bottle a more subtle and feminine curve. "Its (Coke bottle) shape is very feminine-this feature sometimes goes beyond the functionality of goods." Luo Wei's design has achieved great success in business and brought huge profits to Coca-Cola Company. Coca-Cola's classic bottle shape has quickly become a symbol of American culture.
He summed up his design philosophy as MAYA (the most advanced but acceptable) principle and spread it to all his creations. During his long career, concise, practical and energetic works flowed from Luo Wei's office.
Dynamic road
65438-0930, Luo Wei was hired as a senior consultant of Hupp Automobile Company. He laughed and said that this employment contract is "the beginning of the legalization of industrial designers." And explained that "this is the first time that a large company has sought advice from outside the industry on product research and development." Since then, Lowe has started a long and bumpy cooperation with American automakers.
Luo Wei introduced the inclined windshield, embedded headlights and tire shell into the car design. Long before the gasoline economy became the focus of the world's attention, Luo Wei advocated the production of fuel-efficient cars with low body and thin shape. "He waged a protracted war against the luxurious style of the Detroit Institute of Design." Time magazine once commented: "He has the ability to turn the ugly beast on the production line into a beautiful" unique "thing after several minor changes; However, it has no ability to change the stubborn concept of the automobile industry-an oil tiger (a car that consumes a lot of gas) is an oil tiger, and a person who designs fancy clothes (referring to Luo Wei) will never be allowed to change it. "
196 1 year, Lowe put forward the slogan "weight is the enemy" when designing two generations of cars. With his efforts, the two generations gave up the radiator grille. "In this era of gasoline shortage, who needs a grille? The grille always reminds me of the sewer. "
Although it is far from Detroit's design style, many of his design works, such as 1953 Stubeck starlinger coupe and 1963 Love for Two Generations, attracted attention as soon as they appeared. Today, it is still a classic in the car. 1972, Lowe's design topped the list in the best car selection activity jointly sponsored by the three major automobile companies. Auto newspaper announced: "1953 Studebaker, a car with a long nose, is not decorated much, but full of movement, and is known as a classic among many cars."
visual impact
Apart from his outstanding achievements in the automobile industry, Luo Wei is undoubtedly one of the most talented commercial artists in the world.
In the 1940s, he began to undertake product packaging and corporate image design, which originated from a bet. For a long time, lucky color cigarette cases have been packed alternately in green and red. 1940, the CEO of American tobacco company bet Lowe $50,000 that he could not change this familiar image. Luo Wei accepted the challenge and began to change the green background color to white to reduce the printing cost. Subsequently, colorful logos were printed on the front and back of the cigarette case, which increased the eye-catching degree of the whole cigarette case. Cai Hao cigarettes with "makeup" have achieved great success in business, and their image has been maintained for more than 40 years.
When redesigning the company logo for Shell, Lowe carried out brand transformation, which not only continued the Shell concept of the original trademark, but also stylized it, making the visual effect more concise and powerful.
Luo Wei once explained his trademark design like this: "I seek a strong visual shock, so that even a short glance can leave a deep impression."
He did it, and his successful designs: Exxon Oil, Coach Greyhound and Na Beske Biscuits attracted people's attention with their unique visual impact, which made them unforgettable.
Fly over the earth
A writer in The New York Times once commented: "It is no exaggeration to say that Mr. Luo has shaped the image of the modern world." But since NASA adopted his design inspiration, his influence has flown out of the earth.
Luo cong 1967 to 1973 was hired by NASA as a resident consultant to participate in the design of Saturn-Apollo and the space station. They need him to "ensure the psychological and physical safety and comfort of astronauts in extreme weightlessness". His bold design-simulating gravity space; Open the porthole overlooking the earth-three astronauts lived in the space station for 90 days. George Muller, a director of NASA, wrote in a thank-you letter to Luo: "It is unbelievable that astronauts are relatively comfortable, energetic and efficient on the space station! All this is due to your innovative design. And this design is the perfect crystallization of your in-depth understanding of people's needs. "
Mill predicted that Luo's design laid the foundation for the next great leap of mankind. Luo Wei is very happy. Later, when he mentioned his design for NASA, he said it was his most important and satisfactory design.
Luo Wei's design career lasted until he was over 80 years old, and then he returned to France to enjoy a leisurely travel life until he finished his extraordinary life in 1986. As the founder of American industrial design, his life was accompanied by the process of American industrial design from its beginning, development to its peak and gradual decline. It is no exaggeration to say that Lowe's life is a brief history of the development of American industrial design. Luo Wei is worthy of the title of the father of industrial design.