History of ID Week 8 Part 2: The Profession of Industrial Design (Henry Dreyfuss)

[@Asquared]

I watched the Loewy lecture and this one back to back the other night and they both have really stuck with me. You could not have done a better job describing their two different ways and means. Your tone at the end of this Dryfess lecture made me reluctant to google their fate. I don’t usually get moved by stories like that, but damn it brought tears to my eyes. What an amazing couple. Thank you so much for making these public. I can’t tell you how great they have been. Sincerely and humbly, A2

[@jamyla]

Henry Dreyfuss and Doris Marks were married and she was his business manager for over 40 yrs. In the summer of 1972, he and his team completed his book on Graphic Symbols used around the World. In Oct 1972, Henry and Doris, who had a terminal illness, decided to end their lives together. Read "Henry Dreyfuss, Industrial Designer" (The Man In The Brown- Suit) by Russell Flinchum. A truly remarkable man who lived his life with great integrity.

[@m.entera3196]

Thanks for making these available online. I've learned so much.

[@marrrtin]

Someone who made our modern world. Deserves wider recognition, dare you say it, more than Loewy, from my recollections of his telephone and other objects which became woven into our lives in a very durable fashion, and I don't see any of his design philosophies being out of tune with what we need today. Indeed, more of this rational and commonsense approach might be more welcome now, particularly his observations on planned obsolescence.

[@marusholilac]

Thanks for making this content available to the public. During this COVID-19 time I decided to refresh my bathroom, which I have lived with for 39 years. I discovered it was the Crane Drexel line, and that Dreyfuss has inspired it. With time on my hands I decided I'd like to learn something about the man, the profession, the history; so here I am. Thanks for this fine content and for enlightening me about some of the commonplace items I've never given their due. And thanks for the great production value and refraining from adding mindless KZbiny royalty-free music.

[@JayPatel-qw5qf]

This is a gem of a course with very interesting content even for a newbie like me. Thanks for sharing this freely online. I hope this is permanent.

[@1st1anarkissed]

My basement gas heater has a honeywell round thermostat with a gold tone plastic cover. It's quite old and the original one installed in this house. It's the coolest looking thermostat I've ever seen.

[@RobertHsu]

Fascinating lecture. I am a UX Designer, and I came across Henry Dreyfuss through a book called, User Friendly. Even though this is Industrial Design related, we can still relate so much to this, particularly about focusing on the user and making it user friendly.

[@litsci1877]

I'm looking at the Crane bathroom sink ad -- while the woman's powdering her face, the main thing that stance recalls is taking off clip-on earrings, and if you wear earrings, the thing a sink does, apart from letting you brush your teeth, is eat earrings. And she's not afraid of losing hers down the drain. That speaks to a solid drain closure, an important feature -- also, in that era, for washing out your lingerie, which of course wouldn't go in an ad like this one.

[@vipinverma1773]

Very great lecture, got some very new perspective from your lecture.

[@intsikayethu495]

I commend your level of detail 🤌 Your love for the subject matter clearly comes out in your videos. I`m glad I also get to enjoy this content , thank you for making these✌

[@josieTheDuck]

Thanks so much for your lectures! I am watching all of them and also ordered 2 books on industrial design that you gave recommended for the course.

[@Lantertronics]

I love the story about the vacuum cleaner run amok.

[@shirinchepirinche]

Awesome series.

[@georginavillasenor7164]

Thank you so much, it's amazing your job AND so fun!! I enjoyed all :)

[@kingdongo4388]

This video was MEGA!!

[@rexfaucher9773]

I`ve enjoyed viewing the videos. I need to point out the black architect ,Paul R. Williams developed drawing upside down for his clients so he could sit at his desk and draw for them without hovering behind the clients which he claimed made some uncomfortable. A rather outdated idea in the modern world, but an interesting one none the less.Thank you for the wonderful videos.Cheers,RF

[@baskets8429]

Incredible videos

[@Eli_Santin]

While I love both Loewy and Dreyfuss' different senses of design equally, I tend to admire Dreyfuss more for his more modest/friendly personality and, dare I say, ever-so-slightly less pretentious design style. You can see their different approaches in the locomotives they designed for the Pennsylvania and New York Central Railroads. Loewy's "Torpedo" is more abstract and concealing of the steam locmotive's mechanics. The NYC Dreyfuss Hudson is minimalistic in a very smart way. It's stylish, but not TOO stylish, and it doesn't try to hide the majestic movement of the driving wheels and rods.

[@richdoty6993]

Great content, thanks! I have a huge thermostat collection and was surprised at the comment that the mercury thermostat started with the Honeywell round. I will have to check on that further as many older looking thermostats have mercury. I'm sure you are correct.

[@HistoryofID]

Yes yes you are right that mercury use did not start with that Dreyfuss thermostat. But the mercury switch used was a new addition....

[@elizabeth4689]

Matt, thank you for this lecture. I'm reading the book "user friendly" and it spends a chapter dedicated to dreyfuss' work. Sad that he left like that.

[@harringtonskorupka7386]

Thanks for the lectures Matt! Im a Transportation Design student at Art Center College of Design, looking for more history of ID. Very informative and eye opening! Once everything opens back up, I hope to visit RISD campus one day!

[@csours]

18:55 I had a very cheap point and shoot 35 mm camera back in the day - 199X. When I upgraded to a camera with manual focus and f-stop, I took apart the cheap one, and there was a metal slug in the body. I think it was definitely partly to increase the heft to make it feel more valuable, but it also served a practical purpose - reducing jitter. Everyone has a slight tremble/tremor, and adding mass mitigates that tremble. Gaming mice have a tray of weights that the user can customize to their particular feel, 5 grams at a time. Again, I'm sure some of this is psychological, but it also adds impedance.

[@gaiwan26]

I am curious about the spatula handle being painted. Why would they have opted for this versus a material that wouldn’t require paint, but could still have color options?

[@4Fox_Shake]

I suspect the mouse weights has more to do with haptics than a quality deception, some gaming mice come with extra weight options to choose from . For quality deception it is still often seen today. Thank you for posting these classes

[@Lantertronics]

So we did have flying cars!

[@faithinverity8523]

“If you are old enough to remember a computer mouse…” Are mice not part of the contemporary design toolset?

[@HistoryofID]

Amazingly, all of my students use their adept fingers on tiny track pads instead. At least until their hands start to fail them?

[@CheeseMiser]

26:41 That is a model of the experimental Model 69 tractor, which became the John Deere M

[@HistoryofID]

Thanks for the info! Always good to get the details!

[@tiagoleal-toledo9262]

I miss the history of Hfg-Ulm somewhere

[@HistoryofID]

I snuck Ulm into plastic week. Might not be the best logic, but that's where it is hiding....

[@tiagoleal-toledo9262]

@@HistoryofID Thank you! Will see it

[@CheeseMiser]

I'm just sad that he ended his life.

[@jamyla]

Don't be sad. He ended his life on his own terms, with integrity and courage. His wife, who was also his business partner, had a terminal illness and was in discomfort. He took her hand and they left this world together. ❤

[@CheeseMiser]

@@jamyla it's still sad

[@nordfaen]

Thank YOU very much 😁