Industrial Design — did history get it right?
Industrial Design has a rich history. The role of design became separated from the “act of making” following the Industrial Revolution that “signaled the radical shift to mass production of identical goods” (King). Industrial Design presented the challenge of “meeting the needs of large populations, balancing functionality, aesthetics, ergonomics, durability, cost, manufacturability, and marketability” (King) compared to craftsmen of the past who produced in much smaller quantities.
However, Simon King and Dr. Sujan Kumar Dass highlight two very different histories of industrial design. In Understanding Industrial Design, King highlights the history of industrial design and seems to be writing for an audience consisting of designers within different disciplines, discussing principles of good design and how design can be beneficial to other industries. Dr. Kumar Dass, on the other hand, explores the history of design in Black People Invented Everything, but focuses on African American inventors and their contributions to society and the design world.
In Understanding Industrial Design, King focuses on the importance of interdisciplinary human-centered design, writing, “Just as empathy with users is the foundation of human-centered design, empathy for the context of other design disciplines is what allows us to productively collaborate.” He highlights designers who were able to bridge aesthetics and functionality, such as Henry Dreyfuss, an industrial designer who was renowned for his attention to formal details and also his focus on user’s needs. He was a big contributor to the field of ergonomics, an area of design that greatly builds on the needs of users.
King also discusses how various changes in history have affected design, for example, technology. Improving technology presented an opportunity to redesign and improve products. Look at the chair, for example. Different methods of fabrication were made possible by different technologies, as can be seen in the four chairs shown below.
King emphasizes the benefit of design, especially the mutually beneficial relationship of business and design. Basically, making design profitable.
Dr. Kumar Dass also highlights important inventors and designers, such as G.W. Carver. Carver used “pecans, peanuts, soybeans, and other plants to their greatest potential, finding over 300 applications for the peanut alone” (1). His inventions helped the country in the wake of the Civil War, saving the industries of the North with his factory-centered products and saving the South by getting them to switch from single-crop farming to raising the plants he’d newly found uses for.
“Black People Made America” takes on a much different tone than Understanding Industrial Design, focusing on revealing artists and designers who don’t typically get the recognition they deserve. Dr. Kumar Dass discusses how many African American inventors and designers were barred from taking credit for the things they created, largely due to the social and political climate of the United States historically. His writing serves as a survey of the numerous designers who didn’t receive the recognition they deserved.
In this sense, we didn’t get it right. The history of Industrial Design is largely scaled to focus on a small subset of designers, leaving groups who were typically marginalized in history on the outskirts. There are numerous designers who have contributed greatly to the rich history of design who have not been recognized for their accomplishments. As future designers, it is our role to try to uncover these histories and shed light on how greatly they have affected industrial design as it is today.
