Raymond Loewy Industrial designer Date of Birth: 05.11.1893 Country: Monaco

1. Industrial designer
2. Early career
3. Pennsylvania Railroad
4. Studebaker and other designs
5. Designing the Coca-Cola bottle
6. Legacy

Industrial designer

Raymond Loewy, born in 1893 in Paris, France, was a renowned industrial designer known for his iconic designs. He came from a family with Jewish roots, the son of Viennese journalist Maximilian Loewy and his French wife Marie Labalme. Loewy moved to the United States in 1919, but received his education in France.

Early career

Loewy had a talent for drawing from a young age and attended art school. In America, he began working as a designer and decorator and soon received orders for window displays from famous stores such as Macy's, Wanamaker's, and Saks. He also created illustrations for publications like Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. By the late 1920s, he was working on designs for General Electric, but with the onset of the Great Depression, he ventured into independent business.

Pennsylvania Railroad

Loewy's design orders became increasingly significant, and in 1936, he started working with the Pennsylvania Railroad, designing locomotives for passenger trains. He aimed to create a cohesive visual appearance between the locomotives and the train cars, introducing streamlined designs that transformed the railway systems' dull monsters into stylish expresses.

Studebaker and other designs

Loewy gained recognition for his work with Studebaker, designing a new logo for the company in 1939. In the early 1960s, he worked on the design of the Studebaker Avanti, a lightweight and economical car with European influences. Loewy's design contributions extended to airplanes as well. He proposed the exterior design of the United States presidential plane in 1962 and worked on designs for Boeing 307, Concorde, Skylab space station, and more. He also revolutionized the design of Greyhound buses by raising the passenger seats and placing the luggage compartment underneath.

Designing the Coca-Cola bottle

Although Loewy did not invent the Coca-Cola bottle, he played a significant role in refining its design in the 1950s, making it more distinctive. He also created the design for Lucky Strike cigarette packs in the 1940s and designed a postage stamp honoring Kennedy in 1964.

Legacy

Raymond Loewy's impressive portfolio includes countless contributions to industrial design. His most notable works include his extensive work on locomotives for the Pennsylvania Railroad. However, it is his design of the Coca-Cola bottle that has made him widely recognized by the world. On November 5th, Loewy's birthday, Google created a doodle featuring the PRR S1 steam locomotive he designed in 1938 to celebrate his legacy as a great designer.