Raymond Loewy “Never Leave Well Enough Alone”

Raymond Loewy was one of the founding fathers of industrial design (along with Walter Dorwin Teague and Henry Dreyfuss) and his work has doubtlessly had a place in the lives of nearly every American. In the heyday of Raymond Loewy Associates, the company was working on products, brand identities, transportation, and other fields. His graphic design has become familiar in the logos for Shell, US Postal Service, International Harvester, the packaging for Lucky Strike cigarettes, and others. Designs were made for the interior of the Concorde supersonic passenger aircraft as well as Air Force One. His offices even designed cars for Studebaker and locomotives for Pennsylvania Rail Road. Suffice it to say that the list of high profile contracts with Raymond Loewy Associates is intimidating. Furthermore, the precedents set by Loewy’s work have defined an era of product design and his indirect influence is apparent in today’s best products.

Loewy was anything but modest. He was something of a dandy and terribly egocentric, so it is no wonder that he wrote an autobiography. The book is entitled Never Leave Well Enough Alone. In it, he describes his youth in France and his engagement in World War I, where he was a captain and earned seven medals and four citations for action in combat. At a point, he had dug a trench where he was stationed for some time. He had elaborately furnished the dugout with things from wrecked houses including chairs, red carped, a mirror, flowered wallpaper, drapes, and tufted pillows. He and a friend even planted geraniums. Loewy notes that he was displeased with the government issue military trousers, so he made his own.

I enjoyed going into action as a well-dressed combatant

Raymond Loewy’s storytelling is quite amusing and I most enjoyed his reminiscing on childhood days. His recollections are vivid and engaging and offer the reader a humanizing view of the design legend. I must say that the book is sparse in actually discussing design, although I enjoyed his statement that

Industrial design as far as I am concerned is 25 per cent inspiration and 75 per cent transportation.

The book is certainly worth a look. It’s light and pleasant reading and by the end you will feel like Raymond’s chum.