He was born in Paris in 1893.
This man was the greatest pioneer of industrial design and today he is still remembered by the famous phrase that sums up his approach to design:.
At age 15, Loewy designed, built and piloted a model toy airplane that won the then famous James Gordon Bennett Cup.
At that time he also designed and patented a model aircraft powered by rubber bands.
After selling the rights to this toy, dubbed Monoplan Ayrel, to a company that marketed it in France, Lowçewy discovered that the design could be “fun and lucrative.”
With the money obtained, Loewy studied at the Université de Paris and later at the Ëcole de Lanneau, where he graduated in engineering in 1918.
During World War I he served in the French army as a second lieutenant. After his demobilization, he traveled to the United States in 1919.
Arriving in New York, he was completely astonished by what he later described “the gulf between the excellent quality of American production and its appearance, roughness, volume and noise.”
At first he found work as a window dresser for Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bonvit Teller.
From 1923 to 1928, he dedicated himself to a “pleasant but superficial profession” as he said, that of a fashion illustrator for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Vanity Fair, among others.
In 1923 he also designed the brand name for the Neiman Marcus department store.
Then Loewy left the world of fashion to create his own industrial design studio in New York, which opened in 1929.
Loewy was self-promoting and had a card that said “between two products of the same price, the same function and quality, the prettiest sells more” that he sent to everyone he knew.
Shortly afterwards, he received his first order, the new design of the duplicator casing from Sigmund Gestetner.
To create a neat shape, he used modeling clay, a technique that he later applied with great success in his car designs.
The resulting machine not only looked better, but also, thanks to its simplified shape, it was easier to use and maintain than previous models.
In 1923 Loewy designed his first car, the Hupmobile, which was less boxy than existing automobiles. His refined 1934 conical model featured innovative integrated headlights and was a foretelling of the aerodynamic shapes for which he would later become so famous.
That same year, Loewy designed the Coldspot refrigerator for Sears Roebuck, which was the first appliance to be marketed relying on its aesthetics (advertisements at the time invited consumers to “study its beauty”).
The Coldspot also appealed to consumers because its design had lowered the cost of manufacturing and this was reflected in its competitive retail price.
Also in 1934, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York exhibited a model of Loewy’s company, which in this way went from being a product designer to a famous industrial designer.
In 1935, Loewy was commissioned to re-plan several department stores, including Saks 5th Av.
During this period he also designed aerodynamic locomotives, such as the K4S (1934), the GG-1 (1934) and the T-1 (1937).
In 1937 he published a book entitled The New Vision Locomotive.
In 1946 he remodeled the Greyhound coaches and in 1947 he designed his innovative Champion car for Studebaker, the forerunner of the Avanti, from the same company.
Streamlining not only made transport more attractive, it also often improved its performance and performance.
Loewy viewed the design of a cover or sleeve as an opportunity for the machine or the product to express itself.
Unlike many designers in the modern movement, who made form totally dictated by function, Loewy balanced engineering criteria with aesthetic aspects to achieve what he considered the best solution.
Loewy was also noted for his corporate identity work and especially for his design of the Lucky Strike cigarette pack (1942).
Its prestigious clientele included Coca-Cola, Pepsodent, the National Biscuit Company, British Petroleum, Exxon and Shell.
In 1944 Loewy founded Raymond Loewy Associates with four other designers.
In 1949, he became the first designer to appear in the Time magazine proto.
That same year Loewy expanded his operations and founded the Raymond Loewy Corporation to carry out architectural projects.
During the 1960s and 1970s, he worked as a designer for the US Government.
Noteworthy is his new design of Air Force One for John F. Kennedy and the interior design of NASA’s Skylab.
Considering the consumer above all else, Loewy’s MAYA creed (Most Advanced Yet Acceptable, that is, very modern, but nevertheless acceptable) was crucial to the success of its products.
Undoubtedly the greatest streamlining pioneer of the 20th century, Loewy clearly demonstrated that the success of a product depends as much on its appearance as it does on its function.
Few designers have been as influential or prolific as Loewy, or as poorly understood. Although he was a styling genius, he also improved the design of many products and pioneered many innovations. Loewy made the practice of design noticeably more attractive and thereby raised its prestige.
He died in Monaco in 1986.