1920 S Furniture

Pioneering Industrial Designers Celebrated on New Forever Stamps

NEW YORK, June 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Postal Service today dedicated a new sheet of stamps honoring 12 of the nation's most important and influential industrial designers. The Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum was the setting for the dedication.

The 12 designers who are honored on individual stamps include Peter Muller-Munk, Frederick Hurten Rhead, Raymond Loewy, Donald Deskey, Walter Dorwin Teague, Henry Dreyfuss, Norman Bel Geddes, Dave Chapman, Greta von Nessen, Eliot Noyes, Russel Wright and Gilbert Rohde.

"Encompassing everything from furniture and electric kitchen appliances to corporate office buildings and passenger trains, the work of these designers defined the look of modern America, and in doing, revolutionized the way we live and work," said Dean Granholm, Postal Service vice president of Delivery and Post Office Operations, at today's ceremony.

Joining Granholm to dedicate the stamps were Bill Moggridge, director, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum; Ralph Caplan, design writer; Jessica Helfand and Sylvia Harris, Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee; Derry Noyes, art director; Margaret Bauer, art designer; and Stephen M. Kearney, executive director, Stamp Services.

Industrial design emerged as a profession in the United Sates in the 1920s, but really took off during the Great Depression. Faced with decreasing sales, manufacturers turned to industrial designers to give their products a modern look that would appeal to consumers. Characterized by horizontal lines and rounded shapes, the new, streamlined looks differed completely from the decorative extravagance of the 1920s. The designs evoked a sense of speed and efficiency and projected the image of progress and affluence the public desired.

Consumer interest in modern design continued to increase after World War II, when machines allowed corporations to mass produce vacuums, hair dryers, toasters and other consumer goods at low cost. Industrial designers helped lower costs further by exploiting inexpensive new materials like plastic, vinyl, chrome, aluminum and plywood, which responded well to advances in manufacturing such as the use of molds and stamping. Affordable prices and growing prosperity nationwide helped drive popular demand.

Even as streamlining gave way to new looks in the 1960s, the groundbreaking work of industrial designers continued to transform the look of homes and offices across the country. Today, industrial design remains an integral component of American manufacturing and business, as well as daily life.

Retro Reissue: 1920s Brick Screen by ClassiCon - 3rings

An Irish artist and architect, Gray was a trendsetter in the vanguard of modern design during the 1920s and 30s. She is well known for her tubular steel furniture.

Captivated by traditional Japanese lacquerware, Gray learned and perfected the craft over many years. Brick Screen stands as an homage to the rich history of this artistic technique: “More than just a room divider, this folding screen with its understated elegance commands the presence of a sculpture.” The contemporary incarnation also boasts attention to detail—its panels are lacquered by hand layer by layer “in a process that takes several weeks.”

Brick Screen has both fixed and moveable panels on a nickel-plated steel rod frame. The piece features solid bronze shims, spacers and end caps coated in clear varnish. With its highly reflective finish, Brick Screen bounces light in all directions. And its weave seduces the eye, giving a sense of kinetic movement to a traditional brick pattern.

About the Manufacturer: Headquartered in Munich, ClassiCon stands for classic contemporary design. The original manufacturer of many standards of modern furniture, ClassiCon continues to work with designers to establish new ideals: “Our modern classics are collector’s items—not only the masterpieces of yesterday, but of tomorrow as well. We aim above all to produce individual pieces of great originality and formal perfection—pieces with the potential to become classics in their own right one day.” Today, the company has showrooms around the globe: Munich, Zurich, Tokyo, Toronto, Sydney, and Seoul.