Dreyfuss, Henry

Dreyfuss, Henry

(born March 2, 1904, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Oct. 5, 1972, South Pasadena, Calif.) U.S. industrial designer. He began designing stage sets for the Broadway theatre at age 17, and in 1929 he opened his first industrial design office. Bell Laboratories hired him to design a series of telephones in the 1930s. Among his other notable designs was the interior of the ocean liner Independence and the J-3 Hudson locomotive (icon of an era). A pioneer of ergonomics, he published several books explaining his methods, including Designing for People (1955, 1967).

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Dreyfuss, Henry (1903–72) industrial designer, author; born in New York City. After designing for the stage, he opened his own industrial design firm (1929). Pioneering in anthropometrics and ergonomics, he made safety and utility rather than mere style central to his creations such as the model 300 Bell telephone (1930), the Twentieth Century Limited locomotive, Hoover appliances, RCA televisions and air conditioners, and Lockhead aircraft interiors. He wrote Designing for People (1955) and The Measure of Man (1960).