Raymond Loewy sitting with cigarette in hand and Greyhound bus model on table

Career Highlights

  • 1975 Smithsonian Institution opened The Designs of Raymond Loewy, a four-month exhibit dedicated to “the man who changed the face of industrial design.”
  • 1972 Poll of stylists representing the Big Three automakers voted his 1953 Studebaker Starliner Coupé an “industry best.” Also named one of the most influential Americans by LIFE magazine.
  • 1967 Began working as a habitability consultant to NASA.
  • 1965 Joined the President’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped.
  • 1962 After designing the Shell logo, it becomes such a recognizable icon that Shell drops its name from their advertisements.
  • 1961 Designed the Studebaker Avanti, holding to the motto, “weight is the enemy.”
  • 1954 Designed the Greyhound bus.
  • 1953 Designed the Studebaker Starliner Coupé, which the Museum of Modern Art later called a “work of art.”
  • 1952 Founded the Compagnie de I’Esthetique Industrielle in Paris, France.
  • 1951 Published second design textbook, Industrial Design, and his autobiography Never Leave Well Enough Alone.
  • 1949 Appeared on the cover of TIME magazine.
  • 1939 Redesigned the Lucky Strike cigarette packaging.
  • 1937 Published first book, The Locomotive: Its Aesthetics.
  • 1936 Designed the GG-1 electric locomotive for the Pennsylvania Railroad.
  • 1934 Designed the Coldspot refrigerator for Sears Roebuck & Company.
  • 1930 Hired as a consultant by the Hupp Motor Company.
  • 1929 Redesigned the Gestetner mimeograph machine. Founder and art director of Raymond Loewy, William Snaith, Inc., in New York City (later established as Raymond Loewy International).
  • 1919 Provided popular fashion illustrations for magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Freelanced as a window designer for department stores, including Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy’s.