Henry Dreyfuss is known as one of the best American Industrial Designers and an important theorist in the field of ergonomics. He got his start at age 17 by designing sets for Broadway shows. Then in 1927, he was commissioned by a store to study merchandise. While he was studying, he would make drawings by showing where manufactures can improve.
” The proper way to approach design was to work directly with the manufacturer from the start rather than to try to improve a design after the product had been made.”
– Henry Dreyfuss
Brittanica
He designs “stress utility” and mentions this further in his book, The Measure of Man. Starting in 2017, designers collect the ergonomic reference charts and data selectors which Dreyfuss created. The charts depict measurements of the human body and how it relates to its surrounding space.
Designers are inspired by Dreyfuss and his studies to create more human scale books for human comfort.
Amanda Geffner FA 102D Spring 2020 Blog 