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Air Force One Is Going From Baby Blue to Red, White and Blue, Trump Says

Jul 22, 2018   //   by loewy   //   News  //  Comments Off on Air Force One Is Going From Baby Blue to Red, White and Blue, Trump Says
The two current Air Force One planes are 31 years old and the federal government began the process of replacing them in 2011
Published at 11:08 AM EDT on Jul 18,2018

Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP, File
This July 10, 2018, file photo shows agents watch as Air Force One lands at Melsbroek Military airport in Belgium ahead of the NATO summit. Boeing is being paid nearly $4 billion to provide two new Air Force One aircraft to replace the current, 31-year-old ones by 2024. President Donald Trump said they’ll have a new red, white and blue paint job.

President Donald Trump says Air Force One is getting a patriotic makeover.

Trump says the familiar baby blue color on the presidential aircraft will give way to a red, white and blue color scheme. Updated models could be in service before the end of a potential Trump second term.

“Air Force One is going to be incredible,” Trump told CBS News. “It’s going to be top of the line, the top in the world, and it’s going to be red, white and blue, which I think is appropriate.”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday that the Air Force awarded Chicago-based Boeing Co. a $3.9 billion contract for two presidential planes that will be ready in 2024. They will replace a pair of Boeing 747 jumbo jets that are now 31 years old.

The contract confirms a deal reached in February by Trump, the Air Force and Boeing. Sanders said the final price represented a savings of $1.4 billion from an initial contract proposal.

The presidential plane — it goes by the radio call sign of Air Force One when the president is on board — was once a Boeing 707 that had orange above and below the nose and “United States of America” painted on the sides in blocky, all-caps lettering.

According to Boeing history, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy picked new colors for the plane used by her husband, President John F. Kennedy. A swath of baby blue covers the nose and sweeps back along each side of the fuselage. The lettering was changed to a font inspired by the heading of the Declaration of Independence.

The livery was the work of French-born industrial designer Raymond Loewy, whose previous clients included Lucky Strike cigarettes and Studebaker cars. The Museum of Modern Art in New York describes his Air Force One design as modern and elegant.

The plane is immediately recognized around the world.

Trump said he began thinking about a redesign after reaching a deal for new planes.

Loewy wrote that President Kennedy picked the blue paint scheme over a red one. Some accounts said Kennedy rejected the Air Force’s red and gold theme because it looked too imperial.

David Hagerman, who was married to Loewy’s daughter and knew Loewy’s widow, said Mrs. Kennedy wanted Air Force One redesigned because she considered the old livery ugly. Dropping the baby blue now, he said Wednesday, “is an insult to the memory of Jacqueline Kennedy.”

“It’s a travesty to break from tradition and put a new paint job on the plane,” Hagerman said. “Air Force One is the No. 1 iconic symbol of America worldwide.”

The awarding of the final contract comes after more than a year of back-and-forth between Trump and Boeing over the cost of new planes.

Trump tweeted in December 2016, after he was elected but before taking office, that costs for the program were “out of control, more than $4 billion.” He added, “Cancel order!”

Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg and Trump met several times to discuss the Air Force One contract. Boeing boasted that it was proud to build the new presidential planes, and it promised to give taxpayers a good deal.

Boeing said work including design, modifications and testing of two 747-8 planes will be done in San Antonio and is expected to be finished by December 2024.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC 6 South Florida 

Loewy Biography

Oct 13, 2013   //   by loewy   //   News  //  Comments Off on Loewy Biography
loewy4

Raymond Loewy at his New York office desk.

After a brief but promising career as a fashion illustrator, Raymond Loewy dedicated his talent to the field of industrial design. Loewy’s creative genius was innate, and his effect on the industry was immediate. He literally revolutionized the industry, working as a consultant for more than 200 companies and creating product designs for everything from lipsticks  to locomotives, to refrigerators, to cars and spacecrafts. Loewy lived by his own famous MAYA principle – Most Advanced Yet Acceptable. He believed that, “The adult public’s taste is not necessarily ready to accept the logical solutions to their requirements if the solution implies too vast a departure from what they have been conditioned into accepting as the norm.”

A popular lecturer as well, Loewy spoke at institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University, and the University of Leningrad. He founded three design companies: Raymond Loewy and Associates, New York; Raymond Loewy International, London; and Compagnie de I’Esthetique Industrielle, Paris. His writings include The Locomotive: Its Aesthetics (1937), the autobiography Never Leave Well Enough Alone (1951) and Industrial Design (1951).

A global presence

Raymond Loewy launched his career in industrial design in 1929 when Sigmund Gestetner, a British manufacturer of duplicating machines, commissioned him to improve the appearance of a mimeograph machine. In three days 28-year-old Loewy designed the shell that was to encase Gestetner duplicators for the next 40 years. In the process, he helped launch a profession that has changed the look of America.

The Gestetner duplicator was the first of countless items transformed by streamlining, a technique that Loewy is credited with originating. Calling the concept “beauty through function and simplification,” Loewy spent over 50 years streamlining everything from postage stamps to spacecrafts. His more famous creations include the Lucky Strike cigarette package, the GG1 and S1 locomotives, the slenderized Coca-Cola bottle, the John F. Kennedy memorial postage stamp, the interior of Saturn I, Saturn V, and Skylab, the Greyhound bus and logo, the Shell International logo, the Exxon logo, the U.S. Postal Service emblem, a line of Frigidaire refrigerators, ranges, and freezers, and the Studebaker Avanti, Champion and Starliner.

By 1951, his industrial design firm was so prolific that he was able to claim, “the average person, leading a normal life, whether in the country, a village, a city, or a metropolis, is bound to be in daily contact with some of the things, services, or structures in which R.L.A [Raymond Loewy Associates] was a party during the design or planning stage.”

Changing the marketplace

While Loewy established his reputation as a designer, he boosted his profession by showing the practical benefits to be derived from the application of functional styling. In the book Industrial Design, Loewy notes, “Success finally came when we were able to convince some creative men that good appearance was a salable commodity, that it often cut costs, enhanced a product’s prestige, raised corporate profits, benefited the customer and increased employment.”

Coldspot refrigerator

Loewy’s design for the Sears & Roebuck Coldspot refrigerator.

One of Loewy’s first major successes, a Coldspot refrigerator he designed for Sears Roebuck & Company in 1934, served as a testimonial to creative packaging. Loewy’s streamlined Coldspot, complete with the first ever rustproof aluminum shelves, sent Sears refrigerator sales from 60,000 units to 275,000 units in just two years. Another Loewy design, the GG-1 electric locomotive built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1936, demonstrated on an even larger scale the efficacy of industrial design. The welded shell of the GG-1 eliminated tens of thousands of rivets, resulting in improved appearance, simplified maintenance, and reduced manufacturing costs. As the first welded locomotive ever built, the GG-1 led to the universal adoption of the welding technique in their construction.

Several years earlier, in 1930, Loewy had been brought on as a consultant to the Hupp Motor Company. He called the Hupp contract “the beginning of industrial design as a legitimate profession,” explaining that it was “the first time a large corporation accepted the idea of getting outside advice in the development of their products.” The Hupp contract also marked the beginning of Loewy’s long and often frustrating association with American automobile manufacturers.

A rocky road

While Loewy introduced slanted windshields, built-in headlights and wheel covers for automobiles, he also advocated lower, leaner and more fuel-efficient automobiles long before fuel economy became a concern. “He waged a long war against the worst extravagances of Detroit styling,” commented Edward Lucie-Smith a Times Literary Supplement. “He could take a production-line monster and make it an infinitely better-looking ‘special,’ with comparatively minor rebuilding. What he could not do was to alter the industry’s fundamental attitudes. Gas-guzzlers remained gas-guzzlers, and no fancy-pants designer was going to be allowed to change that.”

In 1961, while designing the Avanti, Loewy posted a sign that said, “Weight is the enemy.” The Avanti design eliminated the grill, which he argued, “In this age of fuel shortages you must eliminate weight. Who needs grills? Grills I always associate with sewers.”

In spite of the differences that Loewy had with Detroit stylists, several of his designs are now considered automobile classics, including the 1953 Studebaker Starliner CoupĂ© and 1963 Avanti. In 1972 a poll of stylists representing the Big Three automakers named one of his works an industry best. Reporting the results, Automotive News announced, “The 1953 Studebaker, a long-nosed coupe, with little trim and an air of motion about it, was acclaimed the top car of all time.”

Visual retention

Exxon logo by Raymond Loewy

Raymond Loewy-designed logo for Exxon Corp.

In addition to his achievements in the transportation field, Loewy was undoubtedly among the world’s most talented commercial artists. He began designing packaging and logos in 1940 when George Washington Hill, then president of the American Tobacco Company, wagered him $50,000 that he could not improve the appearance of the already familiar green and red Lucky Strike cigarette package. Accepting the challenge, Loewy began by changing the package background from green to white, thereby reducing printing costs by eliminating the need for green dye. Next he placed the red Lucky Strike target on both sides of the package, increasing product visibility and ultimately product sales. A satisfied Hill paid off the bet, and for over 40 years the Lucky Strike pack has remained unchanged.

“I’m looking for a very high index of visual retention,” Loewy explained of his logos. “We want anyone who has seen the logotype even fleetingly to never forget it.” Among Loewy’s highly visible logotype designs are those for Shell Oil Company, Exxon, Greyhound and Nabisco.

European appeal

Loewy has also left his mark on the area of store design. One of his early innovations, the first fully climate-controlled, windowless department store, was so well received that the Loewy organization formed a separate division devoted entirely to store design. Under the leadership of Loewy’s partner, William Snaith, the company designed for prestigious clients such as Saks Fifth Avenue, J. L. Hudson, Macy’s, J.C. Penney, Bloomingdale’s and Lord & Taylor.

By the 1970s Loewy’s New York office was engaged almost exclusively in store design. Loewy decided to sell the American company and to transfer the base of his design activities to Europe, because he said store design had “never been my particular field.” Retaining the name Raymond Loewy International, he started a new firm in Friebourg, Switzerland, and accelerated existing operations in London and Paris. He discovered fertile ground for his interests, saying in an interview that, “industrial design in Europe is where it was in the United States 25 years ago.” Loewy’s efforts overseas found great success, and his Raymond Loewy International, now Loewy Group, is the largest firm of its kind in Europe.

Out of this world

Skylab interior mockup

A Skylab interior mockup by Raymond Loewy for NASA.

A New York Times Book Review critic once commented, “Mr. Loewy has indeed changed the shape of the modern world.” However, after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) solicited his skills, he was able to extend his range of influence even farther.

From 1967 to 1973 Loewy was retained by NASA as a habitability consultant for the Saturn-Apollo and Skylab projects. They needed him “to help insure the psycho-physiology safety and comfort of the astronauts” under the “exotic conditions of zero-gravity.” His innovations, including simulating conditions of gravity and a porthole for vision contact with earth, made it possible for three men to inhabit a space capsule for 90 days. George Mueller, NASA’s deputy administrator for manned space flight, wrote in a letter of appreciation: “I do not believe that it would have been possible for the Skylab crews to have lived in relative comfort, excellent spirits and outstanding efficiency had it not been for your creative design, based on a deep understanding of human needs.”

In Mueller’s estimation, Loewy’s efforts had “provided the foundation for man’s next great step – an expedition to the planets.” Loewy agreed, later citing the work he did for NASA as his most important and gratifying assignment.

A legacy rivaled by few

Avanti at Renwick Gallery

A Studebaker Avanti had to be tilted on its side to fit through the entrance of the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery in Washington DC.

In 1975 the Smithsonian Institution opened The Designs of Raymond Loewy, a four-month exhibit dedicated to “the man who changed the face of industrial design.” Loewy later commented, “While working closely with the Smithsonian, I was provided with the opportunity to reassess the past.” And what a past it was. Loewy – businessman, educator, illustrator and author – had undoubtedly established himself as one of history’s most famous and influential designers.

Loewy and Viola moved to France several years later, where they enjoyed leisurely travel and a more relaxed lifestyle. On July 14, 1986, after a period of poor health, Raymond Loewy died in Monte Carlo, Monaco. He was 92 years old.

Loewy’s death sparked a worldwide media frenzy over his immeasurable talent and contributions to industrial design. New York Times reporter Susan Heller wrote, “One can hardly open a beer or a soft drink, fix breakfast, board a plane, buy gas, mail a letter or shop for an appliance without encountering a Loewy creation.” renwick2

Proven time and again, Loewy’s design principals continue to be relevant years after their inception. Today, he has rightly found his place in history as the Father of Industrial Design.

Raymond Loewy Among Pioneering American Industrial Designers on New Forever USPS Stamp

Sep 3, 2013   //   by loewy   //   News  //  Comments Off on Raymond Loewy Among Pioneering American Industrial Designers on New Forever USPS Stamp
Loewy USPS stamp

USPS stamp commemorating designer Raymond Loewy

New York, NY — June 30, 2011 — Famed industrial designer, Raymond Loewy is among the roster of the nation’s most important and influential American industrial designers celebrated on new forever stamps issued by the U. S. Postal Service  The new sheet of stamps honoring 12 pioneering American industrial designers was unveiled at a dedication held yesterday at the Cooper Hewitt National Museum of Design in New York.

The Loewy stamp features an image of the designers’ streamlined pencil sharpener created as a prototype in 1933.  The chromium plated sharpener’s distinctive teardrop shape lent it a sense of speed and movement that belied its stationary function.

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

Each stamp features the name of the designer and a photograph of an object created by the designer, as well as a description of the object and the year or years when the object was created.

“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 the ceremony.

Selected by Life magazine as one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th Century, Raymond Loewy is best known for numerous American design icons including the Coca Cola bottle, Air Force One, Lucky Strike, Greyhound Bus, Exxon and Shell logos, NASA interiors for Sky Lab and the Space Shuttle and the Avanti, the only automobile to be exhibited in the Louvre.  Companies who sought his influence included Revlon, Levis, IBM, Sakes Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s, Bulova, Omega, Mont Blanc, Vogue, Koehler, Frigidaire, Formica, Rosenthal, Ford, Chrysler, Studebaker, GM, Jaguar, BMW and many others. Founded by daughter Laurence Loewy, Loewy Design was created to offer consultation to individuals and companies desiring to continue the legacy of Raymond Loewy. The Loewy Design team offers photographic and high def video production and design, web design, marketing and public relations consulting.

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Loewy, Riding A Carpet back to the 1950s

Sep 3, 2013   //   by loewy   //   News  //  Comments Off on Loewy, Riding A Carpet back to the 1950s

Edward Fields Brochure for Loewy rugsIn the early 1950’s, industrial designer Raymond Loewy created area rugs in defiance of the fashion in America for wall-to-wall carpeting.  As his client, elite carpet manufacturer Edward Fields, recognized, small rooms were giving way to the open floor plans of postwar architecture and floor coverings were useful in breaking up spaces.

Such rugs were “a big deal at that time,” said Yasmina Benazzou, director of design and creative development for Tai Ping/Edward Fields, with is reintroducing Mr. Loewy’s original collection.

The five rugs are hand-tufted wool with overstitched patterns of asterisks, scribbles and abstract ribbons and bows.  The palettes follow the originals, or as closely as the company could match them to the documents.  No examples survive from the ‘50s.  Each rug is 8 feet by 10 feet; prices range from $6,400 to $7,800.  (212) 310-400 or edwardfields.com.