Brooks Stevens
Introduce
Brooks Stevens (June 7, 1911 – January 4, 1995) was a pioneering American industrial designer known for his contributions across multiple industries, including home furnishings, appliances, automobiles, motorcycles, and more. He was also an influential graphic designer and stylist. Stevens founded his own design firm, Brooks Stevens, Inc., in Allenton, Wisconsin, where he would become a leading figure in industrial design.
Stevens’s early life was marked by adversity when he contracted polio as a child, a condition that confined him to bed for a period. Encouraged by his father, Stevens turned to drawing, a hobby that would ignite his passion for design. He studied architecture at Cornell University between 1929 and 1933, after which he started his own home-furnishings design business in Milwaukee in 1934.
In 1944, Stevens, alongside Raymond Loewy and others, helped form the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), a testament to his role in shaping the field. Upon his passing in 1995, The New York Times described him as a “major force in industrial design,” underscoring his profound impact on the profession.
Among Stevens’s many design achievements was his work with Harley-Davidson. He redesigned the 1949 Hydra-Glide motorcycle, incorporating a new suspension fork, a bucket headlight, and a streamlined body—features that would influence Harley-Davidson designs for decades. He also contributed to the design of household products, including the robin’s-egg-blue appliances that became iconic in the 1950s, and the Skylark laminate pattern popularized by Formica.
In the automotive world, Stevens made a lasting mark. He designed the 1962 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk, a car notable for its elegance and speed. His work on the Jeep Wagoneer, introduced in 1963, would go on to become an enduring symbol of American automotive design, with minimal changes throughout its long production run.
Stevens was also instrumental in redesigning the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile in 1958, employing fiberglass construction to give the iconic vehicle a more modern and playful appearance. His later designs included collaborations on the Excalibur sportscar, inspired by 1920s Mercedes-Benz roadsters, and he modernized several cars for the Brazilian market, including the Aero-Willys sedans.
Stevens’s contributions extended into recreational boating, where he worked with Outboard Marine Corp. to create the Evinrude Lark and Johnson Javelin outboard motor series. His design work in marine leisure, as well as his innovations in various other fields, made him a defining figure in mid-20th-century American design.
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