Walter Dorwin Teague

Walter Dorwin Teague (born Dec. 18, 1883, Decatur, Ind., U.S.—died Dec. 5, 1960, Flemington, N.J.) was an industrial designer who pioneered in the establishment of industrial design as a profession in the United States.

After study at the Art Students League of New York (1903–07) and four years with an advertising agency, Teague became a successful free-lance advertising designer. Increasingly, his clients sought his advice for product design, and in 1926 he formed an office devoted exclusively to industrial design, including products, exhibits, corporate graphics, and interiors. An important opportunity came in 1927, when the Eastman Kodak Company asked Teague to redesign two of their cameras. He insisted on working closely with engineers in the Eastman factory; the results were successful, and the firm remained a client until his death.

In 1930 Teague’s revolutionary design for the Marmon 16 automobile attracted widespread attention. Late in the decade he designed a number of exhibits for the New York World’s Fair and the Golden Gate (San Francisco) International Exposition (both in 1939–40). Other notable designs were for railway coaches, office machines, and automotive service stations. In the 1950s he designed interiors and furnishings for the Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colo., and the interiors of the Boeing 707 jet airliner. At the time of his death he was senior partner of Walter Dorwin Teague Associates.

His Design This Day—the Technique of Order in the Machine Age (1940; rev. ed. 1949) traces the development of modern design and outlines the techniques necessary to the solution of design problems. He also wrote Land of Plenty, a Summary of Possibilities (1947) and, with John Storck, Flour for Man’s Bread, a History of Milling (1952).