“The American automobile has changed the habits of every member of modern society.”
“My early colleagues and myself helped create the life styles of Americans and, by osmosis, of the rest of the world. I found it difficult to reconcile success with humility. I tried it first, but it meant avoiding the very essence of my career – total exhilaration and the ecstasy of creativity.”
“Good design keeps the user happy, the manufacturer in the black and the aesthete unoffended.”
“American products are marvels of production and functionality, but were unnecessarily and unbearably ugly, noisy smelly and offensive.”
“Between two products equal in price, function and quality, the better looking will outsell the other.”
“The automobile is an American cultural symbol.”
“The Coke bottle is a masterpiece of scientific, functional planning. In simpler terms, I would describe the bottle as well thought out, logical, sparing of material and pleasant to look at.”
“I’ve been accused of being a shell designer – you start with a machine and enclose it. But in many cases, the shell is essential. A locomotive without a shell would be nonfunctional.”
“I alienated the automotive industry by saying that cars should be lightweight and compact.”
“The world is filled with archaic objects – mailboxes which look like alarm boxes, banks which look like places to break out of rather than places to enter.”
“Noise is a parasite. Anything noisy is poorly designed.”
“In every phase of the automotive industry, certain factors have been more important than all others in relation to the way the automobile has looked. Phase One is really the Ford story. Function and production were the most important considerations. The automobile was an invention, and it looked like one.”
“The public may admire a corporation for its impressive size. Who in the United States doesn’t? But when a business, however gigantic, gets smug enough to believe that it is sufficient only to match competition on trivial points instead of leading competition in valid matters, that business is becoming vulnerable to public disfavor.”
Leave a Reply