Raymond Loewy was an amazing guy-he was a man who did all kinds of designs (from a cigarette pack to a car). He designed the innovative Studebaker “Avanti”-which (while not a huge success) was one of the most advanced cars of its day. My question: given that automobile design is such a competitive field today, could an outsider like Loewy get such a job today? He was an outsider in an insular industry-would such a man ever be able to get his foot in the door at GM, Ford, etc. today?
It’s hard for anyone to make a noticeable impact in that field anymore, isn’t it? The design space for a car body is now tightly constrained by drag coefficient minimization, and there just isn’t much room left for creativity.
You’re selling Loewy short by defining him only as the Avanti designer, btw. He was probably the dominant industrial designer of the mid 20th century, working in just about every field of product manufacture. Wiki: " Among his designs were the Shell, Exxon, TWA and the former BP logos, the Greyhound Scenicruiser bus, Coca-Cola vending machines, the Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 and S-1 locomotives, the Lucky Strike package, Coldspot refrigerators, the Studebaker Avanti and Champion, and the Air Force One livery."
Yes. The guy was talented and there’s still room in the car industry for talented, innovative designers. However, I don’t think someone like Loewy would make it at a US car maker - most of the big-name American car designers work for European brands. US companies no longer place a premium on car design. Sure, seeing the press some design has gotten lately, they hired a couple of the big names, but have pretty much said “Don’t touch anything!”