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Walter Dorwin Teague

American

1883, Decatur, Illinois
1960

Biography

An industrial designer often credited with the establishment of the profession, Walter Dorwin Teague was born and raised in the Midwest, and moved to New York City in 1903 to study at the Arts Students League of New York.

Teague opened his own typographic studio in 1911, and by the 1920s he had become involved in commercial package design. Although the Depression was imminent in 1928, it was then that Teague received his first commission from Eastman Kodak — for whom Teague eventually designed many popular cameras.

The Boeing Company was also one of his major clients. In 1946 Teague designed the Stratocruiser's passenger cabin, beginning a sixty-year relationship with the aircraft manufacturer.

In New York City Teague was very active in the establishment of industrial design as an independent profession. In 1944, the Society of Industrial Designers was founded with Teague as its first president.

Works in the Collection

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