Change by Design: A New Paradigm for Designers
Special Event at NeoCon in Chicago
Date/Time: Tuesday, June 16 – 3:00 p.m.
Holiday Inn Mart Plaza – Sauganash Ballroom
Sponsored by Herman Miller
Presented by
FocusOnDESIGN
Attendee Registration for NeoCon
From the designer's mind to reality we conceive of environments, communications and products that essentially shape the world we live in. Chuck Harrison, industrial designer and educator will provide insight into how designers can impact change in the 21st century. The first Black design executive to work for a major corporation, Harrison improved the quality of life of millions through the breadth and innovation of his designs for more than three decades. He received the Cooper-Hewitt 2008 National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement. A book signing of his insightful memoir, A Life's Design, will follow.
Honorary Doctorate from the School of the Art Institute
Date/Time: Saturday, May 16
Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Chicago
Chuck will receive an honorary doctorate from his undergraduate alma mater, present brief remarks during the commencement ceremony and participate in the dedication of the highly anticipated Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago's.
Intelligent Designer
Charles Harrison, former industrial designer at Sears, Roebuck and Company, created practical innovations that touched many lives
By Megan Gambino
Smithsonian magazine, January 2009
The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt honors the prolific industrial designer with its Lifetime Achievement Award
In 1966, Charles "Chuck" Harrison, an industrial designer at Sears, Roebuck & Company, got rid of an everyday nuisance—the early-morning clanging of metal garbage cans—by creating the first-ever plastic garbage bin. "When that can hit the market, it did so with the biggest bang you never heard," wrote Harrison in his 2005 book, A Life's Design. "Everyone was using it, but few people paid close attention to it."
Charles (Chuck) Harrison
Read Chuck's Interview with Smithsonian
Read the Smithsonian article: Intelligent Design
Designed by Chuck
I still have my 1972 Kenmore sewing machine as pictured in the [Smithsonian] article and it still stitches beautifully. It has become quite collectible nowadays; and I am thrilled to know more about the gentleman who designed it. Good Job, Mr Harrison! The style and quality has endured.
Posted by Deena Flanigan on February 26, 2009 | 08:02PM
Buy The Book
A Life's Design
Elements of Honest Design
"I try to keep in mind, when I am designing, that ultimately, someone else is going to use it."