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Design Legend Receives Honorary Doctorate
Chicago, IL
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Design Legend Receives Honorary Doctorate
Chicago) – Charles 'Chuck' Harrison, legendary industrial designer, will receive the highest academic honor when he is presented the Honorary Doctorate Degree from the prestigious School of the Art Institute. The commencement ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, May 16, 2009, at Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, Chicago. Throughout his prolific career, Charles Harrison focused on developing relevant, useful products to solve, rather than create problems for consumers. He continues to build his legacy as a speaker on the topics of design inclusion and education, and as an educator at Columbia College Chicago and The School of the Art Institute where, leveraging his extensive industry contacts, he helps prepare young designers for entry into the profession.
The honor also adds to a roster of significant recognitions for Harrison who recently made history as the first African American to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2008 National Design Award sponsored by Cooper Hewitt. The Industrial Designers Society of America honored him in 2006 for his work as a designer, instructor and visionary leader in the design field.
Harrison also will speak at the upcoming NeoCon World's Trade Fair at Chicago's Merchandise Mart. His session entitled Change by Design: A New Paradigm for Designers is scheduled for Tuesday, June 16, 2009, at 3:00pm at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza. Here, Harrison will provide insight into how designers can impact change in the 21st century. His legacy deserves to be revisited especially in light of the growing consumer demand for more sustainable and affordable household products.
As the economic landscape experiences seismic shifts, design is becoming increasingly important as a point of economic leverage both in the U.S. and abroad. Harrison, now a vibrant 78 years old, is focusing his attention on issues of design inclusion and support at all levels for design education. He is drawing on an array of professional experiences to help shape the future of design in America and the world. These experiences include:
Designing many hugely successful products
Traveling much of the World for business long before globalism was a trend
Overcoming the depths of segregation and Jim Crow to become highly successful in his field
Living through major shifts in the economic landscape
Working in the corporate arena for 30-plus years and teaching college-level design for 15
Harrison chronicled his work as an industrial designer in his autobiography entitled A Life's Design: The Life and Work of Industrial Designer Charles Harrison (© Ibis Design Incorporated, 125 pp, ISBN 0-9773271-0-8).
A Life's Design combines a retrospect on Harrison's life and career with a detailed visual survey of his work and a summary of his philosophy of design. Highlights include his early life in the segregated South and Southwest, his education in San Francisco, The School of Art Institute and the United States Army, followed by his apprenticeship on the forward edge of art and design under Henry Glass, and his distinction as the first African American executive ever hired by Sears Roebuck & Company. Along the way, Harrison transcends race to share the inside story of a product designer's struggles and triumphs in shaping the burgeoning consumer landscape of American suburban and urban society. Harrison's inspirational life, his timeless approach to design and his passion for inspiring others with humor, insight and humility provide a story worth reading.
A Life's Design is the collaborative brainchild of Chuck Harrison and his former student, Joeffrey Trimmingham, founder of Ibis Design of Chicago. To explore A Life's Design, please visit www.alifesdesign.com.
Chicago) – Charles 'Chuck' Harrison, legendary industrial designer, will receive the highest academic honor when he is presented the Honorary Doctorate Degree from the prestigious School of the Art Institute. The commencement ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, May 16, 2009, at Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, Chicago. Throughout his prolific career, Charles Harrison focused on developing relevant, useful products to solve, rather than create problems for consumers. He continues to build his legacy as a speaker on the topics of design inclusion and education, and as an educator at Columbia College Chicago and The School of the Art Institute where, leveraging his extensive industry contacts, he helps prepare young designers for entry into the profession.
The honor also adds to a roster of significant recognitions for Harrison who recently made history as the first African American to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2008 National Design Award sponsored by Cooper Hewitt. The Industrial Designers Society of America honored him in 2006 for his work as a designer, instructor and visionary leader in the design field.
Harrison also will speak at the upcoming NeoCon World's Trade Fair at Chicago's Merchandise Mart. His session entitled Change by Design: A New Paradigm for Designers is scheduled for Tuesday, June 16, 2009, at 3:00pm at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza. Here, Harrison will provide insight into how designers can impact change in the 21st century. His legacy deserves to be revisited especially in light of the growing consumer demand for more sustainable and affordable household products.
As the economic landscape experiences seismic shifts, design is becoming increasingly important as a point of economic leverage both in the U.S. and abroad. Harrison, now a vibrant 78 years old, is focusing his attention on issues of design inclusion and support at all levels for design education. He is drawing on an array of professional experiences to help shape the future of design in America and the world. These experiences include:
Harrison chronicled his work as an industrial designer in his autobiography entitled A Life's Design: The Life and Work of Industrial Designer Charles Harrison (© Ibis Design Incorporated, 125 pp, ISBN 0-9773271-0-8).
A Life's Design combines a retrospect on Harrison's life and career with a detailed visual survey of his work and a summary of his philosophy of design. Highlights include his early life in the segregated South and Southwest, his education in San Francisco, The School of Art Institute and the United States Army, followed by his apprenticeship on the forward edge of art and design under Henry Glass, and his distinction as the first African American executive ever hired by Sears Roebuck & Company. Along the way, Harrison transcends race to share the inside story of a product designer's struggles and triumphs in shaping the burgeoning consumer landscape of American suburban and urban society. Harrison's inspirational life, his timeless approach to design and his passion for inspiring others with humor, insight and humility provide a story worth reading.
A Life's Design is the collaborative brainchild of Chuck Harrison and his former student, Joeffrey Trimmingham, founder of Ibis Design of Chicago. To explore A Life's Design, please visit www.alifesdesign.com.
Trish McKinnor
Ibis Design
Richmond, VA
773-256-0426
