Streamlining was a style that dominated American design from the 1930s to the 1950s. Streamlining grew out of the Art Deco style, but it was simplified and infused with a sense of dynamism that gave it huge commercial appeal. In fact, Streamlining has been described as ‘Art Deco on the move.’ Streamlining fuelled the consumer revolution of the 1950s and became the visual language of American modernity. The style was as much about economics as aesthetics. The industrial design profession emerged at this time and used streamline design to serve American corporate capitalism.
Streamlining was a style that dominated American design from the 1930s to the 1950s. Streamlining grew out of the Art Deco style, but it was simplified and infused with a sense of dynamism that gave it huge commercial appeal. In fact, Streamlining has been described as ‘Art Deco on the move.’ Streamlining fuelled the consumer revolution of the 1950s and became the visual language of American modernity. The style was as much about economics as aesthetics. The industrial design profession emerged at this time and used streamline design to serve American corporate capitalism.
Streamlining is the shaping of an object to reduce the amount of resistance it encounters when it travels through a medium like air or water. It occurs in nature: aquatic animals like dolphins are naturally adapted to travel quickly through water. This is a diagram illustrating the principle of streamlining. It was drawn by the American industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes and published in his book Horizons (1932). The teardrop shape is the optimum form for reducing air resistance because it allows air to slip over it. This inspired engineers to produce airplanes and cars that were sleek in form and kept air resistance to a