Before the rise of the global economy and its barrage of focus-grouped logos, there was one man who had a simpler and more organic approach to the branding process. Raymond Loewy, a Paris-born industrial designer from the late 1920s through the '70s, was a master at boiling a product down to its most basic, unalloyed form. Early on, in the 1930s, he retooled items developed by all-thumbs industrialists, making them safer and easier on the eyes. Later, he and his team churned out some of the most familiar consumer imagery of the last century, from the Coke bottle to Lucky Strike cigarette packs, not to mention hundreds of iconic company emblems—Shell, Exxon, the U.S. Postal Service.

"He was a really good judge of talent," says documentary filmmaker Jake Gorst, whose grandfather worked with Loewy for 30 years. An admiring look back at Loewy's designs includes a traveling exhibit currently on display in Bellevue, Washington, as well as plans for a permanent museum in New York City.

Loewy's own personal look transmitted both efficiency and élan. "Dad was never one to waste time," says his daughter, Laurence Loewy. "When he received his first paycheck after immigrating through Ellis Island, he visited a custom tailor to be fitted for his first business suit." With his second paycheck, he ordered a tuxedo. Besides his wife, Viola Erickson, a near-constant companion was his Rexbilt briefcase. "Rexbilt was on my father's client list. He may have had a hand in the design, because it exudes Loewy style." Today's closest match comes from Ralph Lauren's new line of customizable briefcases.

"He had different pockets inside to carry prototype designs," says Laurence. "The Avanti was designed in Palm Springs in a month," she adds. "He would travel back and forth and take the crew's sketches to Studebaker to keep them abreast of the progress." Loewy, a car fanatic, kept three Avantis for himself: one at the family's Albert Frey?designed home in Palm Springs (which featured a swimming pool that extended into the living room at Loewy's request), one in Paris, and one in Monaco. His collection also included personally customized BMWs, Jaguars, and a Lancia Flaminia (dubbed the Loraymo). "The public wasn't aware of industrial design until he came along," says Gorst. "He glamorized the profession."

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