Products Product development Founder Brooks Stevens Type of business Private | Website www.brooksstevens.com Founded 1934 Headquarters Allenton, Saint Paul | |
Industry Industrial Design, Engineering,
Prototyping,
Graphic Design Key people George Konstantakis, President
Daniel L. Riley,
Douglas E. Maki,
Samuel Petre, | ||
Brooks Stevens, Inc., formally known as Brooks Stevens Design Associates and Brooks Stevens Design, is a product development firm headquartered in Allenton, Wisconsin. The firm also has an office in St. Paul, Minnesota. Brooks Stevens's services include research, industrial design, engineering, prototyping, project management, and graphic design.
History
Brooks Stevens Design was established by Clifford Brooks Stevens in 1935. In 1954, Brooks Stevens, the founder, popularized the term "planned obsolescence" as a cornerstone to product evolution. The phrase was not intended to refer to building things that deteriorate easily, but to “instilling in the buyer the desire to own something a little newer, a little better, a little sooner than is necessary.” Stevens's philosophies have been said to define the industrial design profession. The firm designed the 1949 Twin Cities Hiawatha and Olympian Hiawatha trains with the "Skytop Lounge". The firm has designed products from toasters to automobiles and heavy equipment.
In 2007, the founder's son, Kipp Stevens, merged Brooks Stevens with Ingenium Product Development, expanding the company's product coverage and engineering capabilities.
Today, Brooks Stevens designs and engineers both consumer-facing and heavy industrial products.