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While primarily known as a photographer of sweeping American landscapes, Ansel Adams also served as a corporate consultant, most notably for the electronics company Polaroid. During the course of his thirty-five-year-long consultancy, Adams tested every major Polaroid film and camera. This article argues that Adams’s consultancy was a form of design work, focused as he was on the usability and functionality of Polaroid prototypes, as well as the aesthetics of the test prints he produced. Occupying the roles of designer and user, Adams found that communicating effectively with engineers and scientists was far from straightforward, as he grappled with the problem of translating his experience with the prototypes into usable feedback that could be put into practice in Polaroid’s laboratories and eventually its factories. Adams’s consultancy, which functioned as a laboratory for examining his own aesthetic practice, also illuminates broader historical transitions in the relationship between artists and corporations in postwar American society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mid-nineteenth century critical discourse compartmentalized art and industry by crediting each with specific powers. Manufacturing was identified with the development of technologically advanced processes, materials and products, while fine artists were given authority over the aesthetic aspects of industrial design. The idea that the two sectors had separate areas of responsibility has proved extremely enduring, and continues to influence our perceptions of Victorian manufacturing. This article contributes to the wider task of re-evaluating the relationship between art and industry in nineteenth-century Britain by examining the role of design in potteries and art metalworking firms from the manufacturer's perspective. It shows that contrary to the picture painted by Victorian critics, design was central to the ambitions and commercial operations of manufacturing businesses. Crucially, decisions about the recruitment of design staff were shaped by the close connection between the creation of new products at the drawing board, and their fabrication in the workshop. Since each branch of manufacturing had its distinctive characteristics, there were significant practical, aesthetic and commercial advantages for manufacturers in employing experienced designers who knew the trade, and were fully conversant with production practices. Unless a professional sculptor joined a firm, they were unlikely to have this inside knowledge, which made commissioning one-off designs from artists a riskier proposition. Manufacturers found that one of the best ways to get around this was to make reductions of sculptures, and initial demand for statuettes in Parian suggested they would be profitable for all concerned. In the end, the market did not live up to its early promise, but the publicity given to Parian statuettes compensated manufacturers and sculptors. Overall, it was this increased public exposure for art manufactures that was the prime benefit of the mid-nineteenth century critical discourse for the industrial sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the "Portrait of America" Art Annual of food company Pepsi-Cola and the idea of big business as a patron of fine artists. Topics covered include the use of art to improve company images, the proposal for a juried art annual which appears to prefigure a form of corporate art sponsorship and the growth of the alliance between industry and art. Also mentioned is the identification of private corporate interest with public values and patriotism.

In this article, the author examines the connection between innovation and design. Particular focus is given to how design is increasingly gaining recognition in industry, the economy and society. Additional topics explored include how the economic value of design might be explained and measured, the role that design plays in business innovation and how the economic climate, increasingly impacted by budget cuts and scarce resources, might impact the effort to advocate for design in innovation. Various points of discussion are also offered, including an exploration of sustainable design.