Brooks Stevens

Brooks Stevens (1911-1995) was an industrial designer, as well as automotive designer, graphic designer, and stylist. Though he is often cited with inventing the concept of planned obsolescence (the practice of artificially shortening product lifecycles in order to influence the buying patterns of consumers in favor of manufacturers), he did not invent it but rather coined the term and defined it. Stevens defined it as, "Instilling in the buyer the desire to own something a little newer, a little better, a little sooner than is necessary." His view was to always make the consumer want something new, rather than create poor products that would need replacing. There is some debate over his role in this controversial business practice.

Related topics

• automotive design
• industrial design
• product design
• Planned Obsolescence