Bel Geddes, Norman (1893-1958)

US industrial designer. He was a key member of the small group of US pioneers who helped to establish the profession of industrial design in the interwar years. Throughout his career he was motivated by a desire to create a utopian, futuristic environment.

After working in advertising and theatre and film set design, he moved into industrial design 1926. His work in this area included counter scales for the Toledo Scale Company 1929, a range of beds for the Simmons Steel Company 1929, radios for the Radio Corporation of America 1934, and a large number of unrealized futuristic projections of cars, planes, trains, and environments. In 1939 he designed the General Motors stand, Futurama, at the New York World's Fair.