Jay Doblin was an American industrial designer and educator, best known for his contribution to the field of design in particular his work related to systems thinking, design methods and design theory in general. Throughout his professional career Doblin worked with some of the most important design firms of their time including Raymond Loewy Associates, Lippincott & Margulies, and Unimark International, which he founded together with Massimo Vignelli and Bob Noorda. Jay was born in Brooklyn, NY and graduated from Pratt Institute in 1942. He worked for Raymond Loewy from 1942 to 1955 directing the Frigidaire account and designing vending machines for Coca-Cola, razors for Schick and fountain pens for Eversharp. Between 1955 and 1969, and after the resignation of Serge Chermayeff, he served as director of the IIT Institute of Design, a design school founded in 1937 in Chicago by László Moholy-Nagy, a former Bauhaus teacher. After his tenure as director, he stayed involved with school as a professor. Doblin was president of The American Society of Industrial designers in 1956 and of the Industrial Design Educators Association in 1962. In 1981 he founded his strategic design planning consultancy, with Larry Keeley. In 2004, Jay Doblin was awarded the medal of the AIGA. became part of innovation practice in 2007, and was acquired by in 2013.
Writings
"The position of crafts in America today" by Jay Doblin. Paper for the National Conference of American Craftsmen's Council
"The 100 'Best Designed' Products." Print,, Fortune.
"Less Cleverness, More Communication." Print,.
"Trademark Design" by Jay Doblin. Article published for issue #2 of Dot Zero magazine
"Mass Media: the Stimulation System" by Jay Doblin. Article published for issue #3 of Dot Zero magazine
"One Hundred Great Product Designs" by Jay Doblin. Van Nost. Reinhold
"Perspective: A new system for designers" by Jay Doblin. Whitney Library of Design
"Chicago Bauhaus: Past, Present and Future" by Jay Doblin. Speech given at a symposium honoring the 25th anniversary of the Institute of Design's merger with Illinois Institute of Technology.
"Volume Retailing in Britain. Does it undermine quality in the design and manufacture of home-produced consumer goods?" by Jay Doblin. RSA Journal Volume 128
"A Brief Tussle with Corporate Identity: A Draft for the Design Management Institute."White Paper, Doblin Group,.
"Reflections on Industrial Design Past, Present and Future." Innovation: The Journal of the Industrial Designers Society of America : 12–14.
"DesMod " by Jay Doblin. Unpublished Design Theory Lecture Handout: Institute of Design Illinois Institute of Technology
"An Irreverent Look at Logotypes and Brandmarks." STA Design Journal : 34-39.
"Information and Design - The Essential Relation." In Design in the Information Environment, edited by Patrick Whitney, 18–30. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press,.
"A short grandiose theory of design" by Jay Doblin. Article published in the 1987 Society of Typographic Arts Design Journal
"Discrimination: The special skills required for seeing, and the curious structure of judgement" by Jay Doblin. Design Processes Newsletter, Vol. 2, No.4, Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, U.S.A.
