Draft:Michael Cousins
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Last edited by David notMD (talk | contribs) 4 months ago. (Update) |
Comment: Unsourced and entirely self promotional. Theroadislong (talk) 21:56, 27 December 2023 (UTC)
 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (December 2023) |
Michael A. Cousins (born August 28, 1938) is an American industrial designer, and co-founder of Cousins Design in New York in 1963 with his brother Morison S. Cousins. His work is represented in the permanent collections of museums including the Museum of Modern Art; Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum; Brooklyn Museum; the Staatliches Museum für angewandte Kunst, Munich, Germany and Museum für Kunst & Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany.
Early life and education[edit]
Cousins was born in Brooklyn, NY and brought up in Huntington, Long Island, NY. Daniel Henry Cousins, his father, was a salesman with R.H. Macy’s department store and Rose Fidell Cousins, his mother, a homemaker. Cousins studied Industrial Design at the Rhode Island School of Design (1956-1960). Studying under Eva Zeisel, Victor Papanek and Marc Harrison. Cousins received a BFA in ID 1960. He was selected as Alumni of the Year 1985.[citation needed]
Career[edit]
After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design he began his design career at Raymond Adams Displays creating point of purchase corrugated displays for many companies including Bayer Aspirin and Dennison’s Christmas wrapping paper. This experience provided him with an invaluable skill and understanding of package structure and design. He then worked at Peter Schladermundt Associates a large established firm with clients that included Mobil Oil, Ingersoll Rand, J.C.Penny, American Can, International Flavors and Fragrances. While at Schladermundt he designed the water effects for the Chrysler Exhibit at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.
In 1963 he joined his brother Morison S. Cousins to form Cousins Design, a product and package design firm. Cousins Design (still in operation) created a wide variety of products and package graphics known world wide including Atari telephones, Conair logo (in use since 1968) and packaging, the iconic Dixie cup dispenser, Gillette hairdryers and packaging for safety razors, Honeywell Magicstat electronic thermostat, packaging and the quintessential color for Honeywell thermostats, Kuhn Rikon Epicurean garlic press in production for 20 years, Tumi briefcase and zipper pull used on classic Tumi luggage, and many more iconic products.
Products in museum collections & exhibitions[edit]
- Gillette ProMax Hair dryer / Museum of Modern Art, The Brooklyn Museum, Boymans-van Bounigen, Staatliches Museum für angewandte Kunst
- Gillette Curly Top Hairdryer / Denver Art Museum, MIT Aesthetics of Progress Exhibit
- Gillette Comb / Denver Art Museum
- Honeywell MagicStat thermostat / Museum of Modern Art, The Brooklyn Museum, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
- Atari SpaceTel telephone / Museum of Modern Art, Denver Art Museum, Design Museum-London, Boymans-van Bounigen, Museum für Kunst & Gewerbe, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Staatliches Museum für angewandte Kunst, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
- IMM Privecode Telephone Access Controller / MIT Aesthetics of Progress Exhibit
- Dictaphone Future Phone / Design Museum-London
- Tumi attache case / Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
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American Can Dixie Cup dispenser -
Conair logo -
Dictaphone Future Phone -
Dynamic Car Vacuum -
Gillette ProMax hairdryer -
Gillette Heated Styling Comb -
Honeywell MagicStat Thermostat -
Tumi Modernist Attache Case
Personal life[edit]
In 1958 he married RISD classmate Phyllis Mattoon. They had 2 sons. The marriage ended in divorce (1977). Since 1978 he has lived in New York City and Hampton Bays, NY with his partner Karen Hecht.