Deconstructing Product Design

Stand Mixer

Egmont Arens for KitchenAid, 1937

1. In the early 1930s, KitchenAid commissioned industrial designer Egmont Arens to design a series of new low-cost mixers that would be within the means of the common American household. Arens had developed a reputation for designing for the full range of sensory experiences — an approach he called “humaneering” — making products relaxing to the eyes, pleasing to the touch, muffling noises that jarred the ears, eliminating offensive odors, and so on. This humaneering approach transformed the previously functional but aesthetically unrefined stand mixer into the now classic Model K. Professional cooks and bakers wanted the Model K because of its flexibility and quality. Amateur cooks and bakers ...