Russel Wright (April 3, 1904 – December 21, 1976) was an American Industrial designer during the 20th century. Beginning in the late 1920s through the 1960s, Russel Wright created a succession of artistically distinctive and commercially successful items that helped bring modern design to the general public.
Wright is best known for his colorful American Modern dinnerware, the most widely sold American ceramic dinnerware in history, manufactured between 1939 and 1959 by Steubenville Pottery in Steubenville, Ohio. He also designed top selling wooden furniture, spun aluminum dining accessories and textiles. His simple, practical style was influential in persuading ordinary Americans to embrace Modernism in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Wright's trademarked signature was the first to be identified with lifestyle-marketed products, paving the way for personality-driven lifestyle empires such as Martha Stewart, Ralph Lauren and others.
Wright also designed a line of melamine resin plastic dinnerware called "Residential" for the Northern Plastic company of Boston, MA. This was the most popular "melmac" plastic line in the 1950's and received the Museum of Modern Art Good Design Award in 1953. The line was taken over by Home Decorators, Inc. of Newark, NY sometime later.
Russel Wright’s method of design came from the belief that the table was the center of the home. Designing in layers from there outwards, he designed tableware to larger furniture, architecture to landscaping, all according to his concept of easy, informal living. It was through his immensely popular and widely distributed housewares and furnishings that he revolutionized the way Americans lived and organized their homes in the mid 20th century. Wright's legacy continues today as his company Russel Wright Studios remains an active industrial design licensing firm. With offices in Garrison, New York and Burbank, California, Russel Wright Studios continues to work with corporate and public clients in the licensing and manufacturing of his designs and products.
