| In 1948, for the purposes of enhancing the export potential of Canadian products through better design, the Department of Trade and Commerce agreed to participate with the National Gallery in establishing a National Industrial Design Committee (NIDC) consisting of representatives of retail, business, industry, education and government. This thesis examines the cooperation between private and public interests in industrial design. Preliminary discussion outlines favourable support for industrial design encouraged in a post-war Canada by artists' initiatives, a technological gap between war and peace-time manufacturing and a government policy of intervention. The potential of such an alliance among otherwise diverse interests depended much on group dynamics, shared ideals and prevailing attitudes toward industrial design's role in society. This thesis discusses in detail NIDC policy decisions and ends with the transfer of responsibility of the NIDC to the Department of Trade and Commerce in December 1960 under the slogan "Design For Export". (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)... |
