Tom Hardy (designer)

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Tom Hardy is an American design strategist (born 1946). He was educated in industrial design at Auburn University (1964-1970) under Eva Pfeil (German) and Walter Schaer (Swiss), former students at the Ulm School of Design in Germany (HfG Ulm: 1953-1968). "Ulm School of Design | HfG Ulm Archive" [http://www.hfg-archiv.ulm.de/english/the_hfg_ulm/] ] Lindinger, H., (1991), "Ulm Design: The Morality of Objects", Cambridge: The MIT Press.] Pfeil and Schaer established their curriculum based on the ′Ulm model′ by Max Bill (Swiss), co-founder of HfG and pupil at the Bauhaus (1919-1933) and Tomás Maldonado (Argentinian), HfG Rector. Pfeil had also worked in Bill's studio after attending HfG. ["Women at the HfG Ulm" [http://www.frauen-hfg-ulm.de/englisch/frameset_1024.html] ]

IBM Design Program and ThinkPad

As corporate head of the IBM Design Program, [Aldersey-Williams, H., (1992) "World Design: Nationalism and Globalism in Design", New York: Rizzoli.] Tom Hardy directed worldwide identity operations in concert with distinguished designers Paul Rand [Heller, S., (1999) "Paul Rand", London: Phaidon Press, Limited.] and Richard Sapper [Brandes, U., (1993), "Richard Sapper:Tools for Life", Göttingen: Steidl Verlag.] He played a key role in development of the first IBM ThinkPad notebook computer (1992) together with a new differentiated product personality strategy which focused on providing more unique character to help revitalize IBM's brand image in the 1990s. [Bruce, M.; Jennaker, B., (1998) "Management of Strategic Alliances", Sakakibara, K., Chapter 4, New York: John Wiley & Sons.] [Golden, P., ″Big Blue's Big Adventure. Part 1″ [http://www.petergolden.com/Articles/ThinkPad-1(EB-PAG).htm] , "Electronic Business", January 1999.] Early in his career, Hardy was the industrial designer of the original IBM Personal Computer introduced in 1981. [Markis S., ″A 25-Year Trip on the Silicon Highway″ [http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/business/story.html?id=1293af9a-2984-4217-9ba7-76154bbd8be9] , "The Edmonton Journal", August 26, 2006.] [″28th Annual Design Review″, "I.D. Magazine", Designers' Choice: IBM Personal Computer, 1982.]

Design Strategist

As an independent consultant, he created Verbal-Visual Framework (VVF) [Verbal-Visual Framework [http://www.verbal-visual.com] ] a quantitative research methodology which incorporates semiotics and predictive analytics. VVF delivers insights as to how brand intent resonates emotionally with consumers through design in a cultural context. Hardy's work includes Samsung Electronics where his comprehensive integration of brand intent and design strategy into the corporate infrastructure is cited for elevating the company's global image. [Bremmer, B.; Ihlwan, M., ″Cool Korea″ [http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_23/b3786002.htm] , " Business Week", June 10, 2002.] [Chung, K.; Hardy, T.; So, S., ″Strategic Realization″ [http://www.dmi.org/dmi/html/publications/journal/fullabstract_d.jsp?itemID=00111HAR65] , "Design Management Journal", Winter 2000. ]

Other Influences

During the course of his time at IBM, Hardy crossed paths with Eliot Noyes, Edward Tufte, Ivan Chermayeff, Saul Bass, Henry Wolf, George Nelson and Niels Diffrient. Interaction with these prominent designers, in addition to Rand and Sapper, would have an influence on his design perspective. Likewise, Hardy's insight into the symbolic structure of popular culture was broadened by time spent in London with renowned artist Sir Eduardo Paolozzi. In addition to producing ground-breaking enigmatic sculpture that reflected human and social issues, Paolozzi created collages as early as 1947 in which magazine ads, comic book figures and various mass produced graphics were combined as cultural metaphors, thereby anticipating and influencing the 1950s Pop Art movement. [Livingstone, M., (1990), "Pop Art: A Continuing History", New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.]

Sources

Other references

* Nussbaum, B., ″Hot Products: Smart Design is the Common Thread″, "Business Week", June 7, 1993.
* Sakakibara, K., ″IBM ThinkPad 700C Notebook Computer Case", "Centre for Design Management - London Business School", 1994.
* Hardy, T., “Innovation & Chaos”, "Design Management Journal", Summer 1994.
* Nussbaum, B., “The Hungriest Tiger”, "Business Week", June 2, 1997.
* Dell, D.; Purdy, G., (1999) "ThinkPad: A Different Shade of Blue", Indianapolis: Sams/Mcmillan.
* Delaney, M.; Hardy, T.; McFarland, J.; Yoon, G., ″Global Localization″, "Innovation", Summer 2002.
* Edwards, C.; Engardio, P.; Ihlwan, M., "The Samsung Way", "Business Week", June 16, 2003.
* Krishnan, R.; Kumar, K., ″Capturing Value in Global Markets: The Case of Samsung Electronics″, "SCMS Journal of Indian Management - Indian Institute of Management Bangalore", October - December, 2005.
* Bruce, G., (2006) "Eliot Noyes", London: Phaidon Press Limited.
* Metz, C., ″25 Years of PC Magazine: Year Eleven/1992″, "PC Magazine", May 2, 2007

See also

*ThinkPad
*IBM
*IBM Personal Computer
*IBM 5120
*Paul Rand
*Richard Sapper
*Samsung Electronics