David Carter (industrial designer)

David Carter
Born	(1927-12-30)30 December 1927 Stanley knife, Founder of DCA Design
Spouse	Theo Carter
Children	4
Awards	Prince of Wales Award for Industrial Innovation (1981–85), The Duke of Edinburgh Prize for Elegant Design

Ronald David Carter

Early life and career

He trained at the Leicester College of Art (now DeMontfort University), simultaneously spending a good part of 2 years in an engineering works. He served in the Navy. Demobbed in 1948 he returned to full-time study in the industrial design (engineering) department of the Central School of Art and Design.^[2][3] He went on to a variety of industrial design positions and then in 1960 he set up on his own as a consultant, going on to employ a growing team of engineers, designers, model-makers and assistants as David Carter Associates.^[4]

When designing, he created models preferably full size and made of cardboard early on in his process, "just to get an idea of how big it is", he said. The Stanley knife went through at least six cardboard iterations before he was happy with the result.

In 1970, when household telephones were supplied exclusively by the

.

It was the process by which designs were developed and delivered that truly interested him. As a result he often assigned the

himself. He insisted that this was not an act of altruism but the only practical way to ensure the efficient execution and dispatch of a design contract.

"I don't want to become an entrepreneur who just pushes designs out one after another," he said.^[5]

Simultaneously, he started teaching at the Birmingham College of Art and Design, where his head of department was the late Naum Slutzky, who had been one or Carter's teachers during his time at the Central, and whom Carter identifies as a powerful influence in his work.^[6][7]

Under Carter's continued leadership the David Carter Associates became DCA Design Consultants in 1975^[8] and later renamed itself as DCA Design in 1986.^[9] He retired from DCA in 1992, though the company continues to trade to this day from its traditional home and headquarters on Church Street, Warwick in the UK. Also he continued to teach at the Royal College of Art.^[10]

Carter's industrial design work has won many prizes including:

• Design Centre Award (1961) for the Orbit castors, for Joseph Gillot & Sons Ltd.
• The Prince of Wales Award for Industrial Innovation (1981–85)
• The Duke of Edinburgh Prize for Elegant Design (also known as the Prince Philip Designers Prize) for a Gas-Flo system for the Wales Gas Board (1967)^[11][12][13]

Carter established himself as a renowned industrial designer, becoming a member of the Royal Society of Arts, the Design Council, the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers and the Royal College of Art.^{[citation needed]}

Carter was president of the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers during 1974–75, was appointed

(CBE) in 1980.

Personal life

His family split time between a house in

References

External links

• Official website