Professor working on industrial design documentary

Western Washington University Associate Professor of Industrial Design Jason Morris is currently working on a feature-length biographical historical documentary film about prolific industrial designer Walter Dorwin Teague.

Teague was a pioneer in the field, and designed many of the products and places that defined modern America: Kodak cameras, the Boeing Stratocruiser aircraft, Steinway pianos, Sparton radios, Texaco service stations, Stueben glassware, the Marmon 16 automobile, and the 1939 World’s Fair.

For this project, Morris is researching the historical archives of Teague Design in Seattle.

“Teague’s is a story of a poor young farm boy who travels to New York City to become an artist, but ends up creating the new profession of industrial design that helps shape modern America,” said Morris.

Through the support of Teague Design and the Teague family, new materials have been rediscovered that shed new light on Teague’s story. These include drawings, sketches, film, video and photographs never before seen by the public.

Morris is an industrial designer with 14 years of consulting product-design experience. He has taught at Western since 2004.

Though Morris has produced three short documentaries that have been selections at film festivals, one of which he won best documentary for, this is his first feature-length documentary; he is seeking financial support to help produce the new film and would be interested in any corporation or individual that would like to support local independent filmmaking.

For more information contact Jason Morris, associate professor of industrial design at WWU, at 360-650-2514 or jason.morris@wwu.edu.